Higher DPI Lightroom mobile?

Obviously, Conrad and Johan are correct regarding the quality of an image and the overall pixel size, but having worked in PrePress for 37 years, Printers have to set a standard somewhere to recommend good print quality.

Perhaps they should word this better in their specifications (we work with multiple Printers across the world) and should say that the Effective PPI (the resolution at the final size)

should be no lower the 300.

The onus should be on the photographer, designer or repro house delivering the file to make sure this is correct, not the Printer (who should perform a Preflight regardless).

I'm sure most Printers don't need educating but have to give guidance however poorly worded that may be.

It's similar to them requesting CMYK files.

I don't work for a Printer but they don't want to take responsibility for a potentially haphazard RGB-CMYK conversion, when it's probably best for the client to see this change earlier on screen.

A couple of questions…

Which method are you using to export? After you tap the Share icon, which of the following do you tap next?

• Save Copy to Device
• Share (and what do you type next, Save to Files? Mail?)
• Add Border and Share
• Export As 

I’m just wondering if Lightroom changes what ppi metadata is included based on the export method.

How are you verifying the ppi resolution, which app?

Because when I inspect the ppi resolution of an image I export from Lightroom on iOS using Export As, I check on my Mac and both Apple Preview and Adobe Bridge report 300 ppi already, without me doing anything special. In the picture below, Apple Preview is on the left and Adobe Bridge is on the right. I also tried Share > Save to Files, and it still came up 300 ppi.

Also, Johan’s right, even if clients don’t understand. What is important is that the image has enough pixels for the final delivery dimensions. If a client wants to print 8 x 10 inches, if you send them a 2400 x 3000 pixel image, it will print at 300 ppi no matter what ppi says in the file, because 3000 / 10 = 300.

That in fact is the huge flaw in them saying “I need you to send me 300 ppi images.” 300 ppi at what print size? If they don’t give a print size in inches, there is no guarantee that a “300 ppi” image actually has enough pixels. And they better not be asking you for 300 ppi for any kind of on-screen work (web, mobile, video, social media…)

It’s a hassle, but in the long run it might be worth educating your clients about how ppi really works.

This is a common misunderstanding. First of all it is PPI (pixels per inch), not DPI (dots per inch), because digital images do not contain dots. PPI means nothing for image quality, however. It is just an instruction for the printer to print a certain number of pixels per inch of paper, nothing more and nothing less. I could post the tiniest possible image (1 x 1 pixel) still at 300 PPI... Export at 'Largest Available Dimensions'.