Photo Resolution
What does resolution mean?The Resolution Warning Triangle
Cropping and resolution
What is the best resolution for photo gifts?
What does resolution mean?
All digital images captured by digital camera, camera phone, or scanner are composed of pixels (pixels is a short form of picture element). As a general rule: the more pixels an image contains (the higher the resolution), the better the picture quality. A high resolution means that you have more flexibility when cropping your photos, adding them to photo gifts, or editing them. The tradeoff for a high resolution is that the file size of your digital images will be much larger.
It is possible on most digital cameras to select your resolution. Keep in mind that you can always crop or reduce the size of your photo once it is taken, essentially removing pixels to reduce the size of your photo. However, you can not add pixels back in. Capture your images at as high a resolution as possible, save them as a .jpg and edit them on your computer with photo editing software to reduce the file size. Once the digital image file size is a bit smaller, upload the photo to Costco Photo Center where you can fine tune your photo to get it looking perfect.
The Resolution Warning Triangle 
The resolution warning triangle indicates that the photo used will not produce a quality print or photo gift and might appear blurry, grainy or pixelated. To resolve this, try uploading your photo again and choose the full resolution upload when selecting your photos during the upload process.
For more information about the difference between fast and full resolution upload speeds, please click here.
Cropping and Resolution
Whether done manually or automatically, cropping a photo means that pixels are removed. When an image is cropped during the printing process the top and bottom, the sides, or in some cases the top and bottom and sides are removed to fit the image to a desired print size. Cropping a photo spreads a smaller number of pixels (since some were removed) over the same, or a larger (in the case of some photo gifts) surface area. This is the reason you will sometimes see squares in your photo, or lines that aren't smooth after a crop. Starting with more pixels, at a higher resolution, means there are more pixels to spread when you crop your photo.
Anytime you crop a photo using our editing tools, we will let you know if you are going to try to crop it to a size that would negatively impact the quality of your print or photo gift by displaying the resolution warning triangle .
What is the best resolution for photo gifts?
The table below shows the recommended resolutions for photo gifts and prints.
| Print Size/Product | Minimum image resolution required |
| 4 x 6 | 690x460 pixels |
| 5 x 7 | 805x575 pixels |
| 8 x 8 | 920x920 pixels |
| 8 x 10 | 1150x920 pixels |
| 8 x 12 | 1380x920 pixels |
| 11 x 14 Enlargements | 1610x1265 pixels |
| 12 x 12 | 1380x1380 pixels |
| 12 x 18 Enlargements | 2070x1380 pixels |
| 16 x 20 Posters | 2300x1840 pixels |
| 20 x 30 Posters | 3450x2300 pixels |
| 11 x 14 Collage Posters | 1260x990 pixels |
| 12 x 18 Collage Posters | 1620x1080 pixels |
| 16 x 20 Collage Posters | 1800x1440 pixels |
| 20 x 30 Collage Posters | 2700x1800 pixels |
| Wallet Prints | 374x259 pixels |
| Photo Gifts | 900x600 pixels |
| 4¼x6 Postcards | 900x600 pixels |
| Notebooks | 480x480 pixels |
| Notebooks with full photo cover | 1350x1000 pixels |
| Notepads | 370x370 pixels |
| Stickers | 370x370 pixels |