Before rushing off to buy that premium photo paper so you can have your digital photos in hand, there are a few things to know when preparing for a digital print. It can be as simple as "upload and print". But, if you want the maximum quality, clearest resolution, and the most vibrant and true colors, follow these tips used by professional photographers and graphic artists every time they print.
First off, you may have seen the 2 acronyms, ppi and dpi. Many people confuse them to be the same thing. They do roughly share the same principle (defining the resolution of your photos) but are used in totally different stages of the photography or printing process.
Ppi stands for pixels per inch. You can think of this as the input unit, or how many pixels are captured by your camera's sensor when taking a picture. If you have a low ppi, you can raise the dpi all you want but you'll still have a very small picture. And should you choose to enlarge the photo, it will be very grainy and blurry, also known as pixelated.
Pixelation happens when there are not enough pixels in the image to represent every color and line; therefore, you get a mosaic, blotchy look. When the resolution is even the slightest bit low like this, the lines aren't as smooth as they should be.
This is where camera quality matters because the more pixels in the photo, the more flexibility you have with the size and resolution. The better the input, the better the outcome.
Dpi on the other hand is a part of the output process. It stands for dots per inch. This refers back to an old printing process. If you've ever looked at a magazine page with a magnifying glass (or maybe you should now to help you understand), you would have seen all the tiny dots used to compose the image. Going back to the basics of art and design, it is taught that a line is really just a series of points arranged in a continuous pattern. So therefore, everything you see is essentially a dot.
This brings me to the next focus, if there are not enough dots in each square inch, your photo, again, will have a low resolution and look grainy. Some of the colors may be inaccurate as well because there are not enough actual dots to represent each element and color in your image.
There are standards in the printing and graphic design world to give you great starting points when printing your hi-res photos. The industry standard used for any print work, magazines, brochures, etc. is 300 dpi.
Images that will be viewed within say, 2 feet or less need to have a higher dpi as well as if they are printed on a high gloss paper, like brochures, magazines, and postcards. Images that will be hung on a wall or put in display, viewed further away, can have a lower dpi of 150 because they won't be seen close enough to need a great amount of detail. This is also the case if the image is printed on matte or semi-gloss paper because the rougher texture is more forgiving than a smooth high-gloss paper.
If you decide to get your photos professionally printed, all this will be done for you and your photos will have superb resolution. However, if you choose to print them on your own, you now have the all the secrets of the trade so you too can have high resolution, high quality, and beautifully vibrant photos like the pros.
About The Author: Barry Craft has been an avid photographer for the last 20 years and has a particular interest in nature photography. He is passionate about his work and is happy to provide the latest tips and tricks to help you improve your photographic skills.
To obtain a FREE copy of his latest report entitled, "Top 10 Tips for Great Photo Composition - How to Overcome the 10 Biggest Mistakes When Composing Your Photographs and Dramatically Improve Your Images" please visit http://naturephotographyclub.com/nature-photography-tips.php
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