Understanding Photo Resolution, DPI, PPI, High-Resolution and More!

Resolution, DPI, PPI, Megapixels, High-Res Shots - there is a big misunderstanding on all of these terms and in this video I'll break it all down for you so you can better understand your own photo files especially when it comes to printing.
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[@diannekischitz8636]

OMG. I'm old, retired designer, and only NOW do I get it!!! Where have you been all my life??!! XO, Di

[@danielcharnitsky6403]

I listened to your video three times and still am confused. You stress the image dimensions and then glossed over the resolution (72 to 300 psi). So is resolution the 72to 300 or the image dimensions. There is a lot of dialogue that still has me confused.

[@dennisparkinson6798]

Hall Charles Lewis Brian Martinez Ruth

[@MrPhillipgraham]

So what is resampling??

[@photografiq_presents]

I've never seen a video that adequately explains this for me. I read the comments and people are gushing in their praise and I'm just .. Nope. What's the point of having the ability if it does nothing? There must be a use case. This is what my brains asking all the while you just zoom past that part... or I was on Amazon and not paying attention... What's important to me is being able to export my image for a webpage that looks great, but that if people try to save and print, it bcomes unusable at anything larger than 3 x 2" Anyway, off to watch someone else's video on the same frikken topic.

[@chrispatmore8944]

It's good to see someone trying to spread correct information. As someone who has worked in graphics, both as a designer and in repro houses, for close to forty years, and been a photographer even longer, it frustrates me all the time. In my work as a magazine designer I am constantly sent low-res files for the magazine. When I tell them I need high-res files, many times I've been sent the same 72 ppi files upscaled to 300 ppi!! For years I've been simply specifying they need to be a certain pixel size along the longest edge, which generally works. The ppi is not important because the image is scaled to the correct print resolution in the layout software (InDesign, Affinity Publisher, Quark XPress). Don't get me started on excessive cropping, but that's another issue. And these people believe they are "professional" photographers! As far as I'm concerned, the bigger the file the better, and I can decide how big it will produced, but that's for magazines, although it equally applies to wall prints. A lot of the confusion comes from the origins of the terminology, which was ported over from the pre-digital days. DPI was a measurement of the repro halftone screens used for making the plates in litho printing. For typical colour reproduction screens up to 300 DPI were used to make the separations, whereas newspapers used a much courser screen, as low as 80 dpi, because the paper was courser and uncoated so absorbed more ink. To make life easier in the transition to digital, the same terminology was retained, much in the same way that ISO was used for the sensitivity of digital sensors. And, as we know, a digital camera's ISO rating isn't actually increased, it just has gain added to the base ISO rating, in the same way that film used to be pushed when working in low light, but using terminology people can easily comprehend. It's a big subject and can get confusing, especially when there are people explaining it who don't really understand it. Like most things in photography, it can seem complex to begin with but once the fundamentals are understood it's quite logical and easy to understand. A big part of the problem is digital technology makes everything seem so easy, nobody bothers to learn those fundamentals. Hell, most don't even now how to use most of the features in their expensive cameras.

[@MattSuessPhoto]

Thanks for watching and your great explanation Chris.

[@bondwoman44]

Thanks for breaking things down for us newbies!

[@dreamingofsuger]

This was a terrible explanation. You need to get right to the point and stop describing things. I'm even more confused then i was before i started

[@checosa777]

true

[@zrohit]

Thanks for the video, what is difference of a photo that is 72 or 300 ppl , what changes when u change resolution? Thanks

[@charleshines2142]

Well, the higher the resolution the bigger the files will be. You would be surprised how much something can take up if scanned as a TIFF or BMP. I like TIFF because it uses lossless compression and doesn't fill your image with artifacts the way JPEG does. JPEG and other lossy formats are just great for sending a photo to someone quick. Back when I was only on dialup internet that was a must you can imagine!! I don't miss it other than for nostalgic reasons really!!

[@MattSuessPhoto]

@zulu XOX the only difference between a photo that is 72 and 300ppi is that when printing, the 72 will print at 72 pixels per inch (suitable for billboards but not prints) and the 300ppi file will print at 300 pixels per inch (suitable for photo prints). "What happens when u change resolution?" As in the video, ppi is not = to resolution. All you do when you change from 72 to 300 ppi is change how many pixels per inch get printed, unless in PS if you have Resample checked when changing image size it will change the ppi and the resolution (look at the pixel dimensions in top dialog box of Image Size). Resolution = the total about of pixels in your image.

[@ignacio_the_coralbiologist]

Can the same idea be used for a 3d model?

[@F1083]

Photoshop came out in 1990. There were no digital cameras at the time. The ppi/dpi is for scanning to assure that the image will be reproduced at the same size it was scanned. We now have digital cameras producing files that can be printed at any size we tell the printer. The PPI/DPI in the file is an appendix that just confuses people. Scanning/printing people think an image at 8000x6000 pixels is low resolution , It's 72dpi!

[@Stalled-wm3qd]

Ok, I am lost! I thought I would try to find out what the relationship is between Megapixels and Megabytes on my photos but got lost! My photo in question says 5037x2836 pixels which is 16:9 and on my PC it says it is 5.91MB at 24 bit depth. 5037x2836 is 14.284 MP right? But the online calculator says 14.284MP is 40.869MB and not the 5.91MB the computer says for this photo. Where are I going wrong please?

