Travel DIY · October 02, 2024

What is PPI and DPI

The term PPI is not used much. Many people confuse PPI with DPI or have never heard the term PPI. PPI is a measurement of the quality of a print and understanding this term and what the number means can help you determine the right sizes and resolutions for your next digital photo print.

PPI

PPI: stands for Pixels per Inch. PPI describes the number of pixels per inch in a photo. PPI is a function of the number of pixels the camera’s sensor supports (also known as megapixels) and the size of the photo. To calculate a photo’s PPI simply multiply the page length by its width in inches. The result is the number of square inches on the page. Now divide the number of pixels the sensor supports by the number of square inches. The result is the number of pixels per square inch. All that is left to do is to find the square root of this number.

DPI

DPI stands for Dots per Inch. DPI is a physical characteristic of a printer. Every printer prints dots that when put next to each other comprise a photo. Each dot has a physical size. DPI is also known as the maximum resolution that a printer is capable of. Low-end printers have lower DPI while high-end printers have higher DPI. DPI is defined as the number of dots a printer can print per inch. For example if a printer supports 1200 DPI it means that the printer can print 1200 dots per inch (on both X or Y axis). When printing it is important to make sure that the DPI is higher or equal to the number of pixels per inch in the source photo. If the DPI is lower the printer will not be able to fully display the high resolution photo. When the DPI is higher the printer will use multiple dots to represent one photo pixel. DPI is not relative to the page size. DPI is a fixed number for a given printer.

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Tags: Photography