Skip to main content
T
Trendssoul
Participant
June 3, 2023
Answered

300dpi

  • June 3, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 4181 views

I'm sure I'm asking a simple question
how do i do my photoshop work as 300 dpi image jpg
thanks 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer TheDigitalDog

There is zero difference in a document that is 1000x1000 pixels (as an example) at 72 dpi (PPI) or 300 dpi (PPI) or any such value. All are 1000x1000 pixels and the dpi/ppi is simply a metadata tag. 
This very, very old primer on resolution still seems necessary to post, this may help in understanding this tag:
http://digitaldog.net/files/Resolution.pdf

2 replies

TheDigitalDog
TheDigitalDogCorrect answer
Inspiring
June 3, 2023

There is zero difference in a document that is 1000x1000 pixels (as an example) at 72 dpi (PPI) or 300 dpi (PPI) or any such value. All are 1000x1000 pixels and the dpi/ppi is simply a metadata tag. 
This very, very old primer on resolution still seems necessary to post, this may help in understanding this tag:
http://digitaldog.net/files/Resolution.pdf

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
    T
    TrendssoulAuthor
    Participant
    June 4, 2023

    really interesting and thanks for this information

    Ged_Traynor
    Community Expert
    Ged_TraynorCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 3, 2023

    @Trendssoul unless you're going to print your images, there's no need to change the DPI, if you do want to change it you can do that from the Image > Image Size menu

    https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/photography/discover/dots-per-inch-dpi-resolution.html

      jane-e
      Community Expert
      jane-eCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 3, 2023

      I hadn't seen that link before, @Ged_Traynor , but I like that it first correctly defines DPI and only later explains the difference between PPI and DPI!

       

      What does DPI stand for?

      DPI stands for Dots per Inch, referring to the number of ink droplets a printer will produce per inch while printing an image. The more dots of ink per inch the picture has, the more detail you will see when printed.

       

      How does DPI differ from PPI?

      PPI (Pixels per Inch) refers to the number of pixels that make up every inch of a digital image. It’s used to describe image resolution on a screen, rather than in print. DPI, meanwhile, refers to number of dots in every inch and is generally used for print purposes.

       

       

      Jane

        D Fosse
        Community Expert
        D FosseCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 4, 2023

        So give me an example...

        You're basically saying that if I print a 1800 x 1200 px pic that has the field at 10 ppi, a quality print at the desired/expected size would fail. It doesn't, AFAIK. Maybe things have changed since I last printed "in the previous century"... 😉

        We see over and over that knowledgeable people are saying or correcting others that this field doesn't matter, it's pixel count that matters. I adhere to that until I see an explanation that makes sense. Again, I don't exlude some people have made software that makes decisions based on what is in this field.

        If printers would too, I think we would see tons more topics from people getting terrible print results cos their ppi was on, say, 72.

        -

        What might be related to what Dave is saying, is that I know some perfectionists advise to make the exact amount of pixels for your printer — don't make it recalculate things.

        Print Driver Upsampling or AI Gigapixel? (luminous-landscape.com)

        -

        Maybe this is correct, and why it doesn't matter to me. Inches are strange to me and I never use them.

        Pixels-per-inch or Dots-per-inch

        http://faczentech.blogspot.com/2015/04/exporting-images-from-lightroom.html

        "This comes up OVER and OVER and OVER again and people do not understand it. The ppi box is only useful to people who specify their image sizes in INCHES and not in pixels. If you tell LR (or PS) that you want a picture to be 10 inches wide and 300 ppi, that means you are telling it to give you a 3000 pixel wide image. If you want you can do that, but you could also tell it you want to print a 100 inch wide image at 30 ppi and you’ll get EXACTLY THE SAME IMAGE. Or you could just tell it to give you a 3000 pixel wide image and it doesn’t matter what you put in the ppi box!"


        quote

        You're basically saying that if I print a 1800 x 1200 px pic that has the field at 10 ppi, a quality print at the desired/expected size would fail.


        By @Zesty_wanderlust15A7

         

        No, I'm saying it would be extremely big. It would be just fine looked at from across the street.

         

        In practice, you often tell the printer driver to override this, by setting size to fit media instead of 100%. Then the printer driver obviously recalculates - effectively replacing the incoming ppi number with a different one. The same will happen in InDesign where you will soon get used to "actual ppi" versus "effective ppi".

         

        All in all, the importance of the ppi number is overrated. It has nothing to do with actual image data.

          Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
          Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices