S30 Resolution and Compression Settings for Optimal Prints

[frank77]

I recently purchased the Canon S30 camera, and I am a newbie to digital photography. Sorry for the stupid question, haven't had time to peruse the board for this info but here goes.

Could someone please help me with the "optimal" settings for resolution and compression assuming I want to print some of the pictures? For 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 what settings do you recommend? I am trying to find a good balance between getting prints that rival 35MM film prints, but also managing space on the memory card. I have a 16MB and 128MB memory card.

Also, for pictures that I never intend to print, what do you recommend for resolution and compression settings?

Thank you.

 

[john394]

I personally take all pictures at the best/highest settings. I've been in situations where I BELIEVED I wouldn't need to print, but I later decided that I would. Highest settings give you the most flexibility. Just buy an extra CF card.

 

[mango]

Hi Frank,

You should record images at full size (2048x1536). If you know you are going to use these shots for on-screen viewing at e.g. 800x600, and if you are concerned with storage space in the camera, you can use the most compressed setting, and you won't see any difference once you resample the image to the smaller size and add a little unsharp mask. The reason is that any visible JPEG artifacts will be averaged out when you resample to reduce the dimensions.

If you are going to print, or enlarge, the story changes. For this discussion, I will assume (always a dangerous thing to do) that your print service has a max resolution of 300 ppi. When you give him your 2048x1365 (you remembered to crop it, right?) file to be printed at 6x4, the file will have 341 ppi. You print service will have to throw out 41 ppi. He will tactfully do this and you'll be none the wiser. Since you are averaging away pixels, you can afford to have some minor JPEG artifacts which will get smoothed away in the averaging process. Therefore for a 4x6 print, you can shoot Large Normal (medium compression setting) and you won't see any JPEG artifacts.

Now what happens at 5x7? You now give your printer a 2048x1463 file (again...you remembered to crop?) and he has only 292 ppi. He needs every last pixel and then some! He will actually stretch the pixels a wee bit to cover the picture. Since you are magnifying pixels, you definitely don't want any JPEG artifacts. For this case, shoot Large Superfine (least compression). If you become obsessed, you can resample your file to 2100x1500 so that your printer won't have to stretch your pixels...you've already done it!

for 8x10 it's even worse. The biggest file you can deliver is 1920x1536. This is only 192 ppi. At this size, each pixel needs to be magnified by over 50% in both height and width in order to print at 300 ppi…the resolution of the printer. Now, you definitely do not want any JPEG artifacts or other noise present. In this case, probably want to turn the in-camera sharpening to –1 so that you don’t nave noticeable magnified sharpening artifacts in the print.

I usually shoot in Large Superfine with sharpening turned to –1. I can capture 80 shots on a 128 MB card. This is more than I generally take in a day. If I needed more space, I wouldn’t hesitate to knock the compression setting down to “Normal”.

I do occasionally use the 1024x768 or 640x480 setting for high-speed continuous mode. I like that you can capture more than 30 images at better than 3/sec in the low resolution mode. Other than that I don’t see any benefits from using the low res modes.

I hope this helps.

I recently purchased the Canon S30 camera, and I am a newbie to
digital photography. Sorry for the stupid question, haven't had
time to peruse the board for this info but here goes.

Could someone please help me with the "optimal" settings for
resolution and compression assuming I want to print some of the
pictures? For 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 what settings do you recommend? I
am trying to find a good balance between getting prints that rival
35MM film prints, but also managing space on the memory card. I
have a 16MB and 128MB memory card.

Also, for pictures that I never intend to print, what do you
recommend for resolution and compression settings?

Thank you.

--
http://www.pbase.com/mango

 

[eduardtee]

I think mango is giving you some really good advice. Very detailed and probably accurate

However, if you don't want to think too much about what you're going to print and what not AND your financial situation will let you: buy an extra flash-card and capture everything at the highest resolution possible.