[@teach3r8]

Beautifully explained. Now can anyone explain why phone & monitor manufacturers are keeping secrets about what the screen is telling the device? On Windows XP & 2000, we could set the exact number of pixels to be shown on screen, and set scaling. Now apparently users are too dumb to have the right to adjust their own screen, hence artificial manufacturer limits are in place, and worst of all, they don't publish what these limits are, so when you install android 12 or windows 10 or 11, scaling to the smallest size of icons might be WAY bigger than what you want, even if your display has 100 times the pixels of a display 20 years ago.

[@myronachtman4304]

Unlike most of the other KZbin videos on this topic, you have done a great job of differentiating the meaning of PPI vs. DPI. Most of the other presenters use these two terms interchangeably. This would be like me asking someone if they'd like to have an apple, or a chair.

[@sukhjeetsingh7060]

Hey Matt thank you for this video. Really appreciate on what you have shared with us. So for example if I would want to print the image you're using at 300dpi but not 33x22 but at the size of 30x20 how do I set it? Because adjusting the ppi would effect the size of the image as well

[@youssef3754]

A competition requirements are 150dpi, I modified resolution of the picture in Photoshop but when exporting it I can't find the same resolution, can you explain please?

[@jerryjerabek5650]

I am a beginner and did not understand how the "image size" shown at the top of the window had any relation to the image information. It also did not seem to relate to the information about the file size on the computer memory. Please someone explain to me?

[@AmiableCased]

Thank you this was the best video, and it helped me to get a better understanding of that DPI and PPI

[@aaronlobo3896]

my friend, you are terrible at teaching.

[@mhc2b]

Matt - thank you for this comprehensive video. I've been printing with Epson 24" printers for over 22 years now, and a photographer for 53 years now. What I'd like to know (after all these years) is exactly "what" ppi to set my files to (in PS) prior to sending them to my Epson 24" printer. 1. Do I simply uncheck Resample, and send them at whatever ppi PS determines based on my chosen dimensions, to any certain extent? OR... 2. Should I Resample, and choose a specific ppi each time, which, of course, would require interpolation? You mentioned early that 240 was Epson's default ppi, or something to that effect. Not sure how that plays into knowing what to send to the printer. I'm a knowledgeable photographer, and good with math.I currently print with a 24" P6000, and use a RIP (Image Print). Thank you for your time.

[@MattSuessPhoto]

For an Epson printer set your files for 240 ppi and in the printer dialog box choose 1440. Anything else is overkill.

[@chandanlohani]

Do resolution effects the screen size of an image also?

[@charleshines2142]

I am just here having seen a scanner with a resolution of 4800 x 9600 DPI. I am guessing that 4800 DPI is its real resolution right?

[@MattSuessPhoto]

4800x9600 is the resolution - should be creating 46MP files.

[@nicd5439]

Does this translate to video quality also?

[@DeTerraEnterprises]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@alirachini2657]

"Ok, let's talk about size here" 9:23

[@MrJoeyarrigo]

Matt, so if the ppi determines the size of the print, what happens when you increase the size of the image in Photoshop, and keep the ppi the same?

[@MattSuessPhoto]

You end up having a larger print at the same ppi.

[@petertorokfalvy6493]

Thanks for your concise coverage of these issues. Much appreciated !

[@MattSuessPhoto]

You are welcome Peter - thanks for watching and for your comments.

[@dieseldavey]

Hi matt another excellent video 👍🏻 oh I’m back with Olympus well OM1 🤪

[@MattSuessPhoto]

hey thanks for that David! How you liking that OM-1?

[@dieseldavey]

@@MattSuessPhoto loving it so far 👍🏻

[@adrienevd]

after watching your video I still am confused, I have an received an image from somebody and now I need to print it. the dimensions are 1537 px by 2048 px which results in a 21.347 inch width and a 28.444 inch height. However I need to print it in 300 dpi not 72. when I change the resolution without resampling checked (in photoshop) the width changes to 5.123 inches and the height changes to 6.827 inch but I still want the original of 21 x 28 inch printed how do I do that? your examples start with a ppi of 300 not 72. Or cannot I keep the same size after changing the resolution to 300? that is a question I have for a long time and I cannot find the right info. For me the file size is not important. I truly hope you can answer that?

[@oneeyedphotographer]

Just tell Ps your desired print size in inches or milimetres or centimetres. Ignore PPP/DPI. All will be fine.

[@adrienevd]

@@oneeyedphotographer As far as I know I need 300 PPP/DPI for print but you say ignore it if it is 72?

[@oneeyedphotographer]

@@adrienevd If you want a third party to print it, hand over the pixels you have. Not your problem. If you are printing yourself, choose the physical paper size, ser Ps to print that size, let the driver sort it out. The software might print several pixels per dot, it might use several dots to print a pixel. I have in front of me two screens. On is bigger than the other. Both have the same number of dots. In the days of CRT monitors, I could see the individual dots. With modern monitors, I'd need a magnifying glass.

[@adrienevd]

@@oneeyedphotographer So far what I read it that the print lab gave instructions for the resolution. Your explanation is clear and I now understand it much better!

[@oneeyedphotographer]

Why 72DPI?

[@MattSuessPhoto]

Sorry - I don't understand your question...

[@myronachtman4304]

Matt, you arbitrarily tossed out a resolution of 72 ppi (because many people incorrectly believe this is the resolution of website graphics). I must say that this was the part of your lesson that I didn't like. I would have used a round number like 50 ppi in that second part of your lesson (instead of 72) to demonstrate the concept at hand.

[@oneeyedphotographer]

@@MattSuessPhoto I don't understand why you chose the number of 72. It's widely cited, but has no relevance to anything that I can see. And I do know where the number arose. I don't understand why you chose it.

[@bethstageart]

Not following