QuickTip: What's the image's purpose in life?

Think before you shoot. What are you going to use the image for? Are you going to print it? Ever? You need to make sure you’re using the right image quality setting on your camera before you snap the shot. Digital cameras have settings from basic to fine to very fine, and in some cases, something rather alien called “raw” (requires a special plug-in in order for your image editing software to open them).

If you are positively sure that you are *not* going to print the image, you’re okay with a basic setting. This allows you to fit more photos on your image card, as the file sizes are smaller.

A finer setting will increase the quality of your image, though it takes up more space on the card (and subsequently your hard drive). The finer the setting, the more detail you have to work with, and the better the image will print.

See also: Upsizing an Image with Minimal Quality Loss