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mitchell-collar
Participating Frequently
March 16, 2018
Answered

Export for Instagram at 72ppi

  • March 16, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 13605 views

Hello everyone. I’ve been posting to my Instagram my designs, and I have learned that Instagram compresses the hell out of images and ive been uploading in PNG form but have been told to switch to JPEG. I want to export my illustration from illustrator at a 1000x1000 and I have read around that it is suggest to do it at 72ppi I have been doing it to 300ppi or whatever ever it’s called and I noticed it converts it from 1000x1000 to 4,168x4,168.I was told that if you do 72ppi it will keep it at 1000x1000 does this also make it loose iamge quality? Also are dpi and ppi the same thing? Please correct me if I’m wrong anywhere! Thank you.

Sincermy,

Mitchell

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Test Screen Name

    So then does that mean it is no longer 1000x1000?


    Pixels are confusing in Illustrator, as you've found. The thing is, you CANNOT design a size in pixels in Illustrator, but it lets you choose pixels as a size! What it does is assume 72 ppi and work with that. So, for example, if you choose a size of 144 x 720 pixels, Illustrator immedately converts it to 144/72 by 720/720 = 2 by 10 inches. No more pixels anywhere (because it's a vector app).


    Finally, you come to export a PNG or JPEG that will be made of pixels. Now, you get to chose a resolution (ppi value) for the first time. So, let's suppose you choose 300 ppi. It's got to be 2 by 10 inches so it will be 2 x 300 by 10 x 300 pixels = 600 x 3000 pixels. Not the pixels you first chose, because it never really was pixels.

    But the trick is to choose 72 ppi when you export PNG or JPEG. It's got to be 2 by 10 inches so it will be 2 x 72 by 10 x 72 pixels = 144 x 720 pixels. Hooray! It's the number we started with.

    Too complicated? Then just believe you will only get the size in pixels you expect if you export with 72 ppi.

    1 reply

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 16, 2018

    Keep 72 ppi (for some people also known as dpi (but that's wrong)).

    The number of pixels counts.

    M
    mitchell-collarAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    March 16, 2018

    Will this help the quality when I upload it to instagram for example? And also what is the difference in PPIs used for?

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 16, 2018

    As long as you do not go above the 1080 pixels, you should be ok.

    The ppi is used for printing and tells how many pixels should be used in an inch.

    Illustrator uses 72 ppi as default. Don't try to change that when exporting from Illustrator.

    Use pixels as units in Illustrator when preparing stuff for the Web.

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