To begin with, monitors can't use more than 72 or 96 dpi, so if your
sole purpose in adjusting the resolution is to improve your display
result, those are the resolutions you need to be using.
Printing, of course, is more varied. Most desktop printers are
happiest around 240-300 dpi so more than that is no particular use.
Other printing resolutions are similarly a function of the final
purpose and medium onto which the image will be printed. For example
newspapers are around 180 dpi, billboards are around 24 dpi I
understand.
Of course the most important resolution factor is capture resolution.
That's the only opportunity to get the most information without
extrapolating it.
On to file size - it's a function of many more things than image
resolution and external dimensions. Nowadays nearly all images come
with embedded non-image information, both EXIF and IPTC. That info
increases the storage size of your file. Stripping it out leaves
your image unprotected from thieves, a poor idea for members of any
community committed to doing any kind of creative effort.
And then there's jpeg compression, possible at such a variety of levels.
The final variables are image content and sharpening. Edges,
especially their shadows and contrast, can make or break an image
presentation. Oversharpening doesn't make much difference on
monitors but sure does in print. And it may conflict with the image
concept, when artistic softness is part of the point.
Looking at the cathedral image in the gallery, I do think it might be
somewhat better there if a big percentage of the display weren't
taken up with the white border. We would be able to see the image at
gallery full size which seems to me like a good idea.
HTH
--
Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxx
508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races
http://www.vsu.cape.com/~elf/
http://e-and-s.instaproofs.com/
