 Stephanie D. Moon |
Low Resolution for a CD A customer has requested her images on a disc. I agreed, telling her the images would be low-resolution - only good for printing 4x6 prints. My question is, how many pixels per inch is this? Thanks in advance.
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chrisbudny.com - Chris Budny Contact Chris Budny Chris Budny's Gallery |
I'll be curious to see other replies, too... My take on it (which could be way off!) is that you'd create your jpg for the CD at say, 1000 x 1500 pixels (assuming a desired 4"x6" print size at 250dpi printing output)---but in saving the jpg, specify 72dpi. So it will be a "visually big" file to pull up and look at on their monitor, but taking it somewhere for printing would only yield a nice image on paper, when printing at 4x6. (Using 250dpi for my pixel math may be too high for this example--that is just based on mpix.com's suggested dpi for file uploads. Perhaps the same math as above, but calculating your pixel dimensions at 200dpi [so 800x1200], or even 180 [ie, 720x1080] still set to 72dpi, to further prevent "useable" enlargements?) All that said, I interested to see what other replies your question gets!
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Richard Lynch |
Stephanie, Do you want them to view on screen at 4x6? That would be safest to do, as you can provide a 4x6 at 72ppi to let the client get a view of everything in color. If you promise to give them enough for printing, that is WAY more resolution ... and it varies depending on your output. Assuming they are using a common inkjet, 240ppi is probably the right resolution, but I might go cheap on the resolution and only send 180ppi to keep from losing business if you expect to make money on reprints. 180 may be a little soft, though, and you risk them printing out a softer image if they are using that to make an honest proof (one they really do mean to buy). You might also want to consider dropping your copyright on the images to keep them safe. It won't stop a person from printing them off at home, but most services worth their salt won't print copyrighted materials - sometimes even if you own the copyright (I've had these troubles before)! The plan by Christopher (on the discussion thread) is about right ... but I'd just save as 240ppi (or 180) and don't bother switching to 72. PPI is really a rather arbitrary assignment - what matters more is the amount of pixels in the image (1000x1500 will not change). Just to be clear, as well: ppi is pixels-per-inch, a term for digital image resolution (pixels in a file); dpi is dots-per-inch, a term for printer resolution (dots on a page). Many people interchange these, but ppi is what you are referring to here. I hope that helps!
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Stephanie D. Moon |
Thanks to both of you for replying. This information does help.
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