There is no question that digital imaging came to stay. After all, who can forget about Instagram or Pinterest, two of the biggest social networks that only work with images?
However, in what concerns digital image, there are still many questions. And one of the main ones is DPI vs PPI. So, in this article, we decided to show you once and for all the difference between DPI (Dots Per Inch) and PPI (Pixels Per Inch). Hopefully, when you finish reading this article, you won’t ever have this question popping up into your head when you are dealing with digital images.
Are you confused about converting pixels to inches and vice-versa?
One of the main reasons for the confusion of DPI vs PPI is related to the fact that DPI is actually an old terminology that kept being used in many different things. For example, there are people talking about DPI when they want to talk about the size of the image or when they want to mention its resolution.
However, in the last years, another terminology started to be used – the PPI or Pixels Per Inch. And this brought even more confusion.
So, let’s see exactly how DPI and PPI should be used and what are the main differences between DPI vs PPI.
Discover everything you need to know about pixel density.
#1: DPI (Dots Per Inch):
In what concerns DPI, this terminology should only be used for printers.
One of the things that you may not know is that each and every pixel output is made up of different inks, usually 4 to 6 colors. (More recent printers can use more colors.) So, when you want to print an image, these inks need to be mixed so that they can create all the different colors that you have on your image. So, basically, your image will be composed of a wide variety of tiny dots.
Usually, the higher the DPI, the better the colors will be displayed. This is why you take more time to print an image that has a lot of colors and details than a simpler image. Besides, the printer will also use more ink.
Learn more about DPI in printing.
#2: PPI (Pixels Per Inch):
The PPI is a very simple measurement. The truth is that it simply refers to the number of pixels per image that your image has. So, as you can image, the PPI has a strong influence on the print size as well as on the quality of the output.
Let’s say that you have a low PPI. In this case, your image has few pixels per inch which will result in wider and bigger pixels. So, you will get a blurry or pixelated image.
While you will be reading that a specific PPI number is the best one, the truth is that the best PPI depends on the size of the print that you want.
Simple example of converting centimeters in pixels.
#3: DPI Vs PPI:
So, in order to completely understand the difference between DPI and PPI, there is nothing better than a simple example.
Let’s say that you need to print an image that has 300 PPI and that your printer has 1200 DPI. So, how much ink is in each pixel?
(1200 DPI X 1200 DPI) / (300 PPI X 300 PPI) = 16
So, you can easily say that each pixel will include 16 small ink dots.
In case you had a lower DPI, you would have fewer ink dots to fill in the same pixel. So, your colors and ultimate result would be worse. On the other side, if you had a larger DPI, this would mean that you would have more ink dots per pixel. So, as a result, you would have more accurate colors.