Photo FramesMegapixels and print size
"How big can I print this photo?" has a simple answer once you know how many pixels the photo has. This page explains pixels, megapixels and dpi in plain words, and gives a chart from 2 to 108 megapixels.
Pixels, megapixels and dpi
- A pixel is one tiny square of colour. A photo is a grid of them. A photo of 3000 × 4000 pixels has 3000 across and 4000 down.
- A megapixel (MP) is one million pixels. Multiply the two numbers: 3000 × 4000 is 12,000,000 pixels, or 12 MP.
- dpi, dots per inch, says how many of those pixels are spread along each inch of paper when the photo is printed. More pixels per inch means a finer print.
The sum is always the same: pixels divided by dpi gives inches. A side of 3000 pixels printed at 300 dpi is 10 inches long.
The chart
| Camera | Pixels (3:4 photo) | Sharp print, 300 dpi | Good wall print, 150 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 MP | 1220 × 1630 | 4 × 5 in (10 × 14 cm) | 8 × 11 in (21 × 28 cm) |
| 5 MP | 1940 × 2590 | 6 × 9 in (16 × 22 cm) | 13 × 17 in (33 × 44 cm) |
| 8 MP | 2450 × 3270 | 8 × 11 in (21 × 28 cm) | 16 × 22 in (41 × 55 cm) |
| 12 MP | 3000 × 4000 | 10 × 13 in (25 × 34 cm) | 20 × 27 in (51 × 68 cm) |
| 16 MP | 3460 × 4610 | 12 × 15 in (29 × 39 cm) | 23 × 31 in (59 × 78 cm) |
| 24 MP | 4240 × 5650 | 14 × 19 in (36 × 48 cm) | 28 × 38 in (72 × 96 cm) |
| 48 MP | 6000 × 8000 | 20 × 27 in (51 × 68 cm) | 40 × 53 in (102 × 135 cm) |
| 50 MP | 6120 × 8160 | 20 × 27 in (52 × 69 cm) | 41 × 54 in (104 × 138 cm) |
| 108 MP | 9000 × 12000 | 30 × 40 in (76 × 102 cm) | 60 × 80 in (152 × 203 cm) |
Worked out for an upright 3:4 photo, the shape most phone cameras produce. Sizes are rounded to the nearest inch.
Which column should I use?
- 300 dpi is the standard for prints held in the hand: albums, table frames, greeting cards. At this level the eye cannot see the pixels.
- 150 dpi is fine for prints seen from a metre or more away: wall frames, posters, a portrait at a function. From a normal viewing distance it still looks sharp.
So a 12 MP photo makes a perfect 10 × 13 inch print, and a perfectly acceptable wall print of twice that size.
More megapixels is not always more detail
The chart shows the most a photo can give. Real photos often give less, for reasons that have nothing to do with megapixels:
- Blur. A shaky or out-of-focus photo has no fine detail to print, however many pixels it has.
- Low light. Photos taken in dim rooms are grainy and smeared when enlarged.
- Digital zoom. Pinching to zoom while taking a photo only crops it. The result has fewer real pixels than the number suggests.
- Very high megapixel modes. Many phones with 48, 50 or 108 MP cameras save 12 MP photos by default, by combining pixels for better light. That is usually the better choice. The full mode helps mainly in bright daylight.
Cropping costs pixels
If you crop one face out of a group photo, you keep only the pixels inside the crop. Cut a 12 MP photo down to a quarter of its area and you have a 3 MP photo, good for a 5 × 7 print and no more. This is why the original, uncropped file matters when a photo will be printed.
What chat apps do to the numbers
A photo sent the normal way through a chat app arrives much smaller than it left. A 12 MP original can arrive at a fraction of that size. Check the pixel size of what you received before printing, and if it is small, ask for the photo again as a document. See sharing photos without losing quality.
Finding the pixel size of a photo
- Android: open the photo in the gallery, then swipe up or tap the three dots and choose Details or Info.
- iPhone: open the photo and swipe up, or tap the "i" button.
- Windows: right-click the file, choose Properties, then the Details tab.
- Mac: select the file and press Command and I.
Type the two numbers into the checker on our print sizes page and it will tell you the largest sharp print and the largest acceptable print.
If the photo is too small
- Look for the original: on the phone that took it, in a cloud backup, or with the photographer.
- Print smaller. A small sharp print in a frame with a wide mount looks better than a large soft one.
- Use it in a collage, where each photo is printed small. See printing a collage.
- For a treasured old photo, a photo studio can rescan the paper print at high quality if the print still exists.
Questions people ask
How many megapixels do I need for an A4 print?
About 8 megapixels gives a sharp A4 print at 300 dpi. With 2 to 3 megapixels an A4 print is acceptable from a distance but soft when held close.
Is 12 megapixels enough for a large print?
Yes. A sharp 12 MP photo prints perfectly at about 10 × 13 inches and looks good on a wall at about 20 × 27 inches.
Does a 108 MP camera take better photos than a 12 MP camera?
Not by itself. Light, focus and a steady hand decide the detail. Extra megapixels help mainly for very large prints or heavy cropping of photos taken in bright light.
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