The Correct Settings for Printing Images
Cast aside every confusing term and definition regarding printing digital images.
Believe it or not, the correct settings for printing photos are not difficult. Here is all
you need to know:
Print at 150 to 300 ppi using photo paper.
That’s all there is to know, no matter what printer you are using. Save your images at
a ppi from between 150–300 ppi and they will print beautifully on glossy paper. For
printing on normal paper use 150 ppi or less. Choose Image, Resize, Image Size in
Photoshop Elements or Image, Size in Photoshop and change the value in the Pixels
Per Inch text field. Make sure Resample Image is turned off before you click OK.
Photo printers and normal inkjet printers that use four or more inks are capable of
printing at photo-quality if you set the pixels per inch between 150–300 ppi. Dye-
sublimation printers can handle 400 ppi if you’re fortunate enough to have one.
Almost all inkjet printers can only handle this ppi range. Even today’s most precise
inkjet printers, which can shoot a miniscule 2-picoliter drop of ink (two millionths of
a millionth of a liter!) will not be able to print at
a density much higher than 400 ppi. If you need
to print a physically larger image, simply lower
the ppi setting and experiment. Make sure
Resample Image is turned off in the Image Size
dialog box, however. Failure to do so will physi-
cally alter your image and degrade its quality.
Every image editing program includes settings
that enable you to adjust for ppi. In Photoshop,
for example, set the ppi of your image by choos-
ing Image, Image Size and then changing
Resolution.What Resolution Are My Images?
Most digital cameras save images at 72 ppi. When you import the image, it will be dis-
played on screen at 72 ppi or 96 ppi, which are the most common resolutions of com-
puter monitors. If you have a decent inkjet printer (any printer that uses four or more
inks), follow these steps immediately after importing an image to print it properly:- Open the image in an image editor such as Photoshop or Photoshop
Elements. - Change the ppi of the image from 72 to between 150–300 ppi (see Figure
18.4).
CHAPTER 18 PRINTERS AND PRINTER RESOLUTION 273tip
The larger the image, the
lower the ppi number neces-
sary. For images larger than
11 ×17 inches, the ppi rating
can be under 200 pixels per
inch.