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samuele3032
Participant
January 7, 2019
Answered

Resolution (ppi)

  • January 7, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 2231 views

Hi guys,

I have just a stupid question about the resolution on one of my projects.

Does it make a difference if I export one of my files from Indesign to Jpg with a resolution (ppi) of 150 instead of 200? Is there a reason why InDesign suggests to select either 150 or 300 and not 200ppi?

Thank you so much

Sam

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer rob day

    Is there a reason why InDesign suggests to select either 150 or 300 and not 200ppi?

    You can enter any number between 1 and 2400—you don't have to use one of the defaults.

    Is the jpeg for a web/screen or print project? If it is for web set your document's page dimensions to the desired size in pixels, and export at 72ppi. In that case the exported jpeg's pixel dimensions will match your page's pixel dimensions. If the project is for print export to PDF.

    4 replies

    Community Expert
    January 8, 2019

    No reason why they suggest 150 or 300 - it's just a value an engineer would have assigned to the panel options. I read before that a lot of times the engineers would need to make a decision on what to do - and it's usually a 50/50 choice.

    i suspect the person working on this dialog box set the resolutions to be 72, 150, 300 for easieness.

    But as pointed out - you can insert whatever value you like. 

    samuele3032
    Participant
    January 8, 2019

    Sorry I don't get this, when I'm exporting it with 72 ppi it turns out quite blurry, in contrary with when I'm selecting150 or 200ppi. So it does make a difference, doesn't it?

    JonathanArias  I put in InDesign only .ai and conventional images.

    rob day
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 8, 2019

    Sorry I don't get this, when I'm exporting it with 72 ppi it turns out quite blurry, in contrary with when I'm selecting150 or 200ppi. So it does make a difference, doesn't it?

    The exported pixel dimensions would depend on your page dimensions. If your document setup is the default print Letter (11"x8.5"), InDesign defines it in pixels as 792x612 px. So, if the jpeg export is to 72ppi the resulting pixel dimensions will also be 792x612. If you export to 300ppi the pixel dimensions will be 3300x2550 (11x300=3300, 8.5x300=2550)

    You can also setup a document to a specific pixel dimension, and in that case the export at 72ppi will maintain the document's pixel dimensions (web browsers or HTML pages have no PPI property). I might decide the highest screen resolution of my target audience is 2400px wide and set the page accordingly:

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    January 7, 2019

    Is there a reason why InDesign suggests to select either 150 or 300 and not 200ppi?

    You can enter any number between 1 and 2400—you don't have to use one of the defaults.

    Is the jpeg for a web/screen or print project? If it is for web set your document's page dimensions to the desired size in pixels, and export at 72ppi. In that case the exported jpeg's pixel dimensions will match your page's pixel dimensions. If the project is for print export to PDF.

    samuele3032
    Participant
    January 7, 2019

    It is meant to be part of my portfolio(digital) that I've to send to a university. Usually, I would just keep the resolution at 300, but they want only files that are smaller than 2mb.

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 7, 2019

    For digital work you only need the image dimensions (in pixels), the resolution is irrelevant.

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 7, 2019

    The Effective PPI is the resolution measurement you need to know (see the Links panel) . Between 250 to 300PPI is a good choice for printing on to coated stock (for around printing 150LPI).