What size can I print a 3000 × 2000 pixel photo?

At 300 PPI it prints at 10 × 6.67 in (25.4 × 16.93 cm). It fills a 4 × 6, 5 × 7, 8 × 10, Letter or A4 print at 200 PPI or better, so all of those will look sharp. On an 11 × 14 or A3 it drops to around 180 and 170 PPI, which is acceptable on a wall but not for close viewing.

How many pixels do I need for an 8 × 10 print?

2400 × 3000 pixels (7.2 MP) at 300 PPI, or 1600 × 2000 pixels at 200 PPI. Because 8 × 10 is 4:5, a 3:2 camera photo or a 4:3 phone photo will be cropped slightly on its long side to fit.

How many pixels is an A4 print at 300 DPI?

A4 is 210 × 297 mm, which is 8.27 × 11.69 in, so at 300 PPI it needs 2480 × 3508 pixels (8.7 MP). At 150 PPI, 1240 × 1754 pixels is enough for a poster-style print.

Is 72 DPI OK for printing?

No. At 72 PPI each pixel is 0.35 mm wide and clearly visible, so a 1920 × 1080 image would print at 26.7 × 15 in and look blocky up close. The 72 figure is a legacy screen setting; for paper aim for 300 PPI, or at least 150 PPI for large prints viewed from a distance.

Can I print a photo larger than the calculator says?

Yes, if it will be viewed from further away. The PPI needed for a print to look sharp falls as the viewing distance grows, which is why billboards print at a few dozen PPI. For prints held in the hand, stay close to 300 PPI; for a wall print you look at from across the room, 150 PPI is normally fine.

Does changing the DPI in Photoshop change the print size?

Only the label. Changing the resolution field with "Resample" switched off keeps every pixel and simply tells the printer how large to make them, so 3000 pixels at 300 PPI print at 10 in and at 150 PPI print at 20 in. With "Resample" switched on, the software invents new pixels, which doesn't add real detail.

Print Size Calculator: Pixels to Inches and cm at 300 DPI

Standard prints from a 3,000 × 2,000 px photo (the photo is cropped to fill each print)
Print	Pixels needed at 300 PPI	Your photo gives	Good quality?
4 × 6 in	1,200 × 1,800 px	500 PPI	Yes: full photo quality
5 × 7 in	1,500 × 2,100 px	400 PPI	Yes: full photo quality
A5 (148 × 210 mm)	1,748 × 2,480 px	343 PPI	Yes: full photo quality
8 × 10 in	2,400 × 3,000 px	250 PPI	Yes: looks sharp at normal viewing distance
8.5 × 11 in (US Letter)	2,550 × 3,300 px	235 PPI	Yes: looks sharp at normal viewing distance
A4 (210 × 297 mm)	2,480 × 3,508 px	242 PPI	Yes: looks sharp at normal viewing distance
11 × 14 in	3,300 × 4,200 px	182 PPI	Borderline: fine on a wall, soft in the hand
A3 (297 × 420 mm)	3,508 × 4,961 px	171 PPI	Borderline: fine on a wall, soft in the hand
12 × 18 in	3,600 × 5,400 px	167 PPI	Borderline: fine on a wall, soft in the hand
16 × 20 in	4,800 × 6,000 px	125 PPI	No: too few pixels
20 × 30 in	6,000 × 9,000 px	100 PPI	No: too few pixels

By Ahsan Khowaja · Updated 27 October 2026

How to use the print size calculator

The photo print size calculator works in both directions:

Pixels → print size. Type the photo's width and height in pixels and the resolution you want to print at. You get the print size in inches and centimetres, the megapixels, and a table of standard prints from 4 × 6 to 20 × 30, A5, A4 and A3 with a yes-or-no verdict for each one.
Print size → pixels. Pick a print size (or type your own in inches or cm) and a resolution, and you get the pixels the file needs, with the figures for 150, 200, 240 and 300 PPI side by side.

The pixel dimensions are in the photo's file properties: right-click › Properties › Details on Windows, Tools › Show Inspector in Preview on a Mac, or the info panel in Google Photos or Apple Photos.

Print size calculator: pixels and DPI explained

A pixel has no fixed physical size. It becomes a size on paper only when you decide how many pixels go into each inch, the PPI (pixels per inch, which print labs and photo apps usually call DPI). The formulas are:

Print width (in) = pixel width ÷ PPI, and pixels needed = print width (in) × PPI.

To get centimetres, multiply the inches by 2.54. For example, a 3000 × 2000 px photo at 300 PPI prints at 3000 ÷ 300 = 10 in by 2000 ÷ 300 = 6.67 in, which is 25.4 × 16.93 cm. The same file at 150 PPI prints twice as large on each side, 20 × 13.33 in, with half the detail per inch. Nothing about the file changes; only the spread of its pixels does. Our guide what is DPI explains why the DPI number saved inside a JPEG makes no difference on screen.

How to calculate print size for your photos

Find the pixel width and height.
Decide on the resolution. 300 PPI is the long-standing target for prints you hold or view from a few feet: at that density a person with normal eyesight can't make out individual pixels at reading distance. 200 PPI still looks sharp framed on a wall. 150 PPI is acceptable for large prints viewed from a metre or more.
Divide each pixel dimension by the PPI.
Compare the result with the print you want. If the photo is a different shape from the print, it will be cropped (see below), and the side with the fewer pixels per inch sets the real quality.

