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Can anyone please advise me on the optimum pixel count for a 10 x 8 image?
Many thanks.
Many thanks.
If you send images to the lab with more than 300ppi, it really is overkill. By having more pixels all you are doing is slowing your process down - that could be sending larger images than is needed to your lab - fine for a few images but multiply that by 300 and things will slow down, it uses more disk space than is needed which can slow down the speed your system exports images etc.
I never downsize an image for printing.... IMHO, there's no point to it.
^this
Never seen any advantage to downsizing a print. Plus.. bear in mind, this "industry standard" of 300dpi is not set in stone. Many inkjet printers can print at far higher resolutions than that. I regularly print on a Epson 9900 and it can print at FAR higher resolutions than 300DPI.
Don;'t change the pixel res. If you use photoshop, just go to image/image size, and un-tick the "resample image" box, then set the print res to the size you want at 300dpi. That should keep the pixel resolution unchanged
An Epson 9900 CANNOT print "far higher" resolutions. Manufacturers use skewed numbers.
In fact the Epson Pro 9900 has a head with a resolution of 360 nozzles so max effective resolution of 360dpi. The skewed number of 2880 x 1400 contains the number of droplets it uses to make one dot which is very different. In fact with 10 inks it may need to use all of them to create a single dot at the right density of colour so the effective resolution drops to 288dpi. Somewhat lower than the 300 you mentioned.
Back to the digital image. Switch resampling off. If the ppi value is lower than 300 don't worry. Your printer will print at the same resolution. Ppi measures only the print size for any given number of pixels.
Dpi is a measure of how the printer lays down its dots of ink.
The two are totally unrelated.
Don't worry... I'm not wet behind the ears. It can manage more than 300dpi though..
I can create a document with 300 discreet black lines on it, and sent it to the printer at 300DPI and I'll get 1 one inch print with 300 fairly well defined black lines on it when examined closely...
I can then progressively lower the DPI to squeeze those lines into a smaller and smaller print.
Quite true if we are discussing ppi. BUT you wouldn't actually see it with your eye until it's much lower than 300..... Try it.They don't just magically disappear once I go below 300dpi, they'll progressively become less and less defined.
I appreciate that this isn't a true measurement of dpi before you say that, but prints can be perceptibly sharper by keeping pixel resolution as it is rather than lowering it to achieve some arbitrary DPI figure.
I can notice a marked difference in some prints when I just switch off re-sampling and dump it to the printer as opposed to down sampling the pixel resolution to achieve a 300ppi target. Which was my point... just switch off resampling and send it to the printer at whatever document size you need.
File size is an issue though, and worth mentioning. That depends on whether you're doing your own printing or not. I'd not like to upload 30x 400MB files, no. I'd also not like to be the printer downloading them at the other end. If I was printing my own stuff though, then it doesn't take that long to spool a 400MB file to the printer.
Yes the printer itself outputs in dpi and at the top resolution is effectively 360dpi. You don't have too much control over the dpi as it's a printer setting.
You're use of the term dpi is still wrong. And what you say is therefore incorrect. You can send to the printer at 300ppi and it's that setting that determines the print size - not the dpi.
You need to send at 300ppi (images are only made of pixels). Sending a 300pixel x 300pixel image (of lines) at 300ppi will produce a 1" square.
Absolutely agree obviously with the proviso of a good image to start with and correct sharpening. I was just trying to get over the point that unless you are printing at huge sizes then native resolution is the better option.
I really do not see the point of insisting that saying dpi when you mean ppi is such a big deal tough... if someone understands they understand. A print is made of dots, and a digital image is made of pixels. I get that.. I think most people do.
Fact still remains that a 300 pixel wide image set to 300ppi will still print at 1 inch regardless of whether I call them pixels or dots![]()
No matter how hard I try though.... I don't think I'll ever get out of the habit of just using dpi for both. It's like trying to remember to buy loo rolls.... just not gonna happen.
I agree but if you call them dots and mean dots and not pixeks how do we know that is correct?
300pixel image printed at 300ppi is 1 inch
But a 300 pixel image printed at 300dpi means you actually don't know the size of the final image as the ppi could be totally different (meaning a different size of print).
