What Is DPI and What Does 300 DPI Mean?
A print is made from millions of tiny dots of ink.
Below are two lines that consist of the same 40 blocksthe same size and same color.
The effect is clear.
On theLower DPIline, the gradient is a lot less smooth.
it’s possible for you to see clear edges against each of the blocks.
The line is also a lot longer.
On theHigher DPIline, the gradient is much smoother.
It’s almost seamless.
The line is also a lot shorter.
This demonstrates the balancing act you often need to make when setting the print resolution: quality versus size.
Becauseresizing your imageto make it larger won’t improve the print quality.
What DPI Should You Use?
All this begs the question: What is the best DPI to print at?
The standard rule is that you should aim to print at 300 dpi.
But if your image is too small to print at 300 dpi, don’t worry.
The intended viewing distance of the print plays a large role in what resolution you need.
200 dpi should be okay, or even a little lower (maybe 180 dpi).
These rules only apply to photos and raster images.
You’ll see the DPI in theImagesection, labeledHorizontal ResolutionandVertical Resolution.
On a Mac, you should probably initiate the image inPreviewand selectTools > Adjust Size.
you’ve got the option to change the resolution in Preview on a Mac.
Remember that DPI is only a measurement of print resolution.
Changing the DPI does not change the size of your digital image or the size of the file.
That will help to ensure you don’t make it too small to print safely at your preferred size.
UncheckResample Image, because this setting will upscale your image, which will make it lower quality.
Now, next toResolution, pop in in your preferred resolution set asPixels/Inch.
Notice how theWidthandHeightfigures change, too.
This shows you the physical size your image will print.
If you do this, just confirm your DPI doesn’t drop too low to degrade the quality.
That can happen if your image is small.
put in your preferred DPI next toX Resolution, set inpixels/in.
TheY Resolutionshould update automatically, too.
Again, see to it the DPI doesn’t drop too low when you do this.
When it’s done converting, it should automatically download your updated image to your default download folder.
There are lots of other services that work in similar ways.
There’s a built-in solution on a Mac: Preview.
initiate the image in Preview and go toTools > Adjust Size.
Uncheck the box labeledResample imageto ensure you don’t increase or decrease the number of pixels in the image.
Now, withResolutionset topixels/inch, punch in in your target resolution (such as 300).
