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KIPAX

KIPAX

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KIPAX Lancashire UK
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One of my weak points is printing and DPI so I have what may seem like a no brainer

I crop all my pictures so they print 7x5, a4, a3 etc.. same crop does for all.. My style of photography means I can only offer one aspect ratio as I tend to photograph close and crop tight

So what dpi would be best to save as, if I only want to save one file?
 
It shouldn't really matter to be honest with you, I've never set a DPI in my life and never had a problem printing with any lab (from Photobox to DS Colour Labs).

I'll await being shot down... but I stand by my own experiences :)
 
In your PP program change the ppi/dpi figure and see if the pixel dimension changes, if it does not then the figure is irrelevant unless you are printing.

The term dpi, or dots per inch, should really only be used for printing resolution, it tells the printer how many dots of ink to print per inch.

The dpi which most PP programs let you set should really be ppi, or pixels per inch, as it is obtained by dividing pixels by inches. It tells the printer how many pixels there should be in each inch of the printout.

It follows that you can print at, for example, 300 ppi & 600dpi.
This means that each pixel is 1/300th of an inch across and there are 2 drops of ink for each pixel.

In most PP programs when you are saving you can put any figure you like in the dpi/ppi box. It is just an instruction to the printer and has no effect on the saved file.

In Capture NX2 however, and maybe some other PP programs?, the ppi figure can make a difference.
If resampling is not enabled then changing the ppi figure will change the size of the printed image and leave the number of pixels unchanged. That is the same as most? other PP programs.
If however resampling is enabled then changing the ppi will leave the size of the printed image unchanged and will change the number of pixels.
 
What confused me was somewhere on TP people suggested saving pics for web with such a dpi that it wouldnt print out right thus safeguarding the image a bit...also publishers ask for a certain dpi.. which is rubbish if it can be changed anyway..


So in reality if I save a large enough file (in pixels) it doesnt matter what dpi is and it can be changed without effect... so if I save at 75 dpi it can be changed later to 300 dpi or 300 to 75 and it will all print as should?
 
KIPAX said:
What confused me was somewhere on TP people suggested saving pics for web with such a dpi that it wouldnt print out right thus safeguarding the image a bit...also publishers ask for a certain dpi.. which is rubbish if it can be changed anyway..


So in reality if I save a large enough file (in pixels) it doesnt matter what dpi is and it can be changed without effect... so if I save at 75 dpi it can be changed later to 300 dpi or 300 to 75 and it will all print as should?
Click to expand...

Lots of people say " save at 72dpi for web" and lots of people are wrong. The dpi figure does not matter. The number of pixels does matter.

Publishers ask for a certain size at a certain dpi to make sure that they can print out at the size they want at that dpi.

Yes you can save with any ppi/dpi number in the box that you want and change it later. If changing the ppi/dpi in your PP program does not change the number of pixels then the number in the box is just a stored number which is used only when printing. It does nothing else.

Many people have problems with this, I would suggest that you save a few copies of a picture at different ppi/dpi. Re-open them and print them out after changing the ppi/dpi back to 300. The printouts will be the same.
 
Cheers Suvv .. Much appreciated :) I think I was putting 2 and 2 together and getting it totaly wrong.. Like purpleclouds says.. my pics work.. just been getting a bit paranoid with everyhting I read of late.. Too much reading :)
 
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