Hi everyone, i know this will sound silly but im really confused with what DPI is.. I believe it stands for dots per inch.. Would anyone be able to explain to me what this is used for? If you set a high DPI will this effect the print quality? And how would i go about changing it in Photoshop CS3?              Any help would be extremely appreciated.

Jason

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Hi, see this link, though there are loads of them http://www.dpiphoto.eu/dpi.htm

In Photoshop, in the menu click IMAGE  then IMAGE SIZE , and look for the box that has RESOLUTION in it, just enter about 72 for web images.

 

Hope its some help.

Thanks, that has helped quite a bit :)

Jason

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All comments and advice are welcome :D
www.jbutlerphotography.com

My Dc Gallery

GM0KDC:

Hi, see this link, though there are loads of them http://www.dpiphoto.eu/dpi.htm

In Photoshop, in the menu click IMAGE  then IMAGE SIZE , and look for the box that has RESOLUTION in it, just enter about 72 for web images.

 

Hope its some help.

Oops fellas - some confusion creaping in here me thinks. DPI as the OP correctly points out is Dots Per Inch and applies to printing whilst you GMOKDC are referring to PPI or Pixels Per Inch which is what the OP will find when they follow the route you have advised and which applies to resolution.

Let's say for example your camera produces images out of the camera at a size of 3072 x 2048 pixels *. If you were then to make a print from this image at a resolution of 240 ppi (pixels per inch) you would be printing an image of dimensions 12.8 inches x 8.5 inches (3072 divided by 240 and 2048 divided by 240). This would produce you an excellent print as indeed would choosing a lower resolution. 72 ppi is good enough for the web etc.

DPI or Dots Per Inch is a function of the printer and is controllable in the printer driver and is a measure of how much ink is laid down over a given area. Just as too low a DPI can produce a patchy image so to can setting too high a DPI where quality isn't improved at all but plenty of ink wasted.

* taken from my 5MP Canon G5's handbook - the nearest to hand.

Ah, i think i understand now :) Thank you very much for the help. Still slightly confused but i get the rough idea :D

Jason

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All comments and advice are welcome :D
www.jbutlerphotography.com

My Dc Gallery

What happens to the image when you resize it in ppi to 72 ppi, for example, depends on whether you have "resampling" turned on or off. If you have it turned off, then the image will become huge in cms or whatever measure you are using (the pixels by pixels counts will be unchanged). If you have resampling turned on, the dimensions of the image will stay the same and you will still have your 6x9cm image, ONLY at a much lower resolution.

The confusion with printing is common-- you set printing size of the image (dpi) regardless of the ppi and it will magically print as best it can at that size regardless of how good or bad the image is at its screen resolution.

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Swede
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