Printing and Imaging Services

Working from Digital Image Files

Digital image files, whether obtained by scanning, digital photography or other means, need to be of a high enough resolution for the intended print size. They also need to be in sharp focus and to contain enough detail so that they don't look fuzzy when blown up to the size required. In our experience scanning is by far the best way to go for superior results.

Getting down to numbers, we need at least 150 ppi (pixels per inch) at the desired output size (300 ppi would be better). For example to produce a very small print only 4"×4" the digital image should be at least 600×600 pixels. That's 360,000 pixels altogether! At 300ppi the file would be four times bigger... and so on.

We can cope with most file formats but if you send JPEGs please don't compress them – it can cause loss of detail. If you've done your own proofing to a specific printer, send us the ICC profile for that printer and we'll match as closely to it as we can.

If in doubt – send us your files – we'll look at them and tell you for free how large you can safely go!