Photo Resolution FAQs
Please see below for information pertaining to photo resolution.
What is Photo Resolution?
What is the minimum resolution required for prints and other products?
How does cropping affect resolution?
What does the yellow triangle mean?
What resolution should my photos be for creating photo products?
What resolution is required to put on a photo gift?
A: Resolution is an indication of the quality of your photos. The higher the resolution, the clearer and more detailed your photo -- and the more options you have for printing or creating photo gifts.
Every digital image is made up of pixels, or tiny, light-sensitive squares. The number of pixels determines the resolution. The more pixels your photo has, the clearer your photo remains as you increase its size (for prints) or print it on a gift. At the same time, the greater the resolution, the more memory is required to store the image. Please note that you cannot increase the resolution for images.
Most digital cameras allow you to change the resolution, so you can select the quality of your photos as you take them.
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Q: What is the minimum resolution required for prints and other products?
A: If you'd like to order a print or product of a digital photo you uploaded to Walgreens Photo Center, you'll get excellent results as long as you follow this simple guideline: high quality digital prints start with high quality digital images. Walgreens recommends saving and uploading photos with a pixel density (PPI) of at least 200 or better.
Photos uploaded to Walgreens.com must be in a jpeg or PNG format. If you are editing photos in a separate program such as Photoshop, save your images with a RGB color space to ensure their clarity and compatibility with our website.
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Q: How does cropping affect resolution?
A: Whenever you crop a photo, you decrease its resolution by reducing its number of pixels. While cropping a photo often makes a photo look better, cropping also affects the photo's suitability for certain sized prints or gifts.
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Q: What does the yellow triangle mean?
A: You might notice a yellow triangle next to a thumbnail of a photo or product. This is a warning that one or more of the photos you've selected for printing is too low-resolution to make a quality print without visible pixels (dots of color).
You can fix single image products by selecting another photo or using a high-resolution version of the same photo. You can also order it as-is, although we cannot guarantee that your poster will be of the highest quality
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Q: What resolution should my photos be for creating a poster?
A: Please refer to this chart to determine the minimum image size you need to produce quality prints.
If you plan to order prints or create gifts using your digital photos, we recommend the following image sizes for best results:
Please note that we always check the resolution of every photo before you order a reprint or photo product. If we think the photo isn't large enough to produce a quality image, we'll let you know.
NOTE: All sizes of photos can be uploaded, but problems can occur with file sizes over 10 MB, you may want to reduce files bigger than this if you encounter uploading problems.
| Product | Minimum Image Resolution |
| 4x6 Prints | 540x360 pixels |
| 5x7 Prints | 630x450 pixels |
| 8x10 Prints | 900x720 pixels |
| Wallet Prints | 270x180 pixels |
| 11x14 Poster | 1008x792 pixels |
| 12x18 Poster | 2682x1788 pixels |
| 16x20 Poster | 2980x2384 pixels |
| 20x30 Poster | 4470x2980 pixels |
| 24x36 Poster | 5400x3600 pixels |
| 2x6 Banner | 2304x6912 pixels |
| 2x8 Banner | 1728x6912 pixels |
| Photo Gifts | 900x600 pixels |
| 4x8 Photo Cards | 640x426 pixels |
| 5x7 Photo Cards | 640x480 pixels |
| 5x7 Folded Cards | 840x600 pixels |
| 4.25x6 Postcards | 720x480 pixels |
| 5x7 Postcards | 840x600 pixels |
| Custom Cover Photo Books | 1280x1024 pixels |
| Brag Books | 580x435 pixels |
| Notebooks | 1350x1000 pixels |
| Notepads | 370x370 pixels |
| Stickers | 370x370 pixels |
| 8x10 Canvas | 710x768 pixels |
| 11x14 Canvas | 994x781 pixels |
| 12x12 pixels | 852x852 pixels |
| 16x20 Canvas | 1420x1136 pixels |
| 20x24 Canvas | 1740x1420 pixels |
| 20x30 Canvas | 3000x2000 pixels |
| 11x14 Board | 3300x4200 pixels |
| 11x14 Metal Print | 3674x4676 pixels |
| 16x20 Board | 3360x4200 pixels |
| 20x30 Board | 2800x4200 pixels |
| 24x36 Board | 2784x4176 pixels |
NOTE: If your photo doesn't meet these minimum image-size requirements, you'll see an orange triangle () next to one or more print sizes in your cart. To avoid receiving a low-quality print, we recommend against ordering sizes marked with an orange triangle. Please note that we recommend that a photo be 200-300 DPI when uploading it to our site.
Use this conversion to judge how large of a print that your digital camera can produce.
| Camera Megapixels | Image Resolution* |
| 3MP | 2048x1536 pixels |
| 4MP | 2464x1632 pixels |
| 6MP | 3008x2000 pixels |
| 8MP | 3264x2448 pixels |
| 10MP | 3872x2592 pixels |
| 12MP | 4290x2800 pixels |
| 16MP | 4920x3264 pixels |
*Typical Resolution. Actual pixel dimensions vary slightly from camera to camera
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Q: What resolution is required to put on a photo gift?
A: Most gifts require a photo with a minimum resolution of 900 x 600 pixels. We will automatically check the resolution of the photos you choose to determine whether they are sufficient for your photo gifts. If your photo is not of an adequate resolution, a yellow triangle will appear below the thumbnail of the photo on the order page.
NOTE: If your photo doesn't meet these minimum image-size requirements, you'll see a yellow triangle next to one or more canvas sizes in your cart. To avoid receiving a low-quality print, we recommend against ordering sizes marked with a yellow triangle.
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