Pixels you need
- Pixels
- 3,840 × 4,800
- Print size
- 16 × 20 in (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
- Megapixels
- 18.4
240 DPI is plenty for inkjet prints on a wall or desk. Most people cannot tell it from 300 at normal distance.
Will your image be big enough?
- A 12 MP phone photo (4,032 × 3,024) prints at up to 12.6 × 16.8 in at 240 DPI. It needs 2× to cover 16 × 20 in, which is free.
- A 1024 × 1024 AI image (1,024 × 1,024) prints at up to 4.27 × 4.27 in at 240 DPI. It needs 4× on Pro, still on your device, then a 1.17× resize to exactly 3,840 × 4,800 for 16 × 20 in.
- A 1920 × 1080 screenshot or video frame (1,920 × 1,080) prints at up to 4.5 × 8 in at 240 DPI. It needs 4× to cover 16 × 20 in, on Pro and still on your device.
Calculate for your image
Enter your image size. The upscale button updates to the scale you need.
16 × 20 in at other resolutions
How to prepare the file
- Crop your image to the 16 × 20 shape so the lab does not cut anything off.
- Compare your pixels with 3,840 × 4,800. The calculator above does it for you.
- Upscale with the smallest scale that reaches the size, then resize to the exact pixels.
- Export PNG, or JPG at quality 95, and order the print at this size.
Questions
How many pixels do I need for a 16 × 20 in print at 240 DPI?
3,840 × 4,800 pixels: 16 × 20 inches multiplied by 240 dots per inch, rounded to whole pixels.
Is 240 DPI good enough for 16 × 20 in?
240 DPI is plenty for inkjet prints on a wall or desk. Most people cannot tell it from 300 at normal distance.
Can a phone photo be printed at 16 × 20 in?
Yes, with 2× upscaling. A 12 MP photo of 4032 × 3024 falls short of 3,840 × 4,800 on its own.
What does DPI mean for a digital file?
Dots per inch is how many image pixels land on each inch of paper. The pixel count is what matters: the DPI field saved in a file does not change the image, the printer scales the pixels to the paper size.
Does upscaling add real detail for printing?
It adds plausible detail: sharper edges and texture instead of the soft blur of ordinary resizing. It cannot recover detail the camera never captured, such as text too small to read.