{"id":1921,"date":"2024-12-26T18:03:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-26T18:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/image-resolution-in-5-min-a-quick-guide-to-understanding-and-mastering-pixels\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:58:07","slug":"image-resolution-fine-art-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/blog\/image-resolution-fine-art-printing\/","title":{"rendered":"Image Resolution for Fine Art Printing: A 5-Minute Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Image resolution and megapixels are some of the most misunderstood terms used in digital imaging, among both enthusiasts and professionals alike. And yes, I just said professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get the ball rolling on this topic, I\u2019m gonna just come right out and say something that might get the odd raised eyebrow, but nevertheless true: \u201cDPI (resolution) is practically irrelevant until you want to print your image\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprised?! Well, some of you at least. What is important is the total number of pixels in the image. The resolution itself can be set to whatever you want (72, 150, 300 or 1000 dpi) and as long as the total pixel count in the file remains the same, the quality is maintained too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is DPI after all?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, and since computer monitors don\u00b4t display in dots \u2014 but rather in pixels \u2014 this can only refer to the dots made by printers when reproducing a digital image\u2026 because that\u2019s what they do\u2026 dots\u2026 millions of them! An important point to remember is that the DPI of a file is just a way to measure it. Maybe you\u2019ve heard someone say that they need a file at 300 dpi\u2026 well, ANY image file can be measured at 300 dpi, whether it has been saved that way or not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how it works:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you have a 2848\u00d74288 pixel image at 72 dpi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this resolution you could produce a 39.5 x 59.5 inch (100.3cm x 151 cm) printed image. So, if you divide the numbers of pixels by 72 dpi you will get the total number of inches that the image can be printed at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2848 \/ 72 = 39.5 inch (100.3 cm)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4288 \/ 72 = 59.5 inch (151 cm)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Print size: 39.5 x 59.5 (100.3 x 151 cm)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate this, let\u2019s take a look at the Image Size dialogue box in Photoshop CS6:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image-size\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several things are worth noting in this screenshot:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 \u2013 at the bottom of the document window you can see the file size is 34.9 Mb (MegaBytes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 \u2013 the Pixel Dimensions in the upper section of the Image Size dialogue box: 2848\u00d74288<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 \u2013 in the Document Size section, note the big physical dimensions if we wanted to print at this resolution of 72 dpi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now let\u2019s change the resolution of the image without touching the number of pixels, therefor preserving it\u2019s quality. Here\u2019s how:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1:<\/strong> In Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) choose Image > Image Size<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2:<\/strong> At the bottom of the Image Size dialogue box, uncheck Resample Image (important). By doing this, the pixel dimensions are locked, therefor locking the quality. Now enter 300 into the resolution box and watch what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image-size2\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What has changed? Now the image is 300 dpi and consequently the physical dimensions have decreased to 9.5 x 14.3 inch (24 x 36.3 cm). In other words, the pysical dimensions of the image have changed but not the pixel count. See how the size of the image didn\u00b4t change at all? Still those good \u2018al 34.9 MB. We haven\u00b4t altered the pixels (quality), only the measurement (dpi) which affects the physical output of the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMPORTANT:<\/strong> As long as you uncheck the Resample Image box you can change the resolution as many times as you like, and you won\u00b4t be affecting image quality at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, sounds great but, what resolution do I need?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Well, that depends. Assuming you want to have your image printed, first you must determine what kind of printer it will be reproduced on and at what size. If a commercial printer (offset) is your image\u2019s final destination then 300 dpi is usually required, unless it\u2019s for a newspaper for which anywhere between 150 and 200 dpi will suffice. High end gicl\u00e9e<\/em> inkjet printers can achieve very good results from 150 dpi files, although even with 100 dpi files the outcome is above average most of the time. For best results a 200 dpi file is required though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, going back to our initial 2848\u00d74288 pixel image example I could print the following on a high end gicl\u00e9e printer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 28.4 x 42.8 inch (72.3 x 109 cm) \u2014 For an above average quality print at 100 dpi:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 19 x 28.5 inch (48.2 x 72.6 cm) \u2014 For a very good quality print at 150 dpi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 14.2 x 21.4 inch (36 x 55 cm) \u2014 For an Excellent quality print at 200 dpi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out at what sizes you can print your images at different resolutions depending on the requirement of the output device, just remember the formula\u2026 ok, for those who\u2019ve forgot, just divide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Width in pixels by desired output resolution = print width<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Height in pixels by desired output resolution = print height<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your megapixel will be width in pixels x height in pixels, <\/strong>for example:
3000\u00d72000 = 600 000 = 6 megapixels<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that\u2019s a wrap on resolution and I hope this small<\/s> article has explained resolution well enough to save you the cold sweats whenever you need to print your images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions, opinions and\/or experiences you\u2019d like to share please leave them down below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A resolu\u00e7\u00e3o da imagem e os megapix\u00e9is s\u00e3o alguns dos termos mais mal compreendidos utilizados na imagem digital, tanto por entusiastas como por profissionais<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"authors":[21],"class_list":["post-1921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","authors-nicholas-kilford"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1921"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6057,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions\/6057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1921"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kilford.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=1921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}