Can anyone help me fix the resolution on photos?

Question

I need help with picture resolution immediately. I work the school yearbook and photo resolution is the only thing setting me back fron publishing pages. Photos saved in my computer don't have 300 resolution and i need them to be. When I changed a photo to 300 resolution the photo still shows up as unacceptable resolution and then I am unable to publish my yearbook pages. If anyone knows how to fix this problem please let me know.

Answer 1

You would have to specify the final print size as it would appear in the yearbook. For example, if the print were to appear in print @ 3 X 2 inches, even at normal printing resolution of 300 DPI, this would be a smal file in overall pixel dimensions. 900 by 600 pixels to be precise. This would have to be down sampled heavily from a normal camera file of perhaps 2500 X 3800 pixels, (or thereabouts). A photo uploaded to the web is normally only at a resolution of 72 DPI ...!
Basically you would take the size of the image, in inches, as it will appear in print, then multiply those numbers by 300 (the DPI or PPI for print). A 5 X 7 inch print would of necessity be, a 1500 x 2100 pixel file.
You should probably copy a couple of photos and practice with the "image" > "resize" dialog box. A hint is when you have to resample down, set the method at "bicubic sharper".
This was obviously in response to Jade17, not Barbara B. (Whoops, my bad, sorry).