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Question

Resolution discrepancy on same file between Mac and windows

Forum|Forum|8 months ago
July 24, 2025
3 replies
264 views

I need to send files of our logo to a third party. They have very precise size and resolution specs for these files.

In Illustrator on my Mac, I export a .jpg of our logo to these specs:

1200px x 300px @ 300dpi

To make sure the size is correct, I open it in Photoshop on Mac and yes, the specs stay the same.

When the 3rd party receives the file and checks the specs in "Properties" for the file in Windows (right click icon, select "Properties", select "Details") the specs now read:

1200px x 300px @96dpi

They reject the file and tell me the dpi is incorrect. They tell me whatever software they are using will not accept the file because it is out of spec.

If I open that file in Photoshop on Windows, it is, of course, 300dpi and correct, but the properties when right clicking the file icon still shows 96dpi.

But if I resave that file from Photshop on Windows and then recheck the dpi in Properties (right click icon, select "Properties", select "Details"), it now reports the correct 300dpi resolution.

Is there a reason that 300dpi .jpg files exported from Illustrator Mac show a 96dpi resolution in Properties in Windows, but show the correct 300dpi resolution in Properties in Windows when exported from or re-saved in Windows? Is there a fix for this beyond hopping on my VPN, opening the Adobe programs in Windows virtually (so slow, so clunky) and resaving or re-exporting?

djroeAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks! Unfortunately, they are very specific about the different file types they require for different usage. They are in the financial sector and use a lot of proprietary software. In this case, they demand that the logo be delivered as a .jpg file.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

It's strange they would insist on JPEG files for reproducing graphical elements like logos. Out of pixel-based image formats PNG is superior to JPEG in that regard. Lossless compressed TIFF images are even better still. Their software work flow must be pretty weird. I sure wouldn't want the JPEG-only requirement if I was sending art files to a service bureau or other third party for some kind of speciality print work to be done that I couldn't do in-house. It would make me want to get the work reproduced elsewhere.

djroeAuthor

Known Participant

I appreciate the reply, I really do. I have been doing this for decades and I understand the difference between file types, what is best for print, what is best for screens, what is best for scalability, etc. so this conversation isn't really helpful.

This is a company that provides proprietary solutions and products for the financial industry — statements, physical and electronic letters and notices, etc. — and they have very specific requirements for logo provision and they are all different depending on their usage and what systems they plug them into. They work with FIs all over the world and they know what works best for their systems. I don't have the ability to switch to another vendor. My job isn't to argue with them or even to educate them. It's to provide them with *exactly* what they ask for.

For some solutions, they ask for .eps files and could care less about the size and resolution. Others, .png. In this case, it's a .jpg with specific width and height requierments and resolution. I *have* to deliver with the specs they ask for. This isn't me sending a logo to a printer to stick in the bottom corner of a poster. 😞

My problem is that a file generated from Windows will show the proper dpi when "properties" are viewed in Windows, but show a different, incorrect .dpi when they were generated from a Mac (even though the file itself has the correct dpi when opened). This confuses their system and causes it to reject the file.

Since the metadata gets changed when the files are generated on Mac but checked on Windows, my choices seem to be either to:

Spec and output all the files in Adobe software on Windows
Re-open all the files I generate on Mac in Windows and re-save them so they have accurate metadata.

Since I have to use Windows via a vpn, this makes things much slower for me.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Have you tried other image file formats, such as TIFF? Depending on the person's computer system and all the different software and utilities installed on it any files that could be deemed "web graphics," such as PNG and JPEG images, could get metadata altered automatically. I think it's a bit more difficult for that to happen with a lossless TIFF image.

Are they not able to handle a regular Illustrator .AI file, or an Illustrator-friendly PDF file? Items like logos are best reproduced using vector-based elements (if the logo artwork was created in vector form).

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Resolution is just metadata. The metadata probably got trashed either while sending or in the receiving system.

djroeAuthor

Known Participant

Yes, thank you. The problem is that whatever process they use after they receive the logo is dependent upon the correct resolution (in this case 300 DPI) showing up in the properties tab in Windows. Their flow will not accept the file if this doesn't happen.

I just don't want to have to switch to Windows on VPN to reopen and re-save these files every time I need to deliver them — there are lots — and was hoping I was missing a setting in the Mac version of the Adobe suite that would make this metadata stick.

I appreciate the "why it's happening", but I'm looking for a solution, too.

Thanks again!

Monika Gause

Community Expert

This is nothing you can solve on your side, because when you see the correct resolution in Photoshop, then the file itself is perfectly fine.

This happens when sending or when receiving. You can try and ZIP the file before sending. That should rule out anything happening on your side (the email program could also cause this).

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