297 x 420 mm (11.7 x 16.5 inches)
How many pixels for an A3 print?
For a sharp A3 print you need 3508 x 4961 pixels (17.4 megapixels) at 300 pixels per inch. At 200 PPI, 2339 x 3307 pixels still look sharp at arm's length, and 1754 x 2480 (150 PPI) is the usual floor for a print seen from a few feet away.
| Quality | Portrait (width x height) | Landscape | Megapixels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharp, 300 PPIPhoto quality, even held in the hand | 3508 x 4961 | 4961 x 3508 | 17.4 MP |
| Good, 200 PPILooks sharp at arm's length | 2339 x 3307 | 3307 x 2339 | 7.7 MP |
| Fair, 150 PPIFine on a wall, seen from a few feet away | 1754 x 2480 | 2480 x 1754 | 4.3 MP |
Check your photo for an A3 print
Drop in a photo or type its size in pixels. The photo is read on your device and never uploaded.
Your photo stays on this device: only its width and height are read, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Or try an example
Add a photo or type its size to see how it prints at A3, and at every other common size.
Will it print sharp at A3?
How common image sizes print at A3, filling the paper. A 12 MP phone photo comes out at 243 PPI, good, with 6% trimmed to fit.
| Image | At A3 | Trimmed to fit |
|---|---|---|
| 24 MP camera photo6000 x 4000 (24 MP) | Sharp342 PPI | 6% |
| 12 MP phone photo4032 x 3024 (12.2 MP) | Good243 PPI | 6% |
| 4K video frame3840 x 2160 (8.3 MP) | Fair184 PPI | 20% |
| Full HD frame or screenshot1920 x 1080 (2.1 MP) | Too low92 PPI | 20% |
| Instagram portrait post1080 x 1350 (1.5 MP) | Too low81 PPI | 12% |
| Small web image1024 x 768 (0.79 MP) | Too low61 PPI | 6% |
| Early camera phone photo640 x 480 (0.31 MP) | Too low38 PPI | 6% |
The A3 shape and cropping
An A3 print has a 1.41:1 shape. No common photo shape matches it exactly, so every photo loses part of the picture to fill the paper:
- 4:3 (most phones): 6% trimmed
- 3:2 (most cameras): 6% trimmed
- 16:9 (video and widescreen): 20% trimmed
- 5:4 (Instagram's 4:5 portrait posts): 12% trimmed
- 1:1 (square posts): 29% trimmed
To keep the whole photo, choose "fit" instead of "fill" when you order, and accept a white border, or pick a print size closer to the photo's shape.
If your photo is too small for A3
- Find a bigger copy. A photo saved from a chat, a social network or a web page is often a smaller copy of the original, which can have several times the pixels.
- Print smaller. The calculator above shows the largest size your photo prints sharp at.
- Upscale it. Pixelperfect redraws a 1024 x 768 web image at about 2370 x 1770 pixels, which takes it from 61 to 143 PPI at A3 (too low). That is the limit: the free plan returns about 4 megapixels, which reaches only about 147 PPI at A3, so for a print this size look for a larger original instead. The added detail is drawn by AI rather than recovered, so check small text and faces before you print. How AI upscaling works
A3 print questions, answered
How many pixels is an A3 at 300 DPI?
What is the minimum resolution for an A3 print?
How many megapixels do I need for an A3 print?
Can I print an A3 from a phone photo?
Can upscaling make a small photo big enough for an A3?
Other print sizes
Printing smaller?
A3 needs a large original. For prints up to about A4, an upscale can turn a small photo into one that looks sharp at arm's length. Your first 3 upscales each month are free.