Does anyone have an easy way of explaining, or know of a good resource to use for figuring out the dpi necessary for printing out images? I kind of understand, but not really. :/ I am getting a print done, and it was edited in picnik and resized on there (duh, didn't think that through when i did it) and is at 72 dpi, and the pixel sizes are 2082x1416.
Also, do i need photoshop or another program to avoid this in the future. If i choose not to resize my photo on picnik, it is veeeery slooooow.
Thank you 365ers, ya'll are the best!!!!
the rule of thumb is, 72dpi is good enough for images posted online. for printing magazine-quality photos, 300dpi is the norm. you can use photoshop or any capable programs to adjust this. hope that helps. :D
dpi refers to the number of pixels that create your photo. A bunch of squares. The more dpi the more detail, because you have more units making up the image. 72 is really low, generally that is used just to post online, so it doesn't take forever to load the page. To print you want at least 300. You can't really increase the dpi once it is reduced, because you are basically trying to add data that isn't there. It is better to try not to decrease it at all. It should be at a good dpi SOOC. I hope this helps.
Without getting too technical... well, I'll try, honest!
DPI and PPI are regularly used interchangably, but are not the same thing! Still, you can forget about that for now, because it probably won't help un-confuse you in the short-term.
The short answer to your question is: It depends on the printer.
72 DPI is actually 72 PPI. That is web-res. 72 pixels per inch is standard for electronic displays, but perhaps strangely, does not mean all displays have 72 PPI. Basically, if you resize your picture to look right on a screen, at 100% magnification, you will want to save it at 72.
For printing, things get more complicated. A standard photo-lab print will be at 300 DPI as mentioned. But, inkjets vary. You need to find out what the native DPI of your printer is, and then save your image file at that DPI to get the right physical dimensions. Epson printers, for example, generally use 240 DPI for standard photo printing, and 360 DPI for high resolution photo printing (where fine text fonts are used within the image, for example - NOT for just "better looking" photos).
If you don't size your image for the printer's native DPI, the printer will likely do it for you. That can be ok, but it will use the simplest, dirtiest resampling method available to do it - linear resampling. If it needs to downsise your image by 10%, it will simply remove 10% of the pixels. Yes, really. Ever wondered why a printed image has lost detail? Eyelashes missing from someone's eyes? That's why. The old Lightroom versions 1 and 2 did the same thing, tragically. It's even worse if the printer has to upsize.
The great thing about printing is you don't actually need to save the DPI setting to the file - you just need the right number of pixels. It doesn't matter if you have a 1500x1000 pixel image, saved at 72 DPI - it is still a 300 DPI 6x4 inch print. So, for printing, if you're ever unsure about the dimensions, just take your printer DPI, multiply it by the inches of your print, and that's the width or height of the photo.
I'm so glad you didn't ask about printer colour profiles - that could take pages. ;)
Okay, thank you so much. That does help..mostly. :) I googled it, and found different stuff explaining the pixel amount divided by the dpi giving you the inches you could print up to without losing quality...it hurt my head a little. So, i guess the rule i should stick with is 300dpi or more... Thank you again! Now hopefully i won't have any trouble formatting my photo to print out correctly!
@alisongbradshaw alison, if you go to your settings, there is an option you can check for it to keep the file the original size, and an option for it to resize. it always pops up to ask you if you would like to resize, so i don't think it does it automatically, but if the file size is really large, picnik acts like a jerk and takes forever to load the actions, and editing is a nightmare. at least, that's how it is for me when i haven't resized.
@laceyjogautreau BUT, maybe there is a way to resize to the size you want, instead of the standard 72dpi? ugh, this is not the fun part of things for me. :(
Thanks for tis interesting topic, I had no idea of the importanct of DPI!!!?
How can I check the DPI status photos? and where can it be changed to the standard 300dpi in photoshop elements (PSE8) for good printing quality???
@lameez if you have a pc, you can right click on the photo and go to properties, and it will give you all of the info on your photo. i'm sure there are other ways, but that's how i do it. if you have a mac, i have no idea! :)
OK Lacey, here is your answer. DPI is equal to dots per inch that your printer will place on the paper. This term is sometimes confused with the term PPI which is pixels per inch. Totally different. In the printing terms we or we should be using the term dpi. To figure out the size of your print is easy Take the size you want to print, say it is a 4" x 6" you take this number and multiply it by the dpi your printing at and that is the pixel size. Example 4" x 220dpi = 880 pixels by 6" x 220 dpi = 1320. So your print in pixels will by 880 x 1320. Now if you know the pixel size you can take the pixel size divide it by the resolution or dpi and that will give you your print size. In our example above, 880 divided by 220 dpi = 4" and 1320 divided by 220 dpi = 6"
@gnhphotography Gary, that totally made it clear for me. I'm not sure why I couldn't grasp it when I looked it up myself, but you explanation is excellent. Thank you so much for taking the time!
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DPI and PPI are regularly used interchangably, but are not the same thing! Still, you can forget about that for now, because it probably won't help un-confuse you in the short-term.
The short answer to your question is: It depends on the printer.
72 DPI is actually 72 PPI. That is web-res. 72 pixels per inch is standard for electronic displays, but perhaps strangely, does not mean all displays have 72 PPI. Basically, if you resize your picture to look right on a screen, at 100% magnification, you will want to save it at 72.
For printing, things get more complicated. A standard photo-lab print will be at 300 DPI as mentioned. But, inkjets vary. You need to find out what the native DPI of your printer is, and then save your image file at that DPI to get the right physical dimensions. Epson printers, for example, generally use 240 DPI for standard photo printing, and 360 DPI for high resolution photo printing (where fine text fonts are used within the image, for example - NOT for just "better looking" photos).
If you don't size your image for the printer's native DPI, the printer will likely do it for you. That can be ok, but it will use the simplest, dirtiest resampling method available to do it - linear resampling. If it needs to downsise your image by 10%, it will simply remove 10% of the pixels. Yes, really. Ever wondered why a printed image has lost detail? Eyelashes missing from someone's eyes? That's why. The old Lightroom versions 1 and 2 did the same thing, tragically. It's even worse if the printer has to upsize.
The great thing about printing is you don't actually need to save the DPI setting to the file - you just need the right number of pixels. It doesn't matter if you have a 1500x1000 pixel image, saved at 72 DPI - it is still a 300 DPI 6x4 inch print. So, for printing, if you're ever unsure about the dimensions, just take your printer DPI, multiply it by the inches of your print, and that's the width or height of the photo.
I'm so glad you didn't ask about printer colour profiles - that could take pages. ;)
Okay, thank you so much. That does help..mostly. :) I googled it, and found different stuff explaining the pixel amount divided by the dpi giving you the inches you could print up to without losing quality...it hurt my head a little. So, i guess the rule i should stick with is 300dpi or more... Thank you again! Now hopefully i won't have any trouble formatting my photo to print out correctly!
How can I check the DPI status photos? and where can it be changed to the standard 300dpi in photoshop elements (PSE8) for good printing quality???