Some simple tips to help you streamline your online digital printing experience.
The time that it will take to upload your images depends on three things; internet speed, photo filesize and the number of photos.
1. Internet Speed.
The faster your connection speed, the faster your image will upload.
If you are connecting to the internet with dialup (56Kbps) then you will most likely want to resize your images before you upload them, as your connection speed is quite slow.
If you are connected to the internet with broadband (Jetstream is 128Kbps) then you will upload faster, twice as fast dialup, but you may still want to resize your image.
If you are connecting to the internet at your workplace via a LAN then you may be uploading at extremely fast speeds, and probably will not need to resize your images, but remember your work is paying for all the data they send and receive!
2. Photo filesize
The filesize of your photos is extremely important, however for certain print sizes, you may have more than enough data in your photo, and it can be resized for a faster upload.
For example, a two megapixel camera can take photos around 1 Megabyte in filesize, however for a 6x4 image, you only need a photo around 200 Kilobytes.
You can possibly use the software that came with your camera to resize, or Windows XP users can download the free "Windows Powertoy" from the Microsoft website.
Use this table as a guideline for filesize, however remember these are minimums! Doubling the minimum size is a good compromise between quality and filesize.
Note: Resize images as copies, dont resize the original!
| PRINT SIZE (inches) | Minimum dimensions (pixels) | Mega | Minimum File Size |
| 3.5x5 | 525 x 750 | 0.4MP | 60KB |
| 6x4 | 900 x 600 | 0.5MP | 70-100KB |
| 5x7 | 750 x 1050 | 1.0MP | 100-300KB |
| 6x8 | 900 x 1200 | 1.1MP | 300-400KB |
| 6x9 | 900 x 1350 | 1.2MP | 500-700KB |
| 8x10 | 1200 x 1500 | 1.8MP | 600-800KB |
| 8x12 | 1200 x 1800 | 2.1MP | 700-900KB |
| 10x12 | 1500 x 1800 | 2.7MP | 1.1MB |
| 10x15 | 1500 x 2250 | 3.3MP | 2+MB |
3. Number of Photos
Unfortunately there is not much you can do to reduce the number of photos, only you know how many you want printed! However, remember if you want different sizes of the same photo, you only need to upload the photo once, then click the edit button and add another print size.
