photo print at too low of a quality

Their res is generally around 1300x900.

The maximum you can print these photos WITHOUT a warning is about 7.2" x 5"

I can only assume that the printers they use at Apple would be of this quality, or higher, correct?

When you "assume" you take the risk

I have printed photos that had warnings and thee quality was acceptable to me - but might not be to you - some folks in this forum (few - but some) have not been happy with the quality of really high resolution photos printed in books & calendars - only you can judge the final quality

does anyone know about how long it will take for them to print it and send it to me after I order it?

see Apple's shipping page - http://www.apple.com/support/photoservices/shipping_prices/

Books, Cards or Calendars

FedEx Ground®

Packages are typically delivered 3 - 5 business days after we print and ship your order. Saturday delivery is not offered. Includes tracking.

FedEx 2Day®

Packages are typically delivered 2 business days after we print and ship your order. Saturday delivery is not offered. Includes tracking.

LN

You can not add resolution that is not there - programs like Photoshop Elements can resample to higher resolution but the quality still won't be there

I have gone ahead and printed some low res photos from web sites because they were all that I have available -I'm OK with the results but they clearly are lower quality than high res photos

If you print them on your color printer the size they will be in the book you can see roughly how the quality will be - it is at your own risk if you go ahead after the warning

LN

sgatling:

Welcome to the Apple Discussions. What are the pixel dimensions of the photos you're using? Which theme are you using and which frames do you get the warning sign, i.e. full page layout, 2 photos per page, etc.

iPhoto will give that warning when the dpi of a picture in a particular frame is below 180 dpi. So for a full page photo you'd need pixel dimensions of about 1600 x 2070 or greater to avoid the warning flag.

Unless the photo is way below that minimum size I don't think it will be significant enough to be objectionable. But that's just based on my experience. No matter what size you use the photo will not be as sharp as you can get by printing them yourself on glossy photo paper at equivalent sizes.

TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Hi sgatling

Just read your post - If your main images are low res, that is basically it, they are low res. Like the other people said, to print them will be at your own risk...They may not be that bad as long as you don't zoom them in...but you still may see some pixelation.

There are lots of little finicky ways to try and correct low resolution images - I generally use photoshop to try and touch them up, but they are simply never as good as high res. I hate technical stuff so what I do is I shoot all photos on a setting called "Fine" Depending on what type of camera you have, what I would do is check your camera settings, there should be several called "Basic" "Normal" "Fine" "Hi" and Raw". I shoot my day to day photos in "fine".

A lot of people don't know that stuff when they get a camera and are more blown away by how many photos they can store on their camera - but then they find out that their photos are low resolution.

If you have any questions about touching up the photos, just email me - perhaps you could send me one so I can see its actual dimensions and resolution.

Good Luck

As a follow up question, I too am having trouble with res. I'm creating a book with a lot of fairly old black and white photos which I scanned into my computer. Their res is generally around 1300x900. I decided to print a photo off on my schools color laser, and see what happened. The printed photo would be very much acceptable, and I can only assume that the printers they use at Apple would be of this quality, or higher, correct?

Also, does anyone know about how long it will take for them to print it and send it to me after I order it?

Thanks!