Upload & Printing Tips
 
General Overview

In the same way as a newspaper photograph is made up of many dots, digital image files from your digital camera or scanner are made up of many 'dots' or 'pixels'. The amount of pixels your image contains determines how large a picture can be produced before pixelation occurs (where the image begins to break up, and look jagged/unsharp). A 2 megapixel digital camera, or above, can produce excellent standard sized photographs. Read further to learn important information about file sizes, and upload times, etc.
 
Image Preparation


We will not edit or alter your images. Preparation of your image is entirely at your discretion (let your artistic nature have free reign!). For those who do not have their own software for editing digital files, we'd recommend the following excellent software: Irfanview (PC only freeware), or Graphic Convertor (Mac only shareware). Example: Many people upload unecessarily large files for the sizes they print, use these utilities to downsize your images for uploading (you can even do a batch resize to quickly downsize dozens of images in one step). Read this article for more details on optimising file size for print.

For more info, see editing section further down the page.
 
File Sizes


Here's a rough guide as to minimum file sizes and pixel dimensions:

Megapixels
File Size
Pixels
6x4"
5x7"
6x8"
8x10"
10x15"
12x18"
0.3
50kb
640x480
-
-
-
Don't do it!
-
0.5
90kb
800x600
Poor result
-
-
-
-
0.8
150kb
1024x768
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.2
250kb
1280x960
-
Good
-
-
-
-
1.9
400kb
1600x1200
-
-
-
-
-
-
3.1
800kb
2048x1536
-
-
-
-
-
-
4.3
1.4mb
2400x1800
-
Top quality result
-
-
5.0
1.8mb
2560x1920
-
-
-
-
-
-
6.0
2mb
2832x2128
-
-
-
-
-
-

The chart above relates only to the JPEG image file type. We do not accept other formats (i.e. tiff, bitmap, Photoshop file, etc.). If your image is in another format, save a copy of it as a JPEG for uploading/printing. Note: The 'File Size' column above relates to closed files, and assumes medium compression. These same files are much larger when opened (i.e. a 700kb file can decompress to 5 megabytes when open).
 
Uploading Times


If you're new to WebPrints, and are unfamiliar with file sizes and how long it may take to upload them, we'd recommend you just try a few images for the first time. Here's a rough guide of upload speeds:

Connection
Approximate time to upload 1 megabyte
56k Dial-up Modem
5-6 minutes
ADSL (128k version)
1 minute
ADSL (Jetstream)
12 seconds

Don't know how large your files are? Easy! On a PC, simply locate the file, and then RIGHT-click on it and choose 'Properties' from the menu that appears. On the Mac, select the file and choose Apple-i on your keyboard.

The time it will take to upload your files is dependant on several factors - the speed of your internet connection (i.e. modem, ADSL, etc.), the weight of internet traffic at the time of your submission, your ISP's customer/hardware ratio, and the size and quantity of your images (some people can also have line noise issues). After your images have all uploaded, you will be transferred to an 'Order Completed' confirmation page. Please do not close your browser until this has occurred.
 
Resolution

Our digital lab prints at 400dpi. However, there is no need for you to adjust your files resolution, or interpolate upwards to meet this resolution, as this occurs automatically when we send the file for printing. In fact, interpolating is discouraged as the D-Lab's hardware interpolation is superior to software interpolation.
 
JPEG Compression

The JPEG file type has become the standard method for transferring files between computers. Its ability to compress enables file sizes to be substantially smaller, whilst retaining exceptional quality. If you possess software for manipulating images, it will offer a compression/quality tradeoff option when saving your file. Depending on your software, you may have a range of 1 to 12, or 1 to 10, to choose from. We don't recommend choosing less than 5 or 6 out of 12, or the integrity of your image may be compromised. Conversely, a quality level higher than 8 or 9 out of 12 will make the file larger (and slower to upload) without any perceivable difference in quality. Additionally, as a rule, a higher pixel count is more important than the compression of the image. i.e. an image with a pixel count of 1280x960 at a medium JPEG compression will give a better result than an image of 1024x768 pixels with the least compression.
Editing

If you wish to edit your images before printing (for manipulation, or colour/contrast adjustments), we recommend you utilise the lossless advantages of the Tiff format. It's a good idea to retain the Tiff file as a 'hard copy' for future editing purposes. Once you're happy with your image, simply save a copy of this file as a JPEG for uploading to us for printing. If you later discover something you've overlooked in regards to your image, you can revert to your 'hard copy' (Tiff file), make your changes, then save another JPEG for printing. NOTE: Whatever you do, always work on a copy of your file - not the original. If you edit your original JPEG, and save back upon itself (rather than save a copy) you risk an irreversible reduction in quality of your image. Ideally you should archive all your original images to CD.
 
Prints

The prints you will receive are real photographs, on actual photographic paper. We do not use inkjet, dye-sub, or any other means of printing. Quality is assured, and is in direct relation to the quality of the image you provide. Additionally, we calibrate our machines and paper at regular intervals throughout the day, thus ensuring you get a consistent result if you upload the same file at different times. If you're unhappy at all with any aspect of this service, please contact us and we'll do what we can to troubleshoot and rectify the problem.

 
Need help?

If there's anything you're unsure about, please email your questions to teaboy@photo.co.nz We'll be happy to help.