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Photo Print Size Calculator

Find out how big you can print a photo before you order. Choose a photo or type its size in pixels. You'll see how sharp it will look at common print sizes, and how much gets cropped to fit.

Free, no sign-up · Facts checked against official sources on

1. Add your photo

Your photo stays on your device. We only read its size.

Or type the size in pixels

2. See how it prints

Add a photo or type its size to see results for common print sizes.

Add a custom print size (inches)

Rate the custom size asRate it as
Photo prints
Sharp 300+ · Good 180+ · Fair 125+ · Too low under 125
Banners
Good 150+ · Fair 100+ · Too low under 100

How many pixels do I need?

  • Sharp300 PPI2,400 × 3,000 px
  • Good180 PPI1,440 × 1,800 px
  • Fair125 PPI1,000 × 1,250 px

How to use this calculator

  1. Add your photo. Choose it from your phone or computer, or type its width and height in pixels. Not sure of the size? On a Mac, open the photo in Preview and choose Tools > Show Inspector. On Windows, right-click the file, choose Properties, and open the Details tab. On an iPhone, open the photo and swipe up.
  2. Read the table. Each row shows a common print size, the PPI your photo would print at, a quality rating, and how much gets cropped to fit.
  3. Pick a size, or get a bigger file. If the size you want says Too low, you need a larger version of the photo. That usually means the full-size file from your camera, phone, or photographer.

What the quality ratings mean

RatingPhoto printsBannersWhat to expect
Sharp300 PPI or more—Crisp, even up close
Good180 to 299150 or moreLooks great at normal viewing distance
Fair125 to 179100 to 149Fine for casual prints; fine detail may look soft
Too lowUnder 125Under 100Likely to look blurry or blocky

Where these numbers come from:

  • 300 PPI is the target that Pic-Time and Nations Photo Lab, a US pro lab, both give for photo prints. For example, both list 1,200 × 1,800 pixels for a 4×6.
  • 180 and 125 PPI are the other two levels in Nations Photo Lab's resolution chart.
  • Banners need fewer pixels per inch, because people see them from farther away. 4over4 recommends 150 DPI at full size for vinyl banners. NameBadge.com uses 100 DPI at full size as its banner standard.

These are guidelines, not hard limits. Your print lab may use different cutoffs. If it shows you a low-resolution warning, take it seriously.

Why some sizes get cropped

A print has a fixed shape. If your photo's shape is different, the lab trims the extra so the photo fills the paper. Mpix puts it plainly: it's "mathematically impossible" to avoid cropping when a file doesn't match the print size's shape.

Print sizeShapeGood match for
4×6, 20×302:3Most cameras
5×75:7Close to camera photos, with light cropping
8×10, 16×204:5Neither; expect cropping
11×1411:14Neither; expect cropping

Phone photos usually have a 4:3 shape. Take a 12-megapixel phone photo (4,032 × 3,024 pixels). At 4×6, it loses about 11% from the top and bottom. At 8×10, it loses about 6% from the sides. To control what gets cut, crop the photo to the print's shape yourself before you upload it. Mpix suggests the same.

Why proofs, screenshots, and texted photos print badly

Mpix says that uploading photos "from social media accounts, websites, screenshots, proofs, or text messages" will hurt print quality. Shutterfly gives the same advice: use the original full-size file, not a copy from social media. All of these copies are smaller than the original, and some are compressed too.

Photo gallery downloads work the same way. Many galleries offer a small web-size file for sharing and a full-size file for printing. Say your download is 2,048 × 1,365 pixels. It prints sharp at 4×6 (341 PPI), but only fair at 8×10 (170 PPI). For bigger prints, you want the full-size file. Our guides explain how to get it from Pic-Time, PhotoDay, and Lifetouch.

Can I just raise the PPI or make the photo bigger?

Not really. Changing the PPI setting in a photo app only changes the label on the file. The number of pixels stays the same, so the print looks the same. Making the photo bigger in an editor adds pixels, but it doesn't add real detail. As Mpix puts it, manually increasing a file's pixel size "will not make an image print more clearly."

The only real fix is a bigger original file.

Planning a team or graduation banner

A full 3×6 ft banner needs 3,600 × 7,200 pixels at 100 DPI. A 12-megapixel phone photo stretched across the whole banner comes out at about 56 DPI, which is too low.

Most banners don't work that way, though. Each photo usually covers only part of the banner. Use the custom size box: enter the area the photo will cover and choose Part of a banner. A 12-megapixel phone photo covering 18 × 24 inches comes out at 168 DPI. That's above the 150 DPI that 4over4 recommends. For more, see our guide to team banner photo resolution.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I print a proof or gallery preview?

Usually not well. Previews are made for screens, so they're small and often watermarked. Mpix lists proofs, screenshots, and photos from texts or social media as files that hurt print quality. Ask your photographer or photo company for the full-size file, or buy the digital download. Then check it here before you order prints.

What's the difference between PPI and DPI?

PPI means pixels per inch: how many pixels from your file land on each inch of the print. DPI means dots per inch, which describes the printer's ink dots. When print labs and banner shops talk about file resolution, they often use the two terms the same way. So "300 DPI" on a lab's site usually means 300 pixels per inch at the print size.

How many pixels do I need for an 8×10?

For a sharp print at 300 PPI, you need 2,400 × 3,000 pixels. At 180 PPI, which Nations Photo Lab also lists, you need 1,440 × 1,800. Your photo should also be close to the 4:5 shape of an 8×10, or part of it will be cropped. Use the "How many pixels do I need?" box above for other sizes.

How big can I print a 12-megapixel phone photo?

A typical 12-megapixel phone photo is 4,032 × 3,024 pixels. That's enough for a sharp print up to about 10 × 13 inches at 300 PPI. At 180 PPI, it still looks good up to about 16 × 22 inches. Most standard sizes will crop it a little, because phone photos have a 4:3 shape and most print sizes don't.

Does this calculator upload my photo?

No. When you choose a photo, your browser reads its width and height right on your device. The photo itself isn't sent to our servers or to anyone else, and nothing is saved. If you'd rather not choose a file at all, you can type the width and height in pixels instead.

Why does my photo look sharp on screen but print blurry?

A screen can make a small file look crisp, because it only needs a few pixels to fill a phone or laptop display. A print spreads those same pixels across every inch of paper. If there aren't enough of them, edges look soft and details blur. Check the file's pixel size here before you order, especially for prints 8×10 and larger.