When your photos are displayed on a computer monitor, the images you see will not make for good quality prints. This is because the MyTripJournal.com system optimizes your photos to make loading times much faster for your visitors. This doesn't affect the quality of what your visitors see, because computers cannot display nearly as many bits of information as paper.
If you have Premium service, our system preserves your photos in their original quality (we actually keep two copies of every photo you upload, in different locations -- just in case). Assuming your original uploaded photos were not already optimized for the internet, they will make much better prints than the images displayed on your website.
Most people take higher-resolution photos than they need. This is because of camera company advertising, encouraging everyone to buy 8-megapixel cameras.
According to Hewlett Packard, if you print out 4x6's, you need only 640 x 480 pixels to make a beautiful printed photo. This is less than one-third of one megapixel! Even for 5x7 photo greeting cards, you need 1152 x 864 pixels, still less than one megapixel.
Of course, the higher your photo's resolution, the longer it takes to upload. You can upload 10 excellent 4x6 quality photos in the same time it'd take you for just one photo if your camera was set for 3 megapixel photos. Imagine how much time you could save uploading photos to your Personal Travel Website just by lowering the 'quality' setting on your camera!
Our Image Preparation Guide will help you make the best decisions about your photos. You can consult it at any time, directly from your photo entry editor.
Hewlett Packard's recommended minimum image resolution for photos. Have a question about a MyTripJournal feature?
Email us.