Who knows about printer resolutions?

[Vich]

OK, if a print site uses 302dpi, so therefore a 4x6 should be provided at 1208 x 1812. What happens when you give them a 1220 x 1830 (or 1000 x 1500, or any other 4x6 ratio that's not exactly 1208 x 1812).

Does the resulting quaility diminish? Does it introduce pattern noise?

I've been of a mind to always upload the max I can (because I don't know the resulting print size the customer will select), that way Smugmug will reduce as needed.

Good idea? Bad idea? Am I killing my bandwidth for nothing?

[JTL]

OK, if a print site uses 302dpi, so therefore a 4x6 should be provided at 1208 x 1812. What happens when you give them a 1220 x 1830 (or 1000 x 1500, or any other 4x6 ratio that's not exactly 1208 x 1812).

Does the resulting quaility diminish? Does it introduce pattern noise?

I've been of a mind to always upload the max I can (because I don't know the resulting print size the customer will select), that way Smugmug will reduce as needed.

Good idea? Bad idea? Am I killing my bandwidth for nothing?

This is such a common thing. They don't mean really 302 DPI...they really mean 302 (300) PPI...

Here's a good take on the subject that semi addresses the under/over 1800 pixel (4x6) question...

http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/printshop.html

I think testing scenarios with the particular print shop and their particular equipment is the only way to know for sure what the results will be...but I suspect any differences as small as you're talking about would not be noticible...