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Increasing image resolution while preserving details

Forum|Forum|16 days ago
January 29, 2026
4 replies
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I downloaded an image from the internet. It downloaded with an image resolution of 72 dpi. I need to export the image after placing my image on an indesign file for press printing at 300dpi. So if i edit the image with photoshop and put the resolution at 300dpi with ‘preserve details 2.0’ will this genuinely increase my image resolution size and not mess while printing?

Correct answer Conrad_C

“72 ppi” is not a useful number by itself. It only has meaning when you also state the printed size. So in your question there are two missing pieces of information. You did not mention the width and height of the image in pixels, or how large the image needs to be printed in inches or centimeters. Without that information, we can’t calculate the effective ppi of the image. Maybe the image already has the necessary resolution.

For example, if the image is 900 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall, then we know that:

If you print it 3 inches wide, it is 300 ppi because 900 pixels divided by 3 inches equals 300 ppi.
If you print it 6 inches wide, it is 150 ppi because 900 px / 6 in = 150 ppi.
If you print it 2 inches wide, it is 450 ppi because 900 px / 2 in = 450 ppi.

This is why, in InDesign, the Info panel displays Effective PPI when you select an image on the page. Effective ppi resolution is the width and height of the image corrected for its print size in inches on the page using the formula above. So check that first, in case it turns out that upscaling the image in Photoshop is not necessary.

If you want to print it large enough that the effective resolution falls below 300 ppi, then you can decide which resizing method to use. And this has changed a lot in the last few months!

Old methods: Use the command Image > Image Size, and use a Resize interpolation method such as Bicubic Smoother, Preserve Details, or Preserve Details 2.0. You should test with more than one to see which works best with the details in your specific image.
Newer methods that use machine learning to try and preserve details better than the old methods: The Super Zoom Neural Filter (Filter > Neural Filters), or Super Resolution in the Camera Raw Filter.
The newest method uses AI to try and invent plausible details: Use the command Image > Generative Upscale, then choose which AI model to use.

Out of all these options, you may find that Preserve Details 2.0 is not that great, and that the newer methods that use machine learning/AI produce better-looking details.

What print professionals will always recommend is, instead of settling for an image you found online that might not have enough resolution, contact the source of the image and license a full resolution version. A full resolution image always has more real details than a downloaded low-resolution image that you try to upscale, even with AI.

R-aAuthor

Participant

I have attached a sample of one of the images on my indesign file. The actual dpi and the effective dpi. What idea does it give about how it appears in a book after press print?

D Fosse

Community Expert

Effective ppi (not dpi!) is how it goes to press.

Actual ppi can be ignored. That’s just metadata.

If you have effective ppi above 1500, your file is already way bigger than it needs to be.

Read ppi literally: pixels per inch. It’s a formula that defines the pixel density on paper.

With a given pixel size, the ppi number defines the maximum size on paper. With a given size, the ppi number defines how many pixels you need in the file.

R-aAuthor

Participant

Conrad_C

Community Expert

OK. Your screen shot says the image is 5000 x 5000 pixels, and the Effective PPI is 1563.

This means upsizing the image is absolutely not needed, because you want 300 ppi but at its current size on the layout the image is 1563 ppi…over 5x the resolution you want.

Based on those numbers, I calculate you have sized the 5000 x 5000 px image on the InDesign page at about 3.2 inches wide. (5000 px divided by 1563 ppi = 3.2 inches)

It says the “Actual PPI” is 96, but all that means is that 96 is the ppi value saved in the image metadata. But for printing, a 5000 x 5000 pixel image will print at 96 ppi only if you print it 52 inches wide. (Because 5000 px / 96 ppi = 52 inches)

It’s also possible that there is no ppi value in the image metadata, because it’s common for Windows applications to assume 96 ppi for an image with no ppi metadata. In any case that doesn’t matter because again…what is important is effective ppi, and that is the image dimensions in pixels divided by the image’s print size in inches/cm.

Conrad_C

Correct answer

Community Expert

“72 ppi” is not a useful number by itself. It only has meaning when you also state the printed size. So in your question there are two missing pieces of information. You did not mention the width and height of the image in pixels, or how large the image needs to be printed in inches or centimeters. Without that information, we can’t calculate the effective ppi of the image. Maybe the image already has the necessary resolution.

For example, if the image is 900 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall, then we know that:

If you print it 3 inches wide, it is 300 ppi because 900 pixels divided by 3 inches equals 300 ppi.
If you print it 6 inches wide, it is 150 ppi because 900 px / 6 in = 150 ppi.
If you print it 2 inches wide, it is 450 ppi because 900 px / 2 in = 450 ppi.

This is why, in InDesign, the Info panel displays Effective PPI when you select an image on the page. Effective ppi resolution is the width and height of the image corrected for its print size in inches on the page using the formula above. So check that first, in case it turns out that upscaling the image in Photoshop is not necessary.

If you want to print it large enough that the effective resolution falls below 300 ppi, then you can decide which resizing method to use. And this has changed a lot in the last few months!

Old methods: Use the command Image > Image Size, and use a Resize interpolation method such as Bicubic Smoother, Preserve Details, or Preserve Details 2.0. You should test with more than one to see which works best with the details in your specific image.
Newer methods that use machine learning to try and preserve details better than the old methods: The Super Zoom Neural Filter (Filter > Neural Filters), or Super Resolution in the Camera Raw Filter.
The newest method uses AI to try and invent plausible details: Use the command Image > Generative Upscale, then choose which AI model to use.

Out of all these options, you may find that Preserve Details 2.0 is not that great, and that the newer methods that use machine learning/AI produce better-looking details.

What print professionals will always recommend is, instead of settling for an image you found online that might not have enough resolution, contact the source of the image and license a full resolution version. A full resolution image always has more real details than a downloaded low-resolution image that you try to upscale, even with AI.

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

If you place the image (at its original size and resolution) in Indesign and scale it to meet your creative intention what is its Effective Resolution? (see the Info Panel for example)

How much do you actually have to upsample the image to meet the printing needs?

»Preserve Details« may provide better results than Bicubic etc. but it is not a magic solution.

If the result does not meet your expectations please try Image > Generative Upscale (which includes the option to use »Topaz Gigapixel« in a limited form).

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