Cropped photo is "too low resolution": For the first time, I was experimenting with enlarging two photos for printing on canvas on the Costco site. The message I get is "too low...

genocolo Loc: Vail and Gasparilla Island

For the first time, I was experimenting with enlarging two photos for printing on canvas on the Costco site. The message I get is "too low resolution." Attached are the cropped versions. What am I doing wrong? Is the crop too much and it results in the low resolution?

I would appreciate any advice or ideas. Thanks in advance.

(Download)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

The first image is 1098x805 pixels, the second is 939x647 pixels.
Kinda low resolution. Did you do a LOT of cropping?
How did you save the cropped image? Low resolution?

What are the resolution requirements for what you want to have done?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

The store gave you the information.

too low resolution = too small a crop

What 'looks good on a screen' or internet is often crap when printed.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Take the bottom image. If this was the file you intended to print, it measures 939 x 647 pixels. Using the 300 pixels per inch (ppi) 'gold standard', this file is sized only to 3in by 2in. Even at 100 ppi, these will print to only 9in x 6in. You can use tools like Photoshop, PS Elements, LR, and others to resize the image, adding pixels to the file. The more these pixels are invented by the software (aka guessing), the more grainy the image will look. You can generate a test resized image and see if it seems acceptable when viewed at the 1:1 pixel level that will be your printed version too.

therwol Loc: USA

genocolo wrote:

For the first time, I was experimenting with enlarging two photos for printing on canvas on the Costco site. The message I get is "too low resolution." Attached are the cropped versions. What am I doing wrong? Is the crop too much and it results in the low resolution?

I would appreciate any advice or ideas. Thanks in advance.

What did you start with? Can you post the original image that came out of the camera (or phone)? Either you cropped too severely or you didn't start with a large enough image to start with. Which camera or phone?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

therwol wrote:

What did you start with? Can you post the original image that came out of the camera (or phone)? Either you cropped too severely or you didn't start with a large enough image to start with. Which camera or phone?

The camera and lens are readily available in the EXIF data of the posted files.

genocolo Loc: Vail and Gasparilla Island

Canon 80D and 100-400L.

Here is an original from which one of the crops was done.

Now I understand why I should try to get closer and fill the frame!

(Download)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

genocolo wrote:

Canon 80D and 100-400L.

Here is an original from which one of the crops was done.

Now I understand why I should try to get closer and fill the frame!

This one is 3323 × 2806 pixels.
If you crop out half on each side you'll wind up with 1661x1403 pixels.
Not good for large prints.

≈9Mp camera?

blackest Loc: Ireland

I use a 36Mpix full frame camera, an APC (1.5x crop) is 4/9ths 36/9 x 4 =16Mpix a mirrorless camera sensor (2x crop) is a 1/4 of mine 36/4 = 9Mpix These are reasonable crops. 3x crop factor = 1/9th or 4Mpix = not enough.

I think it was gene first said to me 8Mpix is enough for an 8x10ish sized print. at a normal viewing position and you can go bigger at that size because the viewing distance increases.

Try that calculation on your camera, I know if that was from mine i wouldn't use less than a 1/4 of the frame.

therwol Loc: USA

CHG_CANON wrote:

The camera and lens are readily available in the EXIF data of the posted files.

Yes, didn't think of it, but the supposedly full frame photo has only 9 MP, and the camera has a 24MP sensor. What's going on?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

therwol wrote:

Yes, didn't think of it, but the supposedly full frame photo has only 9 MP, and the camera has a 24MP sensor. What's going on?

Do you have the camera app set for maximum resolution?
My Android phone camera resolution is selectable from a few options.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

It helps to learn about cropping and sizing for printing. In general, using 300 ppi, an image that is 3000 pixels across would have good resolution at 8' x 10' or so, with 3000 pixels being the 10" side. Here is how to figure out sizing: let's say you want an image that is 8" across and you want to print it at the industry standard of 300 ppi, you would use 8 x 300 to arrive at 2400 pixels across being needed to print a high quality print (some people go down to 240 ppi but most online printers require 300 ppi to ensure a quality print). Or, you want to print an image at 10 x 15, the minimum sizing needed in pixels would be 15 x 300, so 4500 pixels on the side that is 15". Shooting with a plan to crop a lot of the data away does not work very well in many cases when you want to print. Again, sizing can vary greatly for a variety of reasons and variables.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

genocolo wrote:

Canon 80D and 100-400L.

Here is an original from which one of the crops was done.

Now I understand why I should try to get closer and fill the frame!

At full size and quality RAW the 80D is 24 mp, same for large JPEG and the image without cropping is 6000 x 4000 pixels=24mp. So this "original" image is already cropped way down.
I also noted you were at 200 mm if using the 100-400L you should have been at 400 mm for this bird.
What quality setting do you have because this "original" is only 37.5% of max this camera can do?
Set it for full RAW or if a member of the Church of JPEG set it for L JPEG to get your full 24 mp.
Then use that lens at max and if you are after head shots get closer. If anyone told you not to use it at 400 they either had a bad copy or don't really know what they are talking about. That lens is sharp at 400 mm and even with a 1.4x on it mine is sharp-the sunny day on the water the f-stop loss won't matter.
And yes, I have an 80D which I keep on a tripod with a Tamron 150-600 G2, my handheld bird setup is a 7DII with 100-400L and sometimes a 1.4x III extender. When working in a blind near feeders or perching spots I often use a 5DIV with either of those lenses.

mjones540

For what it's worth, I like the original photo.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

One thing to keep in mind: due to the material it will be printed on, a canvas print won’t need as much resolution as a glossy, which will resolve more detail.
How many pixels per inch to use, I don’t know, but it’s certainly not going to be 300ppi.