8.5 x 11 inches (21.6 x 27.9 cm)
How many pixels for an 8.5 x 11 (Letter) print?
For a sharp 8.5 x 11 (Letter) print you need 2550 x 3300 pixels (8.4 megapixels) at 300 pixels per inch. At 200 PPI, 1700 x 2200 pixels still look sharp at arm's length, and 1275 x 1650 (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 | 2550 x 3300 | 3300 x 2550 | 8.4 MP |
| Good, 200 PPILooks sharp at arm's length | 1700 x 2200 | 2200 x 1700 | 3.7 MP |
| Fair, 150 PPIFine on a wall, seen from a few feet away | 1275 x 1650 | 1650 x 1275 | 2.1 MP |
Check your photo for an 8.5 x 11 (Letter) 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 8.5 x 11 (Letter), and at every other common size.
Will it print sharp at 8.5 x 11 (Letter)?
How common image sizes print at 8.5 x 11 (Letter), filling the paper. A 12 MP phone photo comes out at 355 PPI, sharp, with 3% trimmed to fit.
| Image | At 8.5 x 11 (Letter) | Trimmed to fit |
|---|---|---|
| 24 MP camera photo6000 x 4000 (24 MP) | Sharp470 PPI | 14% |
| 12 MP phone photo4032 x 3024 (12.2 MP) | Sharp355 PPI | 3% |
| 4K video frame3840 x 2160 (8.3 MP) | Good254 PPI | 27% |
| Full HD frame or screenshot1920 x 1080 (2.1 MP) | Too low127 PPI | 27% |
| Instagram portrait post1080 x 1350 (1.5 MP) | Too low122 PPI | 3% |
| Small web image1024 x 768 (0.79 MP) | Too low90 PPI | 3% |
| Early camera phone photo640 x 480 (0.31 MP) | Too low56 PPI | 3% |
The 8.5 x 11 (Letter) shape and cropping
An 8.5 x 11 (Letter) print has a 1.29:1 shape. No common photo shape matches it exactly, so every photo loses part of the picture to fill the paper:
- 4:3 (most phones): 3% trimmed
- 3:2 (most cameras): 14% trimmed
- 16:9 (video and widescreen): 27% trimmed
- 5:4 (Instagram's 4:5 portrait posts): 3% trimmed
- 1:1 (square posts): 23% 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 8.5 x 11 (Letter)
- 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 90 to 208 PPI at 8.5 x 11 (Letter) (good). The most an upscale reaches at 8.5 x 11 (Letter) is about 211 PPI (good), because results come back at about 4 megapixels. The added detail is drawn by AI rather than recovered, so check small text and faces before you print. How AI upscaling works
8.5 x 11 (Letter) print questions, answered
How many pixels is an 8.5 x 11 (Letter) at 300 DPI?
What is the minimum resolution for an 8.5 x 11 (Letter) print?
How many megapixels do I need for an 8.5 x 11 (Letter) print?
Can I print an 8.5 x 11 (Letter) from a phone photo?
Can upscaling make a small photo big enough for an 8.5 x 11 (Letter)?
Other print sizes
Photo too small for an 8.5 x 11 (Letter)?
Create a free account, drop the photo in, and download a larger version in seconds. Your first 3 upscales each month are free.