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I saw this question on Facebook the other day:
“When cropping in (Photoshop) post, how low will you allow the resolution/dpi to go? I have an image that I want to crop lots – it’s getting me under 200 resolution if I stay at original size. not sure what to do…”
My first reaction was to answer with a simple “no.” At under 200 dpi, the image may look soft when printed at the lab. Notice that the word “may” leaves some wiggle room, and depending on the situation, it might be possible to crop an image that small.
So here are the cases where an under 200 dpi image could make a good print:
- The image was razor sharp to begin with. If you’re using a pro camera and great glass, or if you shot the image as RAW, you have a lot more flexibility when cropping an image. Here’s a quick test: Make a copy of the image in a new tab in Photoshop, resize the copied image back up to the required print size at 300 dpi, and zoom in on a face on both photos. Pay attention to catch-lights, hair and jagged edges. You’ll see a difference. If the resized image is acceptable, then it will be an acceptable print. (Note: don’t resize the cropped image you send us. ROES will do a better job resizing than Photoshop.)
- Is the image by itself, or part of a group? A sub-200 dpi image surrounded by sharper images is going to be noticeable, especially if they are all the same subject.
- What will be the final print size? A sub-200 dpi image full page in a wedding album might not be acceptable, but that same image on a 30×40″ poster print might be fine. The difference is how closely the viewer will be to the image.
- Are you going to post-process the image? Using Nik filters and Photoshop, I’ve seen images that would not be acceptable printed as-is, transformed into works of art. Sometimes printing in B/W makes a difference too.
Here’s a rule of thumb: once you get to 3 times larger than the optimal print size, you are at the limit of what could be considered an acceptable print. For example, a 1,500×2,100 image would be perfect 300 dpi 5×7″ print, good as a 200 dpi 8×10″ print, but will be soft as a 100 dpi 16×20″ print. Again, this is only a rule of thumb: for certain images, under certain circumstances, you might find this acceptable. Only you, the photographer, can make that call.
