Photo Selection Guidelines
Memory Portraits strives to produce breathtaking portraits from practically any scanned photograph. However, some guidelines must be followed to ensure proper processing.
Memory Portraits strives to produce breathtaking portraits from practically any scanned photograph. However, some guidelines must be followed to ensure proper processing.
What Are We Looking For?
In order to produce a good portrait, we need a photo of the person which shows the complete head, and full width of the body, down to the waist or slightly above.
Most photos should be scanned at 100% size, but if you have a very small photo after cropping, you should enlarge it to 150% or 200%. When scanning a TIF (.tif) file, set the resolution to whatever is needed in order to have a 2 – 2.5 MB (megabyte) file or slightly less. JPEG files transmit more quickly and we can produce a good portrait from them if they are scanned and saved at a HIGH RESOLUTION. Average-sized photos generally require a resolution of 300 dpi, while a very small photo would need to be scanned at as much as 1200 dpi.
If you choose to use a professional photo, be sure to review our Copyright section so you secure and send us the required copyright release.
A Clear, High-Resolution Photo is Key
This composite image at the left shows a low resolution JPEG. Notice the blocky distortion; this is unacceptable for portrait production. Rescanning this 1″x1.5″ photo at 600 dpi will clear up the distortion. Saving it as a TIFF will also result in better quality photo.
For best results, follow these scanning instructions:
Photo Resolution vs. Print Quality
This guide shows you the kind of quality you can expect when we’re printing your photos.
Photo Resolution |
Print Size |
|||
8×10″ | 11×14″ | 16×20″ | ||
1 | 800×600 | Poor | Poor | Poor |
2 | 1024×768 | OK | Poor | Poor |
3 | 1280×960 | OK | Good | Poor |
4 | 1536×1180 | Very Good | Good | Poor |
5 | 1600×1200 | Very Good | Good | OK |
6 | 2048×1536 | Excellent | Very Good | OK |
7 | 2240×1680 | Photo Quality | Excellent | Good |
8 | 2560×1920 | Photo Quality | Excellent | Very Good |
9 | 3032×2008 | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent |
10 | 3072×2304 | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent |
11 | 3264×2448 | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality |
- Poor: Badly pixelated, blocky image
- OK: Looks reasonable enough, but nowhere near photo quality
- Good: Pretty good all round, with a fair bit of detail
- Very Good: This will be fine for most uses, unless you get up really close
- Excellent: As good as a photo for most purposes
- Photo Quality: Great quality print, full of detail