why does photoshop export 300 ppi image as 72 ppi?

[craigriches66]

why is it if i open an image in PS which has a dpi of 300 (image sourced from Shutterstock), work on the image and then use Export As JPG, the resulting ppi is 72 according to PS. I checked my Export Prefs and they are set to JPG and 100 for quality, so why does it export as 72 and not 300? I need to supply images in my document at 300dpi not 72dpi

[Lumigraphics]

I'm not sure what the default is; SFW will either use the last metadata setting or what is saved in a PSD file from the last export.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

I just created a 300ppi file in Photoshop, then used Save for Web with the All metadata option to create a PNG and JPEG, then inspected with ExifTool (Adobe Bridge can't be trusted/used for this task).

There was no resolution metadata in the files. I tested this twice, just in case of user error.

When opened in Photoshop, the JPEG was assigned 72ppi in metadata by Photoshop.

The PNG did not have any resolution metadata inserted on open, however it defaults to 72ppi.

[Felipe5D1F]

Hi Stephen? How are you doing? I hope you are fine! So I'm calling you here because i need help with a script that you readapt that saves as ("exporting pngs with 300dpi"). Can i send you a dm explaining? Thanks!

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

@Felipe5D1F – Yes you can send me a PM/DM

[D Fosse]

Actually the truth seems to be somewhere in the middle. With metadata "all", it's carried over in some way.

Windows Explorer has a default value of 96 ppi, so <no resolution> will come up there as 96. Here's metadata "All" vs. "None" in Save For Web:

(No, don't ask me why Microsoft still calls it dpi. They should know better...)

Bridge reports it correctly, as 300 vs no resolution at all:

Anyway. We're straying a bit from the original question that all these users have, which is this:

Why does my 300 ppi file save as 72 ppi?

And we've explained why that happens: it doesn't save as 72 ppi, it saves without any resolution at all, because it's not needed for the intended purpose.

The 72 number that they're seeing, is added by Photoshop when reopening the file. It needs an (arbitrary) ppi number for other unrelated reasons. In other applications it may open as 96.

[Lumigraphics]

I created this JPEG yesterday from a CR2 file. Set the resolution at 96ppi in Camera RAW, retouched in Photoshop, saved to JPEG in SFW. Metadata set to All Except Camera Info.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

Isn't 96 ppi one of those "magic numbers"? This doesn't help to reconcile anything.

What if you set it to anything, except 72 or 96?

Can you share a copy of the image, even a 1px crop would be enough to inspect the metadata outside of Adobe software.

The idea is to inspect the metadata in the output, without opening the image up again where it may have data inserted on open.

[Lumigraphics]

It retains any other value, I've had ACR set to 300ppi and that value is retained.

And I have more than 15,000 JPEG files created with this exact workflow and they all have ppi data that I've verified in other software. I'm really, really sure that it works like this.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

It retains any other value, I've had ACR set to 300ppi and that value is retained.

And I have more than 15,000 JPEG files created with this exact workflow and they all have ppi data that I've verified in other software. I'm really, really sure that it works like this.

By @Lumigraphics

As mentioned yesterday, I can't reproduce this behaviour.

I have tested in the only available versions that I have access to on both Mac and Windows (2020 and 2021) and when set to retain ALL metadata, neither PNG or JPG retain resolution metadata in the exported file. I have verified this with ExifTool.

[PECourtejoie]

With the new forum consolidation, I think it is a good time to create a feature request in order to get a checkbox to include minimal metadata in the export, with the copyright and resolution, maybe?

[Lumigraphics]

Supposedly they are rebuilding Export to have feature parity with SFW.

[D Fosse]

If that's true, that's excellent news, the best I've had all week!

Just today, I logged a bug about the currently broken color management in Export. Add to that all the other things we're missing, like metadata, action recording and I'm sure a lot of other things.

I've used Save For Web the whole time and still do. I'm happy to retire it, but they need to finish the job first.

[JJMack]

D Fosse read Adobe's BrettN comments in this thread: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quot-export-save-for-web-legacy-quot-... 

[nomom]

I don't know why no one can answer this question. Call me a dinosaur, but I have been using lightroom since it's first issue, and I'm still using the same version. Until the last job I loaded, when I export an image, (I use the 'Export' command, as I have for 20 years) at 300 pixels per inch, that's what loads in PS. Recently I'm getting the same issue as you, import to LR at 300 PPI, image exports at 72 PPI. I have never encountered this, and I know it's not behaving right. The dimensions are larger than captured, but it's still 72. 300 ppi is required for print from most labs/service providers FOR PRINT. 

Bottom line is the question remains; Why is LR exporting a 72 PPI image when asked to export a 300 PPI image. All the right boxes are checked. Can anyone answer the question?

[JJMack]

Export is designed for the web. Resolution is meaningless on the web for displays can not change their ppi resolution. Displays  have a fixed pixel density and a fixed number of pixels. PPI resolution is meaningless on a display they can not change their pixel density they display pixels.  So export does not  set any print ppi resolution in the files it saves.  The files print resolution  setting is not set it is empty or not present.