Worked examples, all at 300 PPI:

A 12 MP phone photo, 4032 × 3024 px, prints at 13.44 × 10.08 in (34.14 × 25.6 cm).
A 1200 × 1800 px file prints at exactly 4 × 6 in: it is a 4 × 6 at 300 PPI with nothing to spare.
A 1920 × 1080 screenshot prints at only 6.4 × 3.6 in; at 150 PPI it stretches to 12.8 × 7.2 in.

Pixel to print size chart

This pixel to print size chart gives the pixels each standard print needs at three resolutions. Use the 300 PPI column for prints that will be handled or viewed close up, and the 150 PPI column as a minimum for wall prints.

Print size	In cm	Shape	Pixels at 300 PPI	At 200 PPI	At 150 PPI
4 × 6 in	10.16 × 15.24	2:3	1200 × 1800	800 × 1200	600 × 900
5 × 7 in	12.7 × 17.78	5:7	1500 × 2100	1000 × 1400	750 × 1050
A5 (148 × 210 mm)	14.8 × 21	1:1.414	1748 × 2480	1165 × 1654	874 × 1240
8 × 10 in	20.32 × 25.4	4:5	2400 × 3000	1600 × 2000	1200 × 1500
8.5 × 11 in (Letter)	21.59 × 27.94	17:22	2550 × 3300	1700 × 2200	1275 × 1650
A4 (210 × 297 mm)	21 × 29.7	1:1.414	2480 × 3508	1654 × 2339	1240 × 1754
11 × 14 in	27.94 × 35.56	11:14	3300 × 4200	2200 × 2800	1650 × 2100
A3 (297 × 420 mm)	29.7 × 42	1:1.414	3508 × 4961	2339 × 3307	1754 × 2480
12 × 18 in	30.48 × 45.72	2:3	3600 × 5400	2400 × 3600	1800 × 2700
16 × 20 in	40.64 × 50.8	4:5	4800 × 6000	3200 × 4000	2400 × 3000
20 × 30 in	50.8 × 76.2	2:3	6000 × 9000	4000 × 6000	3000 × 4500

The A sizes come from the ISO 216 millimetre dimensions, converted at 25.4 mm per inch and rounded to whole pixels, which is why A4 at 300 PPI is 2480 × 3508 rather than a round number. Labs in Europe often sell 4 × 6 prints as 10 × 15 cm and 5 × 7 as 13 × 18 cm; those are the same products rounded to centimetres.

Why the print gets cropped

Standard print sizes have different shapes. A 4 × 6 is 2:3, the same as most camera photos, so it prints edge to edge. An 8 × 10 is 4:5, a squarer shape, so a 3:2 photo has to lose some of its long side to fill it.

Take a 3000 × 2000 photo on an 8 × 10. To cover the 8 in short side, the 2000 pixels are spread at 2000 ÷ 8 = 250 PPI. At that density the long side would be 3000 ÷ 250 = 12 in, but the paper is only 10 in, so 2 in (one sixth of the picture) is trimmed. The calculator's print table uses exactly this logic: it matches long side to long side and reports the lower of the two densities as the quality you will actually get, since that is the side that limits the print.

If you want to control which part is cut off, crop the photo yourself before uploading. The aspect ratio calculator finds the pixel size for any print shape, and the image resizer crops to an exact size in the browser. Alternatively, order the print with white borders instead of a full-bleed crop; most labs offer "fit" as well as "fill".

Choosing the print size for photos from a phone

Most phone photos are 4:3 and 12 MP (4032 × 3024). From that file:

4 × 6, 5 × 7 and 8 × 10 print at well over 300 PPI (672, 576 and 378 PPI after cropping).
8.5 × 11 (Letter) reaches 356 PPI and A4 reaches 345 PPI: both look excellent.
11 × 14 gives 288 PPI along the long side but 275 PPI along the short side, so 275 PPI is the real figure, still very good.
A3 reaches 244 PPI and 12 × 18 reaches 224 PPI: sharp framed on a wall.
16 × 20 falls to 189 PPI: fine on a wall, slightly soft in the hand.
20 × 30 reaches 134 PPI, good from across a room, soft up close.

Enlarging a photo in software to reach a pixel target doesn't add detail; it only interpolates between the pixels you have. Order the print at the size the pixels support, or accept a lower PPI for a print that will be viewed from further away. The poster size calculator covers that case with viewing distance in mind.

Print size in cm

Print labs outside the US list sizes in centimetres, so the calculator shows the print size in cm beside the inches. The conversion is exact: 1 in = 2.54 cm. A 20 × 30 cm print is 7.87 × 11.81 in and needs 2362 × 3543 pixels at 300 PPI; a 30 × 40 cm print is 11.81 × 15.75 in and needs 3543 × 4724 pixels. Type any centimetre size into the custom fields and the pixels are worked out for you. For single lengths rather than whole prints, use pixels to cm or inches to pixels.

Print size calculator