What size should my pictures be when I upload them?

Do I need to resize my images before uploading them?

No, not unless they're above 5mb each.

Image dimensions (eg in pixels)

Our web sites resize pictures for you automatically so if you`re unable to resize them before uploading them, don`t worry about it. However, as a guide:-

Minimum: At least 2,000 pixels in width or height. Images smaller than this may appear blurry on high resolution displays such as Apple retina displays.

Recommended: 6,000 pixels in width or height so that your images will look crisp when zoomed in from retina displays.

Maximum: There isn't a maximum, but you're unlikely to see any benefit of images larger than 6,000 pixels in width or height.

Image size (eg in megabytes)

We recommend uploading images no larger than 5mb. Realistically 2mb is usually more than enough however we recommend using the size in pixels (above) as your primary measure as the size in kilobytes / megabytes can be misleading.

However, it is worth noting that:-

The larger the file, the longer it will take to upload
The smaller the file, the quicker it will be to upload
If you have a slow internet connection (eg if you're in a very rural area) then uploading large files will take some time due to your slow internet connection. For information about testing the speed of your internet connection, please click here

What format should images be in?

You can upload images in JPEG, JPG, PNG or GIF format.

(note older websites created before 2015 may only support JPG/JPEG)

DPI / PPI

DPI (dots per inch) or PPI (pixels per inch) isn't really relevant when it comes to uploading photos to a website. These terms are used with reference to printing images (eg in brochures etc). For recommend image sizes, please see "Image dimensions" above.

How many megapixels do I need?

Most cameras quote the quality in "megapixels". Please find below a handy chart which explains the resolution (width x height) versus megapixels so you can see what megapixel camera you need (or what setting to set your camera on).

Megapixels	Resolution	Quality
2 megapixels	1600 x 1200	Poor
3 megapixels	2048 x 1536	Poor
4 megapixels	2240 x 1680	Poor
5 megapixels	2560 x 1920	Below average for modern day
6 megapixels	3032 x 2008	Below average for modern day
7 megapixels	3072 x 2304	Below average for modern day
8 megapixels	3264 x 2448	Below average for modern day
10 megapixels	3872 x 2592	OK
12 megapixels	4290 x 2800	OK
14 megapixels	4288 x 3216	Good
16 megapixels	4920 x 3264	Good
18 megapixels	5184 x 3456	Great!
20 megapixels	5456 x 3632	Great!
24 megapixels	6000 x 4000	Great!
28 megapixels	6480 x 4320	Great!
36 megapixels	7360 x 4912	Amazing!
42 megapixels	7952 x 5300	Amazing!