You may never know if you come along a picture which you might just want to print. CD-R's aren't that expensive these days, so you can backup every picture that you make on that medium. At least, that's what I do: every picture I take, gets burnt on a CD-R. You never know what the future holds for you.

 

[frank77]

Anyone else? Thanks.

I recently purchased the Canon S30 camera, and I am a newbie to
digital photography. Sorry for the stupid question, haven't had
time to peruse the board for this info but here goes.

Could someone please help me with the "optimal" settings for
resolution and compression assuming I want to print some of the
pictures? For 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 what settings do you recommend? I
am trying to find a good balance between getting prints that rival
35MM film prints, but also managing space on the memory card. I
have a 16MB and 128MB memory card.

Also, for pictures that I never intend to print, what do you
recommend for resolution and compression settings?

Thank you.

 

[Leonard Richmond]

Check out

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S30/S30PICS.HTM

for a real world comparison (brick house with white trim and dark roof, trees, bushes, sky) of the 3 jpg compression levels.

In the "Select a topic" box, select "PowerShot S30 Sample Images" (the third row). On that page, about 40% of the way down, under Far-Field Test you'll see a table named Resolution Series, with the same picture at each Size/Compression setting. He calls them Fine, Normal, and Economy - you probably know them as Superfine, Fine, and Normal, so don't get confused by his terminology.

Open up 2 copies of your internet program so you can see Large/Fine (2330 KB), and Large/Normal (1606 KB) or Large/Economy (817 KB) on your monitor at the same time. How much difference do you see? Not very much, and you'll have to look real close at an 8x10 to see even that much.

I average about 120 pictures on 128 MB card with the middle compression. So you can average 80 pictures, or 120, or 240 on your card, depending on the compression used.

The earlier answers told you what was the best quality, but if you're running out of room on your card, the decision boils down to fewer pictures & better quality versus more pictures & lesser quality. If you check out the pictures I mentioned, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how little quality you give up to get a lot more pictures on your card. And a picture 98% as good is certainly better than no picture at all!

 

[Justme]

I have a G2 and an Epson 785epx printer. It seems like there's no way to print at 5 x 7 without some cropping. Am I correct? I have borderless printing in mind.

You should record images at full size (2048x1536). If you know you
are going to use these shots for on-screen viewing at e.g. 800x600,
and if you are concerned with storage space in the camera, you can
use the most compressed setting, and you won't see any difference
once you resample the image to the smaller size and add a little
unsharp mask. The reason is that any visible JPEG artifacts will
be averaged out when you resample to reduce the dimensions.

If you are going to print, or enlarge, the story changes. For this
discussion, I will assume (always a dangerous thing to do) that
your print service has a max resolution of 300 ppi. When you give
him your 2048x1365 (you remembered to crop it, right?) file to be
printed at 6x4, the file will have 341 ppi. You print service will
have to throw out 41 ppi. He will tactfully do this and you'll be
none the wiser. Since you are averaging away pixels, you can
afford to have some minor JPEG artifacts which will get smoothed
away in the averaging process. Therefore for a 4x6 print, you can
shoot Large Normal (medium compression setting) and you won't see
any JPEG artifacts.

Now what happens at 5x7? You now give your printer a 2048x1463
file (again...you remembered to crop?) and he has only 292 ppi. He
needs every last pixel and then some! He will actually stretch the
pixels a wee bit to cover the picture. Since you are magnifying
pixels, you definitely don't want any JPEG artifacts. For this
case, shoot Large Superfine (least compression). If you become
obsessed, you can resample your file to 2100x1500 so that your
printer won't have to stretch your pixels...you've already done it!

for 8x10 it's even worse. The biggest file you can deliver is
1920x1536. This is only 192 ppi. At this size, each pixel needs
to be magnified by over 50% in both height and width in order to
print at 300 ppi…the resolution of the printer. Now, you
definitely do not want any JPEG artifacts or other noise present.
In this case, probably want to turn the in-camera sharpening to –1
so that you don’t nave noticeable magnified sharpening artifacts in
the print.

