Category: 
September 4, 2008
if i want an 8×10 photo how many pixels per inch should i have
Riothamus Of Research ;<) do you know what the modern term "Nimrod" means?
Go back to school. The verbiage you put forth has nothing to do with the OPs question.
For photo quality printing set the image size at 200 to 300 ppi (pixels per inch) and the printer at at least 720 dpi (dots per inch) but higher if your printer is capable of it. Most up to date photo printers will now print at 2880 dpi.
ppi and dpi are not interchangeable terms. ppi measures the density of pixels of a digital image and dpi measures the density of dots on a printed medium.
Horaayy..there are 8 comment(s) for me so far ;)
You need about 200 dpi to print acceptable quality.
So, if it's say 1600 dpi, then you can print it at 1600\200 = 8 inches wide.
Real pro's suggest you need 300 dpi, in which case
you could print 1600\300 = 5 and a bit wide.
References :
http://www.photovideotalk.com/how_big_is_a_pixel-2775438-77-a.html
If you are going to print it in a photo quality paper you should have minimum 200dpi, if you going to print it in any other quality papers as solvent or flex you should have minimum 75dpi
References :
As a guideline you will want the following:
Screen display: 72 ppi
Newspaper: 170 ppi
Inkjet printer: 150 to 200 ppi
Magazine/Brochure/Business Cards: 300 ppi
So for your photo I'd suggest 200 ppi.
BTW… ppi = dpi
References :
If you want to take a digital photo, resolution is usually expressed in mega-pixels. There is no exact equivalent, but a 10 mega-pixel camera would take a photo with roughly the same resolution as film. Anything above about 6 mega-pixels is a high enough resolution, the differences are difficult to see unaided.
If you have a digital image and want to print it, the dots per inch (dpi) don't really matter; simply set the image to the *size* you want, set your printer to its highest quality setting, and let your image program and printer driver do their stuff. Increasing the dpi of an existing image won't add any detail, and in many cases will actually make the image appear 'rougher'.
If you want to *scan* an existing photo, scan it at *at least* 600 dpi; 900 dpi or 1200 dpi is even better. The Library of Congress determined that scanning printed pages at 600 dpi was only adequate for roman type sizes of 6 point and larger, and that italic fonts at 6 points were hard to read. Many photos have details smaller than 6 point type, which is why I recommend more dots per inch, even though many people say it is alright to use a lower setting to save disk space.
When you scan a photo, again, you can't add detail later. If you find that you really don't want to take up that much disk space, you can always make it smaller.
References :
I have researched digital photography, printing, and digital preservation of images for my own use. The subject involves much more, but the simple rules above cover resolution, usually expressed in dots per inch.
Riothamus Of Research ;<) do you know what the modern term "Nimrod" means?
Go back to school. The verbiage you put forth has nothing to do with the OPs question.
For photo quality printing set the image size at 200 to 300 ppi (pixels per inch) and the printer at at least 720 dpi (dots per inch) but higher if your printer is capable of it. Most up to date photo printers will now print at 2880 dpi.
ppi and dpi are not interchangeable terms. ppi measures the density of pixels of a digital image and dpi measures the density of dots on a printed medium.
References :
300dpi in CMYK is the standard we use at work. We print for magazine ads, editorials, posters, etc..
References :
300 is what I use to print on a Gretag Netprinter. For inkjet I would suggest 240.
References :
300 is good for almost anything, including printing since 1) most printers can't effectively print higher than that and 2) the human eye can't really see too much more detail (that's 300 ppi in the final printed product, assuming it won't be scanned in again, etc.).
References :