What Resolution (DPI) Should I be Using For High-Quality Prints?

Factual Questions
1

I went to Kinko’s a few days ago to make a high quality print out (on gloss paper) of a DVD cover I made. It came out looking like ass, the text was pix elated, etc. It was shortly after that I discovered the problem was attributed to the 72dpi my art work determined as the default. So my question is, what kind of dpi should I be using for a high quality print out? I upped it to 500dpi, is this ample?

2

200-300 DPI gives more than acceptable results, in my experience. 72 DPI is the default, as that is the resolution of most monitors.

3

At least 300 dpi.

4

Thanks, so it seems I went overkill. I presume 500dpi wouldn’t be any worse than 200-300 (unless there’s something I’m missing)?

5

No, 500 is fine. It may be overkill, depending on the level of detail in the artwork, so you may or may not notice an improvement over 300 DPI.

6

Well, it makes your file bigger and slower to print.

7

According to Britannica the best resolving power of the human eye under ideal conditions is about 30 seconds of arc.

At a distance of 18" this is equivalent to 380 dpi.

If you are trying to minimize file size while maintaining quality 300 dpi is adequate since ideal conditions, in such as lighting, are seldom available and most eyes don’t operate at top performance all the time anyway.

8

Just make sure the original image was created at a higher dpi than what you plan to use for the finished product.

9

In my experience (I print art that I sell), for 95% of everything out there, 300 dpi is more than enough. Depends on what you’re printing of course.

10

I’m not questioning you on this at all, so don’t think I’m doubting your accuracy. :slight_smile: I was just wondering if you could show me how you did this math.

11

Convert 30 seconds to degrees by dividing by 3600. Then convert to radians by multiplying by pi and dividing by 180. This gives an angle of 1.454*10[sup]-4[/sup] radians.

The length of arc equals the angle in radians multiplied by the radius of the circle. For such a small angle there is no significant difference between an arc and a straight line. So the distance between adjacent detectably different points is the above angle multiplied by 18", the viewing distance. The reciprocal of this is the DPI and that comes out to be 382.