What is DPI vs PPI – Guide

When it comes to image size and quality, the acronyms DPI and PPI are often used. The problem is that there is a lot of confusion about them. The terms are used interchangeably when they are not the same. What is DPI? How do DPI and PPI differ? And how do they apply to digital and print photography? This article will answer those questions. We explain the difference between DPI and PPI and clarify up the confusion between the two. If you know what DPI and PPI mean for your work, you can create high quality photo prints. optimize your images for the web; and in the long run you save a lot of time.

what is DPI

DPI stands for dots per inch and refers to the resolution of a printer. It describes the density of dots of ink placed on a sheet of paper (or other photographic medium) by a printer to create a physical print. DPI has nothing to do with anything displayed digitally! And this is where a lot of confusion occurs. More on DPI in a moment.

What is PPI

PPI stands for pixels per inch. PPI describes the resolution of a digital image, not a print. PPI is used to resize images in preparation for printing. To understand this, we also need to understand what a pixel is. A pixel or image element is the smallest building block used to create an image on a screen. Pixels are square and arranged in a grid. Each square is a different color or shade. Because the pixels are so small, our eyes cannot see the elements in the grid as individual squares. Instead, our brain stitches each pixel together into a smooth digital image. Before those of you with more advanced knowledge call me and say that this is not entirely true, you are right. The pixels themselves are made up of red, green and blue subpixels. These subpixels are blended together to give each pixel its hue. However, a full explanation of subpixels is much more detailed than we need for this discussion.

PPI vs DPI: Do they affect each other?

Now that you have a better understanding of PPI vs DPI, you might still be wondering what their real connection is? The best way to understand their connection is to imagine that you want to print a 300 PPI image at 600 DPI. Just divide 600 DPI / 300 PPI and you get your answer 1 DPI = 1 PPI.

Final note

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