Windows file explorer will default image file without a Printer print resolution setting to its default 96 ppi print resolution.  Photoshop will default such a file to a 72 ppi resolution.   The fact is the file has  no PPI resolution settings.  Before you print an image you  can set the images PPI resolution to any value you need to print the images the size you want that is amy resolution  value up to the printer's max print resolution.  PPI resolution is the size the Pixels are printed. The Pixel Print density.  It is the math that determines the size the image will print.  A 3000 px wide image canvas will print 10" wide at a 300 pixels per inch print  resolution. Each pixels will be painted in at 1/300" by 1/300" square pixel. Printed with a 100 ppi resolution the  image will  print 30" wide each pixel will be print 1/100" by 1/100" square printed pixel it is simple math.  Image size is the number or pixels you have for the Images,  The physical image size depends on the capabilities of the device that materializes the images pixels.  Displays only have one size pixels the can not change  their resolution they display pixels.  Displays display one size image.  All 40" display always displays a 40" image it is manufactured with. All 40" displays do not have the same resolution.  done 40" displays display  an 1920x1080 pixels image while other 40" displays have more pixels  like 3840 by 2160 pixels.  The displays resolution are different.  Printers can change the size they Print Pixels.

[Olga5DE5]

As you can see in all the export parameters that can be set in LR, there's a section 'Image Sizing' which contains a setting Resolution. The existence of this setting alone allready shows your first statement about 'export is designed for the web' is incorrect.

So, the Export menu in LR _is not_ for the web only. I allready mentioned this false information twice to the moderator (because D fosse also once made a similar false statement about PS), but regrettably no action is taken to prevent incorrect answers by Adobe's moderators.

In recent previous versions of PS, PS did not (correctly) read the dpi metadata. In the latest version I use (22.4.2 20210602.r.242 a4f6042), I now see this problem is finally solved by Adobe.

@JJMack: At least mention that in ancient LR versions 'maybe export was designed for the web', but things have changed. If you still think your statement about Export is correct, please show me then where Adobe officially states that 'export is designed for the web'. Adobe's LR Classic online manual explicitly says:"You can export photos in various file formats suitable for a wide range of uses."

.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

You are posting in the Photoshop forum, not the Lightroom forum.

[Olga5DE5]

This could well be a PS problem, not LR.

Maybe an 'Adobe Community Professional' could ask nomnom some further questions to actually figure out his/her problem and to professionally determine whether this is LR, or maybe actually PS - like it was until the latest version of PS.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

This could well be a PS problem, not LR.

Maybe an 'Adobe Community Professional' could ask nomnom some further questions to actually figure out his/her problem and to professionally determine whether this is LR, or maybe actually PS - like it was until the latest version of PS.

By @Olga5DE5

@Olga5DE5 – The issue as I see it is that this discussion has been around the context of Photoshop, where Export - Save for Web (Legacy) and Export As don't include the resolution metadata. This is by design and what the underlying technology makes available. More here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/quot-export-save-for-web-legacy-quot-...

[JJMack]

I do not install Lightroom I do not know that application this is a Photoshop forum I know some things about Phoyoshop.  I know lightroom does not have layer support and is slow so I do not install Lightroon.    I was poing out that printer PPI  resolution is not use on web display devices.   Lightroom is discussed in the Lightroon forum the append  missplaced here. You do not use Export to print images.

[Olga5DE5]

I appreciate your honesty about your expertise on LR and PS, but I think it needs to be clear that the statement 'export is for web' is - in both LR and PS - incorrect. Nomom's suggestion: export (whether in LR or PS) with the proper ppi setting to send to a printshop, is valid use of the export function.

I think you maybe misread nomom's question, when you write "You do not use Export to print images". I think it is not about printing images yourself, but exporting in any ppi setting and e.g. sending the files to 'labs/service providers for print' as nomom mentions. And maybe that's LR related too, but only recently incorrectly reading ppi information actually was a PS bug.

[D Fosse]

Stephen is right. Export in Lightroom and Export in Photoshop are not the same thing and don't serve the same purposes. In Lightroom it's a general output function, much like Save in Photoshop. And that's how the term export is used in almost any other application out there.

The Export module in Photoshop is a Save For Web replacement. It has a very limited use scenario, and calling it "Export" is IMO very unfortunate. It clashes with how the term is used everywhere else, and it causes a lot of confusion among users. They should have called it something else to make clear what it actually is.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

@nomom 

You are posting in the Photoshop forum, not the Lightroom forum.

As this is the Ps forum and the discussion has been in the context of Export Save for Web (Legacy) and Export As – the context is Photoshop, where both of these features were designed around web graphics production.

Lightroom's export function was not designed for the same dedicated web purpose (it is more general featured and generic/flexible), so this is not an "apples to apples" comparison or discussion.

Although some users in this Ps forum use both Ps and Lr, you may get a better response in the Lr forum.

[davescm]

@nomom 

You said "Recently I'm getting the same issue as you, import to LR at 300 PPI, image exports at 72 PPI."

I've just tested to make sure, and I do not see that behaviour from the current version of Lightroom Classic here, provided I set the export settings correctly. Whatever value I set in Lightroom's Export dialogue I get in the file.

Check your LR export settings carefully - the reason you might see 72ppi in Photoshop is that the export was set to 72ppi or the file contains no metadata.

Screenshot from Lightroom's export dialogue:

[nomom]

Thank you Dave.