dpi

[mrsbean]

If I have a photo that is 5x30 at 180 dpi, can I change ONLY the dpi and still have a 5x30 printed? Will changing the dpi upwards cause me to have a pixelated print?

Thanks.

[Daniel Bates]

Hey Ann,

First of all, welcome to the forum!

Now on to your question: your photo is 5"x30" at 180 dots (pixels) per inch. That means your photo is (5*180) pixels by (30*180) pixels, or 900 x 5400 px. If you want to increase the resolution (the dpi), you'll have to decrease the print size, or increase the number of pixels.

If you increase the number of pixels, you may get a pixelated image, but small enlargements should be okay.

[mrsbean]

Thank you for the information, Daniel. I appreciate it.

I was trying to avoid recreating the composite at 300 dpi, but I guess that's the way I'll have to go.

I am having it printed at WHCC, and they request that files be submitted at 300 dpi.

Thank you again.

[studiocygnet]

Welcome to the forum.
There is also software available that will let you upscale without pixelating, the most well known being "Genuine Fractals". I've read about a couple others as well, but that is the only name I know. It is often used for those big posters made from small images.

[CaptainTom]

I would recommend you contact your printer and ask them what you should do.
They have fractal programs that are miles ahead of what you can get for your home computer.
I have had smaller .jpg files printed to poster size with little or no loss in clarity (given the size of the end product).

[TxManx]

Genuine Fractals does a great job - but it does 'average' the existing pixels to increase the size...you'll experience a little softness around the edges, but given the dimensions, I'll make the logical leap that this is a landscape / nature type image and sharpness isn't always key to those images...

You can contact WHCC and see if they offer a resizing service, given that the software you're looking at is $170...

Ken

[mrsbean]

Thanks for the info.

It's a composite image, which I can recreate at 300 dpi; I was just hoping I didn't have to. :)

[KdLaneJr]

You can create an action that upsizes your image by 110% (under document size change inches to percent) . This will change your 5x30 dimensions while you are upsizing it. Use bicubic smoother to do this. When you get just above 300 dpi, change to bicubic and enter your 5x30 dimensions and 300 dpi requirement. Don't forget to change back to inches if you don't create an action.

This should preferably be done to an image that has not been sharpened. After getting the image to your desire dimensions, sharpen to suit.

Zoom into the image and see if it will meet your requirements.