Ie-mailed some pictures to a friend that wants to make 8x10 prints of them. I shrunk them down to 640x800 to fit the computer screen. Will copying the attachments ruin the quality of the picture blowing them up to a 8x10 size? Would it be better to send the uncompressed file for printing? Thank for the help!

You don't want to try to use 640x480 pixel images for 8x10's.

That's only about 300,000 pixels (about 1/3 of a megaoixel), and after cropping for the correct aspect ratio (ratio of width to height) for an 8x10" print, it would be even less.

I wouldn't even try to print 4x6" prints from an image that small.

Send your friend the full size images, or upload them to a printing service that both of you agree on if he's not using his home printter.

It's a real good idea to have at least 2 Megapixels for an 8x10 (and 3 or more usually looks better).

Ouch, I'll second that. 800x600 is only decent for online (web, email) display. You won't even get a decent 4x6 photo out of that.

Thank you JimC & volchonokfor the quick response. I thought it did, but wasn't sure. You saved them from wasting time and money. I never have printed pictures from my digital before so it is good to get the correct information.Thanks toall theprofessionals for taking time toanswer my questions. It has been a great help!

Oops.. I thought your said 640x480 when you said 640x800. But, my advise would remain the same. That's only about a half a megapixel before cropping (way too small for something like an 8x10" print). You don't have enough pixels to spread around for a print like that. I probably wouldn't try to go more than 3x5" with it (and even that would be "borderline").

Thanks JimC. You were right the first time. It is 640x480. I put in the 640 and it does the other size. The camera is only a 2.1 pixel camera so I know they won't be real good. I have a Nikon D50 so that should help on the larger prints but the lens I have don't give a good close up. I asked for help on your other forums to fix that problem.

2 Megapixels will do for an 8x10" print, provided you don't crop it (other than what's needed for the correct ratio of width to height). I've made quite a few 8x10" prints from a 2MP Nikon before. 3MP is noticeably better though.

But, forget trying to use downsized images for this print size if you want decent quality for most subject types. You really want to stick with 2MP or higher resolution for an 8x10" print (not a 640x480 pixel imgae).

Thanks again JimC. That is good to know that I can still get a good print out of a 2.1 pixel camera. I've alway been happy just to e-mail the pictures to friends. Now that I have someone that wants to frame them, I was worried that they would really look bad. I'll give it a try.