Is 300 dpi good for 8x10?
How many pixels are there for an 8"x10" picture? The standard for photo quality printing is 300 pixels per inch, or 300ppi. This is the minimum print resolution recommended by the Library of Congress for 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 photographs (You Say You Want a Resolution: How Much DPI/PPI is Too Much? ).
If you only want to make prints up to 8x10 inches, you only need enough pixels to make a sharp print at that size. The general rule for high quality sharp prints is 300 pixels per inch. So an 8x10 inch print needs 8x300x10x300 = 7.2 megapixels.
Scanning 8x10 inches at 300 dpi creates a 2400x3000 pixel image.
If you are printing an 8x10, all you need is 3000 pixels which gives you about a 6mb file size. The printer ignores anything over 3000 pixels since it prints at 300 dpi.
Is 300 DPI better than 600 DPI or does it work the other way? It depends, in fact, on what you are printing and what material is used. A higher resolution might be needed for glossy photos or images with lots of details that need to be crisp. Then 600 DPI could be a better option.
Generally, 300dpi is a high-res print and 1200 dpi is ultra high-res beyond what is often used even for extremely detailed fine art applications.
When creating a large format image, we generally recommend designers work with at least 300 dpi.
For printing, the recommended resolution for all images and art files is 300 dpi. The offset press cannot accurately reproduce resolutions above 300, so it is the industry standard.
| SIZE IN INCHES | SIZE IN PIXELS |
|---|---|
| 8 X 8 | 2400 X 2400 |
| 8 X 10 | 2400 X 3000 |
| 8.5 X 11 | 2550 X 3300 |
| 9 X 16 | 2700 X 4800 |
Max Resolution (DPI)
Average inkjet printers today usually have a resolution of 1200 x 1440 dpi. This is a good enough resolution if you're not going to be printing photos larger than 5 x 7 inches.
Is 600 dpi too much for print?
Most businesses consider 600dpi and higher to be a high-resolution image or print. High-resolution images require more memory to store and can take longer to scan.
- PPI –Pixels Per Inch, this is a measurement for the detail shown on a computer screen or digital image. Anything 300 PPI or over is usually considered to be high resolution.
- DPI –Dots Per Inch, is a measurement to determine the resolution of an image for printing.
The aspect ratio of an 8 x 10 is 4:5, so if you were using a camera with a 3:5 aspect ratio and you wanted to print your image in an 8 x 10, you would be cutting off TWO inches!
We can calculate that. Let's say our camera produces a photo with an image resolution of 1920x1080 px (1080p), and we want to print at 300 dpi, we use the formula px ÷ dpi to get the maximum print size at the given print resolution (dpi). We can make a print that is 6.4 x 3.6 inches (16.26 x 9.14 cm) @ 300 dpi.
A 300 DPI image is considered to be a high quality photo for print. More dots = higher quality. PPI stands for pixels per square inch, which are squares of light that fit into an inch on a monitor. A 72 PPI image isn't appropriate for print because it will appear pixelated, like the right side of the image above.
The higher the dpi the better the resolution and the better copy/print quality. For example, 1200 X 1200 dpi will give you better resolution or copy/print quality than 600 X 600 dpi, thus giving you better copy/print quality and better half tones. Almost all of Kyocera copiers and printers are 1200 X 1200 dpi capable.
Digital scans of large negatives and transparencies at 600 DPI for standard quality and 1200 DPI for high-quality will get the job done. When deciding on the best resolution for scanning photos, remember that a high DPI only really matters when projects require extreme detail, such as with archival projects.
If the resolution of an image is too high, you'll end up with obscenely large file sizes. If the resolution is too low, your image will look blurry and/or pixelated. While these images have the similar dimensions, their resolution is different.
A 300 DPI image is considered to be a high quality photo for print. More dots = higher quality. PPI stands for pixels per square inch, which are squares of light that fit into an inch on a monitor. A 72 PPI image isn't appropriate for print because it will appear pixelated, like the right side of the image above.
The resolution of each image in your poster should be 150-300 dpi (or pixels per inch) at the final printing size. Resolution below 150 dpi will result in a pixelated image. Note that an image that looks good on the computer screen will not necessarily print well.
What dimensions do I need for 300 DPI?
Understanding the DPI ratio
We can imagine DPI as the number of pixels which would be needed for one inch (2.54 cm) of printed paper. Usually, for a quality print, we need about 300 DPI, meaning that an image the size of an A4 paper should count 2480x3507 pixels.
For most artwork, 300 dpi is preferred. Most printers produce excellent output from images set at 300 ppi. You can use 150 dpi for large prints because the difference in print quality is not very noticeable on large pieces when you look at the prints from a distance.