I usually shoot in Large Superfine with sharpening turned to –1. I
can capture 80 shots on a 128 MB card. This is more than I
generally take in a day. If I needed more space, I wouldn’t
hesitate to knock the compression setting down to “Normal”.

I do occasionally use the 1024x768 or 640x480 setting for
high-speed continuous mode. I like that you can capture more than
30 images at better than 3/sec in the low resolution mode. Other
than that I don’t see any benefits from using the low res modes.

I hope this helps.

I recently purchased the Canon S30 camera, and I am a newbie to
digital photography. Sorry for the stupid question, haven't had
time to peruse the board for this info but here goes.

Could someone please help me with the "optimal" settings for
resolution and compression assuming I want to print some of the
pictures? For 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 what settings do you recommend? I
am trying to find a good balance between getting prints that rival
35MM film prints, but also managing space on the memory card. I
have a 16MB and 128MB memory card.

Also, for pictures that I never intend to print, what do you
recommend for resolution and compression settings?

Thank you.

--
http://www.pbase.com/mango

--
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/the_dome

 

[RoyalJelly]

I also had a similar dilemma with compression selection. After reading everyone's comments (which are excellent), I decided to go and do the best testing possible... print out actual pics!

I took one pic that I thought was very sharp, good color ranges, and with some human skin tones in it as well. I took the shots at different settings and went to the local Costco to print them out. It was only 29 cents for the 4x6 and $1 for the 5x7. The 8x10 I had to test with an online service (Photolab.ca) and was $5 including the shipping.

The 4x6 shots using the Superfine/M2 settings were great from Costco, but poor from Black's, and in 8x10 I started to notice some artifacts and jagged edges on otherwise smooth curves. But beware that what I may consider is a good quality printout, others may find unacceptable.

From there, I decided what settings I would use ... which in the end is still the best settings that you can afford with the amount of memory that you have for the camera.

Hope that helps.

• Ray

 

[mango]

Did you test the different compression settings for "large"? Were you able to see any JPEG artifacts on any of the prints? If so, what were the size of the prints/camera settings that produced visible JPEG artifacts. Thanks.

I also had a similar dilemma with compression selection. After
reading everyone's comments (which are excellent), I decided to go
and do the best testing possible... print out actual pics!

I took one pic that I thought was very sharp, good color ranges,
and with some human skin tones in it as well. I took the shots at
different settings and went to the local Costco to print them out.
It was only 29 cents for the 4x6 and $1 for the 5x7. The 8x10 I
had to test with an online service (Photolab.ca) and was $5
including the shipping.

The 4x6 shots using the Superfine/M2 settings were great from
Costco, but poor from Black's, and in 8x10 I started to notice some
artifacts and jagged edges on otherwise smooth curves. But beware
that what I may consider is a good quality printout, others may
find unacceptable.

From there, I decided what settings I would use ... which in the
end is still the best settings that you can afford with the amount
of memory that you have for the camera.

Hope that helps.

• Ray

 

[mango]

I have a G2 and an Epson 785epx printer. It seems like there's no
way to print at 5 x 7 without some cropping. Am I correct? I have
borderless printing in mind.

If you don't want to crop, you can print 7 x 5.25, or 6.67 x 5. Since you are printing them yourself, why worry about the exact dimentions?

 

[Justme]

I have a G2 and an Epson 785epx printer. It seems like there's no
way to print at 5 x 7 without some cropping. Am I correct? I have
borderless printing in mind.

If you don't want to crop, you can print 7 x 5.25, or 6.67 x 5.
Since you are printing them yourself, why worry about the exact
dimentions?

In some cases I would not like to lose any picture data. With a 7 x 5.25 I imagine I would lose the 0.25 of the picture (whatever that translates to in picture detail). In the 6.67, I would imagine there will be a slight border on a 5x7 sheet.

--
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/the_dome