How many pixels do I need for a 300 DPI print?

Multiply each side of the print in inches by 300. An 8x10 inch print needs 2400x3000 pixels, an 11x14 needs 3300x4200, and a 16x20 needs 4800x6000. For 200 DPI, multiply by 200 instead.

Why does the checker report a lower DPI than my own calculation?

Because it accounts for cropping. A 3024x4032 phone photo is a 3:4 rectangle; printing it 8x10 means cropping the sides off, so fewer of those pixels survive to the paper. Dividing raw width by print width ignores that and flatters the photo. We report the effective DPI after the crop, which is what the print actually receives.

Is 200 DPI good enough for a pet portrait?

For anything framed and hung on a wall, usually yes — at normal viewing distance the difference from 300 DPI is very hard to see. For a small print someone will hold, like a 5x7 on a desk, aim for 300. The larger the print, the further away it is viewed, and the more forgiving the DPI requirement becomes.

The photo came through WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Does that matter?

Enormously. Messaging apps recompress photos on the way through, often down to around 1200 pixels on the long edge, which is too small for any print above a 5x7. If the checker reports a suspiciously small size, ask the customer to send the original by email or AirDrop rather than through a chat app.

Does this tool upload my photo?

No. The photo is read in your browser to get its pixel dimensions and is never sent anywhere. There is no server involved and nothing is stored.

Can I check a photo without uploading a file?

Yes. Use the manual entry option to type the pixel width and height, which you can read from Finder, File Explorer, or the photo details on your phone.

Free pet photo resolution checker

Drop in your customer’s photo and see, per print size, whether it will print sharp, print acceptably, or embarrass you. Free, no sign-up, and the photo never leaves your computer.

Drop a pet photo here

JPG, PNG, WebP or iPhone HEIC. You can paste from the clipboard too.

The photo is read on this device and never uploaded.

How many pixels does a pet portrait need to print?

Multiply the print size in inches by the DPI you are targeting. At 300 DPI an 8x10 inch print needs 2400x3000 pixels; at 200 DPI it needs 1600x2000. That arithmetic is the whole of it — the part that catches sellers out is the crop.

A phone photo is a 3:4 rectangle. An 8x10 print is 4:5. To get from one to the other you throw away a strip down each side, and those discarded pixels do not count toward the print. That is why this checker reports an effective DPI, measured after the crop, rather than the more flattering number you get by dividing raw pixels by inches.

What counts as enough for a pet portrait specifically?

Fur is the hard case. A landscape at 200 DPI reads as slightly soft; fur at 200 DPI reads as smeared, because the eye is looking for thousands of individual high-contrast strands and the print cannot resolve them. Whiskers suffer worst of all — they are one-pixel-wide features in the source and they vanish first.

So bias upward for close crops of the face, and relax for full-body poses printed large, where nobody stands close enough to inspect the fur.

Reference: pixels needed for every standard print size

This is the table to bookmark. Copy it into your shop notes, or send the relevant row to a customer when you ask them for a bigger file.

Pixel dimensions required for each standard pet portrait print size. Megapixels are the camera resolution needed to hit 300 DPI with no cropping.
Print size	Inches	Pixels at 300 DPI	Pixels at 200 DPI	Camera needed
5x7"	5 × 7	1,500 × 2,100	1,000 × 1,400	3.1 MP
8x8"	8 × 8	2,400 × 2,400	1,600 × 1,600	5.8 MP
8x10"	8 × 10	2,400 × 3,000	1,600 × 2,000	7.2 MP
A4	8.27 × 11.69	2,481 × 3,507	1,654 × 2,338	8.7 MP
11x14"	11 × 14	3,300 × 4,200	2,200 × 2,800	14 MP
12x12"	12 × 12	3,600 × 3,600	2,400 × 2,400	13 MP
12x16"	12 × 16	3,600 × 4,800	2,400 × 3,200	17 MP
A3	11.69 × 16.54	3,507 × 4,962	2,338 × 3,308	17 MP
16x20"	16 × 20	4,800 × 6,000	3,200 × 4,000	29 MP
18x24"	18 × 24	5,400 × 7,200	3,600 × 4,800	39 MP
24x36"	24 × 36	7,200 × 10,800	4,800 × 7,200	78 MP

What to do when the photo is too small

Ask for the original. Nine times out of ten the customer has a perfectly good file and sent you a WhatsApp copy of it. Our copy-paste request template asks for it without making them feel told off.
Offer the size it can actually do. A sharp 8x10 beats a soft 16x20, and framing it that way — as a recommendation rather than a limitation — usually lands well.
Upscale, but look at it first. Resampling can carry a photo across a small gap. It cannot invent fur that was never captured. Always view the result at 100% before you promise anything.

Resolution questions sellers ask

How many pixels do I need for a 300 DPI print?: Multiply each side of the print in inches by 300. An 8x10 inch print needs 2400x3000 pixels, an 11x14 needs 3300x4200, and a 16x20 needs 4800x6000. For 200 DPI, multiply by 200 instead.
Why does the checker report a lower DPI than my own calculation?: Because it accounts for cropping. A 3024x4032 phone photo is a 3:4 rectangle; printing it 8x10 means cropping the sides off, so fewer of those pixels survive to the paper. Dividing raw width by print width ignores that and flatters the photo. We report the effective DPI after the crop, which is what the print actually receives.
Is 200 DPI good enough for a pet portrait?: For anything framed and hung on a wall, usually yes — at normal viewing distance the difference from 300 DPI is very hard to see. For a small print someone will hold, like a 5x7 on a desk, aim for 300. The larger the print, the further away it is viewed, and the more forgiving the DPI requirement becomes.
The photo came through WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Does that matter?: Enormously. Messaging apps recompress photos on the way through, often down to around 1200 pixels on the long edge, which is too small for any print above a 5x7. If the checker reports a suspiciously small size, ask the customer to send the original by email or AirDrop rather than through a chat app.
Does this tool upload my photo?: No. The photo is read in your browser to get its pixel dimensions and is never sent anywhere. There is no server involved and nothing is stored.
Can I check a photo without uploading a file?: Yes. Use the manual entry option to type the pixel width and height, which you can read from Finder, File Explorer, or the photo details on your phone.