Big Photo Help FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. I would like to get a file printed. How do I start?	A. Click "get started". Enter your e-mail address. The next page will ask you if you want to have password protection. After that, you will be prompted to upload one or more photos (e.g., in JPG, PNG, TIF, GIF format). After your upload is finished, you will see a page which shows you your personal on-line photo directory. You can add additional photos, use our free automatic on-line editing software, and/or order prints. We will maintain your on-line directory for you.
Q. How long will you keep my photos in my on-line directory?	A. Barring equipment failure, at least three months. If you access any photo in your directory, that sets the clock back to zero for every photo in your directory. In other words, to keep all of your photos indefinitely, you only need to visit your directory (and view any photo) once every three months.
Q. What resolution do I need in order to get a good 11 x 14 print?	A. The only thing that matters is the number of pixels in each direction. In other words, 300 ppi (pixels per inch) over 7 inches (300 x 7 = 2100 pixels) is the same as 150 dpi over 14 inches (150 x 14 = 2100 pixels). If you can obtain 300 ppi in your print (e.g., 3000 pixels for a 10" long print), that is the best possible quality. 100 pixels per inch (e.g., 1,000 pixels over 10") is "good". 50 pixels per inch (e.g., 1,000 pixels over 20") is fair quality.
Q. But, if I save my print at a high resolution, won't that get to be a very large file, which will take too long to transmit?	A. Use JPEG compression. It is far better to start with a large number of megapixels, and then use a high JPEG compression, than to start with fewer megapixels, with little or no compression. JPEG compression works very well.
Q. I can increase the number of pixels in Photoshop, e.g., from 1,500 x 2,000 (3 megapixels) to much more, e.g., 4,500 x 6,000 (27 megapixels). Will that help?	A. No. Your photo won't be any sharper. The way editing programs (such as Photoshop) expand a file is to simply interpolate (average) between pixels. The program can't and doesn't add any detail. If you plan to add text or line art, expanding the file is a good idea, since then, when you add text, it will be sharp. But, if all you have is a photo, expanding the image size doesn't help.
Q. Is credit card information secure?	A. Yes. We use Verisign for our credit card processing, and all credit card information is submitted, via a secure line (note the "https" in the URL).
Q. Is there a 2-page PDF brochure I might download?	A. Yes. It provides a short summary of what we do.