print quality ♡
will my photo print sharp?
A full A4 page needs 2480 × 3508 pixels to print sharp. Most phone photos have plenty; photos that went through WhatsApp or Instagram often do not. Check yours below, free, without uploading anything.
- A full A4 page: 2480 × 3508 pixels for 300 DPI, 1240 × 1754 at the least
- A 12-megapixel phone photo (3024 × 4032) prints a full page at 345 DPI: sharp
- A WhatsApp copy (about 1200 × 1600) is 137 DPI on a full page: soft
- Your photos are read in your browser and never uploaded
check your photos
Up to 12 at a time. Nothing is uploaded: your browser reads the size and forgets the photo.
| size | sharp (300 DPI) | at least (150 DPI) |
|---|---|---|
| across a two-page spread | 4961 × 3508 | 2480 × 1754 |
| a full page | 2480 × 3508 | 1240 × 1754 |
| half a page | 2480 × 1754 | 1240 × 877 |
| a quarter page | 1240 × 1754 | 620 × 877 |
sharp, fine, soft
We print at 300 DPI: 300 pixels of your photo for every inch of paper. That is "sharp". Between 150 and 300 it is "fine": nobody holding the book will see the difference. Below 150 the eye starts to catch the edges, and that is "soft".
the camera roll beats the chat
Messaging apps shrink photos to send them quickly, so the copy in a chat is a fraction of the original. The same picture can be soft from WhatsApp and sharp from the phone that took it. For the photos you want large, get the original.
cropping spends pixels
Zooming into a photo to crop it throws away the part outside the frame, and the rest is stretched to fill it. A photo that is sharp in a frame can turn soft when you zoom in twice as far, so the checker assumes no zoom.
why your originals matter to us
The editor lays your book out with a lighter copy of each photo, so it stays quick. The moment you place a photo in a frame, the full original is sent too, and that is the file we print from.
how it works
- step 1
choose photos
Pick up to twelve at a time from your phone or computer.
- step 2
read the sizes
Each photo shows how it prints across a spread, on a full page, half a page and a quarter.
- step 3
place them to suit
Put the sharpest photos large and the rest in smaller frames. The editor keeps checking.
questions
- what resolution do i need to print a photo on an a4 page?
- 2480 × 3508 pixels prints a full A4 page at 300 DPI, which is what we print at. Down to 1240 × 1754 (150 DPI) still looks fine at reading distance. Below that, edges start to look soft.
- can i print photos from whatsapp?
- Yes, at the right size. WhatsApp's standard quality usually sends about 1600 pixels on the long side, so a landscape photo comes out at 194 DPI across half a page (fine) but only 137 DPI on a full page (soft). The original in the sender's camera roll is far bigger, so ask for it, or for the photo sent as a document or in HD.
- are photos saved from instagram good enough?
- For small frames. Instagram keeps photos about 1080 pixels wide: 231 DPI in a quarter-page frame, 115 DPI on a full page. Use the original from your phone wherever you can.
- what does “this photo will print soft” mean?
- It means that photo, at the size its frame is now, lands below 150 DPI, so it will look slightly blurred on paper. Make its frame smaller, zoom out of it, or replace it with the original file. Nothing stops you ordering; the editor just tells you first.
- does the editor check this for me?
- Yes. Every frame runs this same check as you build, and any soft photo is marked before you order. The checker on this page is that exact sum, for photos you have not added yet.