DPI Calculator
Effective resolution at your print size.
Effective resolution
250 DPI
acceptable at arm's length
The horizontal and vertical resolutions differ, which means the image aspect ratio does not match the print size. Something will be cropped or distorted, decide which before sending it to print.
How the DPI Calculator works
An image has no resolution in inches until you decide how large to print it. Dividing pixels by print size gives the effective DPI, and if the horizontal and vertical figures differ, the aspect ratio does not match and something is going to be cropped.
Also known as: dots per inch calculator · print resolution calculator · what DPI do I need
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Frequently asked questions
What DPI do I need for printing?
300 for photographic prints held at reading distance, 150 for posters and large format, and considerably less for anything viewed from across a room. The requirement falls with viewing distance.
What is the difference between DPI and PPI?
DPI describes ink dots a printer lays per inch; PPI describes pixels per inch in an image or on a display. They are used interchangeably almost everywhere and the distinction only matters when a printer quotes a native DPI far above what your file needs.
Can I increase the DPI of an image?
Only by printing it smaller, or by interpolating pixels that were never captured. Changing the DPI field in metadata without resampling changes the print size, not the detail.
Why do my horizontal and vertical DPI differ?
Because the image aspect ratio does not match the print size. Something will be cropped or stretched, deciding which before printing is better than discovering it afterwards.