Resolution and Printing on Social Sharing Websites (Facebook, PicasaWeb, and Flickr)

For the photogs out there who like to share photos with family and friends for printing –

Facebook:

Facebook allows users the option to upload photos at 2048 pixels along the longest side.  A photo with 2048 pixels on the long end with the 4x6 format will print at just over 4x6 inches at 341 pixels per inch (the professional standard is 300 ppi).  In other words Facebook’s maximum resolution for uploads is excellent for 4x6 photos (at over 300 ppi) and 5x7 (at 293 ppi), and possibly okay for 8x10 (at 205 ppi).  Larger photos will automatically be resized before the upload so that you don’t have to wait for long uploads.

(http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/09/30/improvements-photos-high-resolution/)

Google PicasaWeb

From what I can tell, Google has no size limit.  However once you reach 7 gigabytes (which includes your Gmail storage) the maximum size for photos becomes 800x800 pixels.  If you are a Google+ member the maximum size is 2048 pixels – the same as Facebook.

If you wish to upload larger images, you can pay for additional storage:

• 20 GB - $5/yr
• 80 GB - $20/yr
• 200 GB - $50/yr
• 400 GB - $100/yr
• 1 TB - $256/yr
• 2 TB - $512/yr
• 4 TB - $1024/yr
• 8 TB - $2048/yr
• 16 TB - $4096/yr

Flickr

Using Flickr’s free account you can upload photos that have a maximum of 1024 pixels on the long side.  If you get a Flickr Pro account for $24.95 a year, you can upload photos with a maximum size of 20 megabytes which will be maximum resolution for most users.

Recap:

Facebook allows a maximum of 2048x2048 photos – great for 4x6 and 5x7 and possible okay for 8x10.

Google has no limit on the resolution of the photo, but has a maximum of 7 gigabytes of storage offered for free.  Beyond that, paid storage plans are available, or you can switch to a maximum of 2048x2048 pixel photos for free.

Flickr offers a maximum resolution of 1024x1024 for free users and practically unlimited resolution for $24.95 per year.

Please leave corrections in the comments below!

Haleigh

Haleigh, originally uploaded by Ty Johnson Photography.

I took these about a week after Haleigh was born.

Maternity Shoot

Maternity Shoot, originally uploaded by Ty Johnson Photography.

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia, originally uploaded by Ty Johnson Photography.


Here is the straight out of of camera version (other than cropping):

Playing with Flash (Self Portrait)

Playing with Flash (Self Portrait), originally uploaded by Ty Johnson Photography.

I picked up another flash yesterday and I really wanted to try this. I did it in my (small) living room and had a lot of difficulty keeping the key light from lighting the background. So a lot of the darkening was done in post processing.