Printing FAQ / Glossary > Technical questions

How do I adjust for the correct image resolution?

The correct resolution for an image is 300dpi (dots per Inch) and 400dpi for the text at 100% bleed of the dimensions at which they will print to. It is important to note that you cannot change a low resolution image to a high resolution. For instance, if you change a lower resolution image at 72 DPI to a higher resolution at 300 DPI, the image will look blurry because it stretches out the pixels. It is very important to adhere to these guidelines otherwise your image and text will not print at the highest quality.

The following are a few definitions of terms regarding resolution and printing.

DPI

DPI stands for dots per inch, which indicates the resolution of images. The more dots per inch there are, the higher the resolution. A common resolution for most printers is 600 dots per inch. This means 600 dots across and 600 dots down, so there are 360,000 dots per square inch.

PPI
PPI stands for pixels per inch, which is how a monitor displays an image. How the image looks on the screen is determined by the resolution of the monitor (the number of pixels the monitor can display in a given area). Therefore the PPI is the display resolution, not the image resolution.

SPI
SPI stands for samples per inch, which is a measurement of image resolution when doing a scan, or using an image from a CD or digital camera.

Last updated on July 8, 2008 by Angel Printing, Inc.

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