Resolution for priting

[vikasbulani]

I have a problem with resolution of the images for printing.
I have images which shows reolution as 96 X 96. Whereas for printing they say they need atleast 300 dpi. I have printed many of my photos with similar resolution for standards A4 size prints.
Will 96 X 96 resolution be not sufficient ? Or can it happen that the resolution shown is not correct ? . Please let me know what could be done

Thanks,
Vikas

[mauro_cescolini]

I have a problem with resolution of the images for printing.
I have images which shows reolution as 96 X 96. Whereas for printing they say they need atleast 300 dpi. I have printed many of my photos with similar resolution for standards A4 size prints.
Will 96 X 96 resolution be not sufficient ? Or can it happen that the resolution shown is not correct ? . Please let me know what could be done

Thanks,
Vikas

It depends, which printer do you use?

[mikelong]

Think in terms of pixels, not DPI. If your need is for a digital photo that can be printed at high quality at a width of 6 inches, and you think that 300 ppi is what is required to do this (based on your equipment), then you need a digital photo that is 1800 pixels in width (regardless of its DPI setting since it's a meaningless figure).

[susiekay]

I am new to digital photography, photo editing, photo printing but "fairly" comptuter literate. However, pixels and dpi have me dazed and confused. mikelong responded that regarding photo printing dpi is a meaningless figure. Can you explain when dpi WOULD be someting to be concerned about? Thank you.

[rickl52]

Can you explain when dpi WOULD be someting to be concerned about? Thank you.

dpi refers to the dot density that goes on the paper to represent an image. It concerns printing with injets, which can produce dots of ink on the paper that are a fraction of the size of the pixels in the image file. Let's say you are printing an image with an injet printer and it's capable of printing at 1440 dpi. Your image file has 300 ppi. This means the printer will lay down almost 5 dots of ink to represent the width of a single pixel. By varying the size and pattern of the ink dots the printer can smooth out and blend the pixels together so you can get a way with even lower pixel densities in the image file. Many print at 150ppi and are happy with the result. Much lower than that you might start to "see" the individual pixels in form of banding or graininess.

When printing on photo paper (through a lab) dpi doesn't mean anything. The equipment does not lay down ink or pigment. What matters in this case is strictly the pixel density of the image file and the quality of the photo paper and equipment. Most labs I've checked recommend a file with a pixel density of 300 ppi to produce smooth gradations in tone and color so as to avoid banding or grainy looking images. It's the optimal pixel density for their equipment. Each photo lab will specify their file requirements.

Rick

[digitaldallas]

Hello :

I own a commercial printing company and we would prefer to have hi-res images to print on both our digital and offset machine.

Your image might be fine at a resolution of 96 dpi but chances are it will show rasterization or be pixelized where it comes out looking new wave or banded. This usually happens when someone takes a low res picture or blows up a smaller picture to a much larger size. The information is then spread out over the same area. Thus the pixelized look. Ideally for us we like a dpi that is double the lines per inch that we are going to try and print. We usually print at 150 or 175 lines per inch thus the need for 300 dpi on photo.

Hope this helps.

Kindly!
Buzz Tatom
The Odee Company - Digital Printing Services
[url]http://www.odeecompany.com/digital-color-printing.asp
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