What is Photo Printer DPI?

Photo printer DPI refers to Digital Pixels per Inch. A digital image is comprised of thousands of tiny pixels. Each pixel is a solid color square. The combination of all the colors of the pixels gives you your image. Obviously, the more pixels in the image, the more sharp and focused it looks.

Understanding Digital Pixels

Ideally, you want to have the highest amount of digital pixels per inch as possible. But, that may not be realistic because images with a higher concentration take up a lot of memory. This may not sound like a big deal in regards to your computers hard drive, but you need to keep in mind that the time to capture all of these pictures in when you shoot. It's easy to fill a memory card up fast when using high quality settings.

You can't shoot on a lower setting and expect to add the pixels in Photoshop because the only way you're capturing all the information in the detail is when your shutter clicks. Try to shoot with high quality settings; you can always it later.

Ideal DPI

The ideal DPI to have in your photos is at least 300 pixels per inch. Having a higher concentration is always better, but going lower will degrade the quality of your image. Keep in mind that some file sizes might be too large for e-mail if that is how you're planning to deliver the photos to your printer.

Popular Cameras for High Quality Photos: