Posted by Mike Sellers on November 6, 2007 at 8:31 AM
When I convert a raw file to tiff the default setting makes it a 300 pixels/inch at 10x15 inch file. Is converting to a 300 pixel/inch file the best thing to do? Does it matter?
Mike Sellers
Posted by David Bostedo on November 6, 2007 at 9:04 AM
Mike - The pixels/inch (ppi) setting is really meaningless unless you are going to print. You can change that all you want without affecting the actual image or file. For instance, if you're in Photoshop (or some other program) and change it to 150 pixels/inch (without any resampling or resizing turned on), it will just register as a 20x30 file. Has anything actually changed? No.
The only thing that matters for editing and web display is the actual pixels, like 3000x2000. When you print, the print driver will likely use the ppi setting as the printer's default dpi setting. However, most print drivers and print programs let you change this on the fly to fit certain paper, or shrink or enlarge the image anyway.
The only time that the resolution matters is when printing from Photoshop or any other program which calculates the size of the image based upon the number of pixels and the resolution. Other printing programs, such as Q-Image, base the size upon the user specified dimensions and completely ignore the resolution. The result is that using Photoshop to edit the image and then using Q-Image to print the image is a lot easier.
Discussion
2 repliesMike Sellers
The only thing that matters for editing and web display is the actual pixels, like 3000x2000. When you print, the print driver will likely use the ppi setting as the printer's default dpi setting. However, most print drivers and print programs let you change this on the fly to fit certain paper, or shrink or enlarge the image anyway.
The only time that the resolution matters is when printing from Photoshop or any other program which calculates the size of the image based upon the number of pixels and the resolution. Other printing programs, such as Q-Image, base the size upon the user specified dimensions and completely ignore the resolution. The result is that using Photoshop to edit the image and then using Q-Image to print the image is a lot easier.