Photo 4×6 in pixels
1200 × 1800 px
at 300 DPI, the print standard · Photo 4×6 is 101.6 × 152.4 mm · 2.2 megapixels
Photo 4×6 at every resolution
A sheet of paper has no pixel size of its own. It has a physical size — 101.6 × 152.4 mm, or 4 × 6 inches — and a pixel count only appears once you choose how many pixels go in each inch.
| Resolution | Pixels | Megapixels | Uncompressed 24-bit | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 DPI | 288 × 432 | 0.1 MP | 0.4 MB | Screen only — visibly soft in print |
| 96 DPI | 384 × 576 | 0.2 MP | 0.6 MB | Screen only — visibly soft in print |
| 150 DPI | 600 × 900 | 0.5 MP | 1.5 MB | Drafts, internal documents, large-format viewed from a distance |
| 200 DPI | 800 × 1200 | 1.0 MP | 2.7 MB | Acceptable for office printing |
| 300 DPI | 1200 × 1800 | 2.2 MP | 6.2 MB | The commercial print standard |
| 400 DPI | 1600 × 2400 | 3.8 MP | 11 MB | Fine detail and small type |
| 600 DPI | 2400 × 3600 | 8.6 MP | 25 MB | Line art, technical drawings, archival scanning |
| 1200 DPI | 4800 × 7200 | 34.6 MP | 99 MB | Archival and reproduction work |
What the file size means for Photo 4×6
At 300 DPI an uncompressed Photo 4×6 is 6.2 MB, and at 600 DPI it is 25 MB — four times as much, because doubling the resolution doubles both dimensions. That squaring is the reason large formats become unwieldy so quickly: the same 300 DPI that produces a manageable file at small sizes produces 6.2 MB here.
If a file is going to a printer, ask what they want before choosing. 300 DPI is the safe default and 150 is often enough for anything read from more than arm's length.
Setting up the canvas
Width: 1200 px
Height: 1800 px
Resolution: 300 pixels/inch
Colour: CMYK for print, RGB for screen
Bleed: 3 mm on every edge → 1271 × 1871 pxThe bleed figure is the one people forget: artwork that runs to the edge must extend 3 mm past it on all four sides, so the working canvas is larger than the finished sheet.
Frequently asked questions
What is Photo 4×6 in pixels?
There is no single answer — it depends on the resolution. At the print standard of 300 DPI, Photo 4×6 is 1200 × 1800 pixels. On screen at 72 DPI it is only 288 × 432.
What resolution should an Photo 4×6 document be?
300 DPI for anything going to a commercial printer, which makes the canvas 1200 × 1800 pixels. 150 DPI (600 × 900) is acceptable for a draft or an internal document. Large formats read from a distance can go lower — a poster viewed from two metres looks sharp at 150 DPI, and dropping to it here saves 4.6 MB of file.
How big is an Photo 4×6 file at 300 DPI?
About 6.2 MB uncompressed at 24-bit colour — 1200 × 1800 × 3 bytes. Compression brings that down a great deal for flat artwork and very little for a photograph, which is why a print-ready Photo 4×6 PDF is usually tens of megabytes.
How many megapixels is Photo 4×6 at 300 DPI?
2.2 megapixels. For comparison, Photo 4×6 at 600 DPI is 8.6 MP — quadruple, because doubling the resolution doubles both dimensions.
Photo 4×6 in millimetres, inches and points · All paper sizes · Screen resolutions