Quality of photo for canvas

[Max X 2]

I'm trying to sort out a photo of a friend dog(s) to put on a 16" x 12" canvas

I looked on her facebook page & managed to get the original from her OH but it is only 72 dpi - I printed it on A4 plain paper & it doesn't look great I have photo's I've taken (unfortunately not of her dogs) which are 180 dpi & look OK printed at that size

Is there any way of improving the original photo or is the dpi determined by the camera?

I don't want to bother her OH looking for other photo's if this is the case as presumably they'd all be 72 dpi?

Thanks in advance

[JohnMcL7]

Dpi isn't a parameter of the photo, it's confusing because some photos will have a dpi number embedded but it's completely arbitrary. Dpi is a combination of both the original resolution and the print size so if you have a 3mp photo if you print it on a very small bit of paper then the dpi will be very high but if you print the same photo on a poster then the dpi will be very low.

What is the resolution or dimensions of the original photo you have? With canvas you can get away with the photo not being so great as the rough canvas texture will soften fine detail anyway.

[Max X 2]

What is the resolution or dimensions of the original photo you have?

It's 1.6mb & 637 x 478 pixels - if that's the relevant info?

[Ruby Tuesday]

On the sites I've used to order canvases, they usually tell you when you upload if it is good enough quality.

[DarceyTheDog]

That pic size is only about 60cmX 40cm so it's pretty small. I don't know of a programme that will make it big enough for a 16x12 canvas.

[JeffandAnnie]

Gorgeous pic   However, the rule of thumb is min 300dpi for print quality