Printing guest photos: what resolution you really have
When printing guest photos, the number that matters is pixels on the longest edge. A guest’s photo reaches Mosaikin at up to 4096 pixels, which is plenty for a 6×4 or 7×5 print and good to around A4. Bigger than that, ask the guest for the original from their phone.
By Daniel Page, Founder, Mosaikin
What resolution are your guests’ photos?
A modern phone photo is large, often larger than it needs to be to send over a struggling venue connection. So before a photo leaves the guest’s phone, Mosaikin shrinks it in their browser: anything longer than 4096 pixels on its longest edge is scaled down and re-saved as a JPEG. That is why uploads finish quickly at a busy venue, and it is what the gallery and your archive hold. See Is there a limit on how big photos can be?
On an upgraded event, the archive gives you every photo at that full display size, up to 4096 pixels on the longest edge, with camera metadata including location removed. A photo from a recent phone, in the usual 4:3 shape, arrives at up to 4096 by 3072 pixels. A photo that started smaller, a screenshot or an older phone’s, stays at its own size. See What is in the photo archive?
How big can a guest photo be printed?
Print quality is about how many pixels land on each inch of paper. As general guidance, print labs aim for 300 pixels per inch for a sharp photo print and treat about 150 as the practical floor, below which a print starts to look soft. Divide the pixels by the inches and you have your answer.
| Print size | Pixels needed at 300 per inch | Pixels needed at 150 per inch | A 4096 × 3072 photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6×4 inches | 1800 × 1200 | 900 × 600 | Sharp, with plenty to spare |
| 7×5 inches | 2100 × 1500 | 1050 × 750 | Sharp |
| 10×8 inches | 3000 × 2400 | 1500 × 1200 | Sharp |
| A4 (about 11.7×8.3 inches) | about 3508 × 2480 | about 1754 × 1240 | Sharp, just |
| A3 (about 16.5×11.7 inches) | about 4961 × 3508 | about 2480 × 1754 | Good from a step back; soft up close |
At 300 per inch, a 4096 by 3072 photo prints sharp up to about 13.6 by 10.2 inches. Past that it is still printable, down to the 150 floor at roughly twice the size, but it is a picture for the wall, looked at from across the room, rather than one held in the hand.
Cropping costs pixels
Phones shoot at 4:3, while a 6×4 print is 3:2 and a 7×5 is 7:5, so every print loses a little from two edges. Crop in further, to one face in a group, and the pixels you have left are what count. A tight crop of a group photo may only make a small print.
Can you print guest photos through Mosaikin?
Yes. A photo prints pack prints the photos you choose on photographic paper at 6×4 or 7×5 inches and posts them to a UK address. You pay for each order on its own, and you do not need a plan to order. See How do photo prints work?
- Choose from the gallery. Each photo is shown at the print’s shape, cropped from its centre exactly as it will print, in the order you chose them.
- Low resolution means the photo has fewer than 300 pixels per inch at that size. It will print, but may look soft.
- Too small means it has fewer than 150, and it cannot be chosen for that size. It may still fit the smaller one.
- Guests can order too, from the public gallery, when the host switches it on. They pay for their own prints, and the host is not charged. See Can a guest buy a printed keepsake?
What if you want a really big print?
Ask the guest who took it. Their camera roll still has the photo exactly as the phone saved it, at full size, before any shrinking. The archive file name tells you whose photo it is, since every file is named after the guest who took it. A message saying “we would love to frame this one, could you send the original?” is one most people are delighted to get.
Guests can also download a ZIP of what they themselves uploaded, from Your photos in the event, for 30 days from the phone they used. That is the file as it was sent, so for the biggest prints the camera roll is still the place to go. See Can I download the photos I took?
Videos are a different matter: they are sent exactly as recorded and never shrunk, so a still taken from one is only as sharp as the video frame. For prints, ask for photos.
What should you check before you print?
- Sharpness at full size. Open the photo full-screen and zoom in on the faces. Resolution is no help to a photo that moved. The Blurry and Dark marks in your moderation queue flag the likeliest culprits. See What do Blurry, Dark and Flagged mean?
- The crop. Check that nobody’s head is at the edge of a 3:2 print.
- Whose photo it is. If you are printing for sale or display beyond the family, ask the guest first.
The archive, the printed guestbook and the highlight reel come with an upgraded event: one payment, Premium £89 for most weddings, with no subscription. Prints are ordered separately, by anyone who owns the event. See pricing, and weddings on Mosaikin.
Read next: See how Mosaikin works for a wedding
Questions people ask
What resolution are guest photos on Mosaikin?
Up to 4096 pixels on the longest edge. Photos are scaled down to that in the guest’s browser before they are sent, and the archive on an upgraded event returns them at that size.
Is 4096 pixels enough to print a photo?
Yes, for most prints. At the usual 300 pixels per inch it prints sharp up to about 13.6 by 10.2 inches, which covers 6×4, 7×5, 10×8 and A4.
What does Low resolution mean when I order prints?
The photo has fewer than 300 pixels per inch at that print size. It will print, but may look soft. A photo marked Too small cannot be chosen for that size.
How do I get a guest photo big enough for a canvas?
Ask the guest for the original from their phone’s camera roll, which has not been shrunk. The archive’s file names tell you who took each photo.