How to Turn Snapshots Into High Quality Prints

Though it's fairly simple to print pictures from your home computer or through a kiosk at the drugstore, creating high-quality, large-format photos can be trickier. If you'd like to make a large print out of one of your favorite photos, several options are available to you. Learn to turn snapshots into high quality prints.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Prepare the picture for printing. You'll need to calibrate your computer's display so that the colors you view on the screen will match what you print. You can achieve basic calibration using the color-management tools built into Mac OS X or using a free Microsoft Windows XP control panel applet. You can download this application for free at the Microsoft website.
2. Maximize the megapixels provided on your camera. The greater the number of pixels that are captured in an image on your camera, the larger you'll be able to reproduce the image without losing quality. This is why the number of megapixels a camera has is a key factor to consider when purchasing a digital camera.
3. Know that if you've captured a lower-resolution image, you aren't completely out of luck. Adobe PhotoShop software or other photo software can enlarge the image. The risk is that the image quality is degraded. Using this process, called upsampling, the computer must interpolate what the enlarged image will look like, adding pixels to the image to accommodate its new size. The result can give the image a slightly softer, fuzzy appearance depending on how much you've enlarged it.
4. Print the photo yourself using a high-quality inkjet printer. Inexpensive $50 printers that you received for free with the purchase of your computer won't provide the quality you need.
5. Order prints from online photo processors such as Kodak or Shutterfly. These services offer larger-format printing, sometimes indicated as "posters" on their ordering pages. It is more cost effective but you will be giving up some creative control.
6. Seek the help of a photo lab near you if you'd like additional help. These businesses can service both negatives and digital images. Their expertise can be especially valuable when working with a difficult image.

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