The Tribune

If you have been around since the beginning of digital photography you will know how much progress has been made. Today’s models make the first digital cameras look incredibly weak, which is largely due to resolution.

What is Image Resolution and why does It matter?

Think of resolution as “image quality”. Put in very basic terms, resolution is the quality of an image. As the resolution goes up, the image becomes clearer. It becomes sharper, more defined and more detailed. Why is that? Because there is more information in the same small space. Your computer, laptop and smart phone both have image resolutions. And there is a certain number of dots in the space that is the screen.

The more dots in the width and height of the screen, the higher the resolution. The fewer dots, the lower the resolution. If you remember those old computer monitors from the 1990s, you will recall how blurry the images were. These days, most basic laptops and LCD screens have a much higher resolution.

There is more detail in the space of your screen because there are more dots to display the details of the images. That is all resolution is. It is the number of dots (pixels) in any given space.

Cheating Resolution

You can cheat resolution, and make an image seem smoother than it otherwise would be, by using a technique known as anti-aliasing. This smoothens out the jagged edges in text, or angled lines in your image.

Each pixel is made up of small red, green and blue sub-pixels. By changing the amount of red, green and blue, a computer screen can manipulate the sub-pixels to give the illusion of having a higher resolution. That results in a better image. Microsoft calls this Clear Type, and it is mostly used for text.

The difference between print resolution and screen resolution

Resolution starts to become a bit more complicated when you want to print your images. Now, instead of dealing with a screen that does not change, you have the option to print the image at any number of resolutions. Which one is right? What should you use to get the best quality?

First of all, realise that resolution often takes a back seat to the paper you are printing on. If you do not have the right kind of paper, the ink will bleed, and it will not matter how detailed your image is.

Print resolution tends to be much larger than screen resolution. That is because the ink dots, when printing, can be much closer together than normally seen on a screen. Notably, you can fit more “pixels” in a printed photo than you can on a screen.

As a result, never print your image at the same resolution of the screen you are viewing it on. That is a quick way to get some very strange results. Most computer monitors display images at 72 dots per inch. When you print, you should be anywhere from 300 dots per inch to 1,800 dots per inch undet the most sophisticated equipment.

A mistake that totally destroys resolution

As a last piece of advice, I want to remind you not to do this one thing that will totally destroy all quality in your images. If you ever need to crop an image or make it smaller, never, ever resize it back up to the original size. Doing so will ruin the quality of the image, and you will be left with nothing but a blurry mess.

Just remember that you can always go down in size but, once you do, it is irreversible. You cannot go back up. That is one of the main reasons I recommend you always keep a back-up of your original photo when editing.

Long-time readers will know I recommend avoiding the “digital zoom” feature on any cameras as well. Digital zoom is a bogus feature that camera makers build into their cameras to make them seem more capable.

When you use the digital zoom, you are not really zooming in; you are simply magnifying the image that is already stored on the camera. It is no different from going into Photoshop, cropping the image, and then resizing it back up. Avoid it, and you will always have crystal clear images.

Resolution is not a bad concept once you break it down into the fundamentals. It is image quality, plain and simple.

How Do I Know if I Have a High-Resolution Image?

Your art needs to be a 300 dpi (dots per inch) high-resolution jpg, tif, or eps file. An eps format is common for logos. You may submit an eps image. Do not submit a png image.

A “dot” (also known as a “pixel”) describes the number of discrete points that can be captured by digital cameras.

“Dots per inch” (dpi) measures the density of the image when printed. 72 dpi is an image that has very little ink in a square inch. 300 dpi has a lot of ink in a square inch. To be included in the product showcase, your image must be at least 2 inches x 2 inches (600 pixels x 600 pixels) at 300 dpi. Otherwise, it will be “pixilated”.

Low resolution photo: Any pictures found on the web are low resolution, and not suitable for print quality. A picture that is low-resolution cannot be made into a high resolution photo.

High resolution photo: A high resolution picture is determined by its number of pixels - more pixels improve the sharpness of the picture. This is print quality.

The amount of space a picture takes up on your computer, and how long it takes to e-mail, is determined by the picture’s file size. The more pixels a picture has, the larger its file size will be.

Until we meet again, fill your life with memories rather than regrets. Enjoy life and stay on top of your game!

•NB: Columnist welcomes feedback at deedee21bastian@gmail.com.

ABOUT COLUMNIST:

Deidre Bastian is a professionally-trained graphic designer/ marketing co-ordinator with qualifications of MSc, BSc, ASc. She has trained at institutions such as: Miami Lakes Technical Centre, Success Training College, College of The Bahamas, Nova Southeastern University, Learning Tree International, Langevine International and Synergy Bahamas.