Obviously a choice but for people who dopn't know it just becomes very complicated. So long as you understand fine but the two are totally unrelated to each other. At least Photoshop and Lightroom get it right![]()
Unless you mean dpi and not ppi lol - It really does make a difference because they're not the same.I'm not disagreeing with you in that sense.. it just has no effect on the end result if you say DPI instead of PPI...
at the end of the day, the figure you type in the box is what matters.
If Photoshop had the option to set DPI instead of PPI and doing so made a difference, then sure... that would cause havoc, but it doesn't.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no option in photoshop to set the printer's dpi. So if I make my image 300pixels square, and set 300ppi it will print at 1 inch. It will still do so if I call it dpi. There's only one place you can set the print resolution.... I could call it sausages per inch if I wanted to... wouldn't make a difference![]()
I fully agree with you there. I readily admit that... like I said.... I'm 46 years old, and still can not remember to buy loo rollsI'll probably still call it dpi even after this conversation... and you're quite right to correct me. Still makes no difference to the size of the print though.
Unless you mean dpi and not ppi lol - It really does make a difference because they're not the same.
Exactly correct - and that box is either pixels/inch or pixels/cm. We normally use /inch - Nowhere does it mention dots in Photoshop.
Because dpi is a PRINTER DRIVER setting - DPI has nothing to do with digital images nor photoshop.
I think my last response confirmed that - so why use DPI? Why cause confusion - I get that you understand it (I do) but not everyone does.
It's like calling you Bob instead of David.
Unless you chang the printer setting instead of the ppi.... But I know what you mean./ Enter the required resolution to give the size you want to print and job done.No.. but you can't mess it up by using the wrong words.
Quite.. but that's not what were discussing. Confusing ppi and ppcm is something else entirely.
Yes - But see above lolI know... and I also know that you understand what I'm saying hereIn Photoshop... there's no option to set the printer's dpi. You can't get it wrong if you CALL it dpi.. you can only input the ppi. I'm sure you do actually get my point here
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Me tooI've been called worse![]()
I'm not saying you SHOULD confuse people... I'm not saying you SHOULD use dpi either. I'm saying that so long as someone fully understood how to prep a file to print, I wouldn't pedantically correct them if they mistakenly called it dpi. I fully understand how to prep files for print.. and you pointing out that I call it dpi instead of ppi will not make my prints any better. I've already said you are absolutely right to correct me.. but I know for a fact I'll probably still carry on calling dpi... not on purpose to protest anything, but for the same reason I forget to buy loo rollsI know loads of people who call it dpi too... but they can print as well as you or I probably... they've been doing it long enough.
However... relax.. I know full well why you're correcting me in here... hopefully, it's not for my benefit, but for the benefit of others.
Unless you chang the printer setting instead of the ppi.... But I know what you mean./ Enter the required resolution to give the size you want to print and job done.
What I was getting at is Photoshop never mentions dpi - so why use it?
Even if you did change the printer resolution in the driver.... a 300pixel wide image set to 300ppi will still print at 1 inch. Fairly certain this is the case. I'm prepared to be corrected here though, but I know I tend to leave the printer driver set to 1440dpi as it seems to default to that (no, I don't believe it's delivering 1440 in reality), and my prints are always the correct size. I just see no point in changing it.
No idea is the honest answer.
I know it's a very common trait though. Must have come from somewhere. Never thought about it before, but I know it's going to bug me until I find out though .... Cheers![]()

Charlotte actually I agree and disagree. I do that just to keep the peace and because the difference is sometimes very small. But even printers don't understand it!
But also Charlotte we are also taking about home printing here
they would have you believe that. go to the leading lab in the uk. Loxley. They don't ask you to provide a ppi setting. Just size correctly and done.go to proam and they want 402dpi wtf is that about lol!Work with better printers then. I pay the printers I use BECAUSE they know an awful lot more than me about it and they're experts in their field.
Dpi isnt really missleading, it means the dots put down by the printer and 2880 isnt a silly figure it means thats how many dots are printed at that setting.