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Everything you wanted to know about file size and formats, and a few things you didn't!
- Note: too many calls regarding this article please read the article and take what you can from it, however I cannot take the time to answer additional questions by phone. I may be able to assit you by email and some services may require a fee or donation. A few too many people have called me asking for help and I simply don't have the time to help everyone. Read and enjoy. thanks. Well it happened again. I got a request from a new client requesting a file as "300dpi". I replied with a long explanation as to why this wasn't enough information for me to fulfill the request. At the end I asked "So what size did you need that image? And what are you needing it for?" I got the following reply; "I don't need the dissertation. To use your same logic, for me to ask for an image of a certain size in a set resolution assumes I am aware of what file size you use....I am not. I could be decreasing the resolution with such a request. I am also fully aware of the compression issues with JPG files. Send me the file as large as you can email it; TIFF is fine as is the RGB JPG. I can deal with any format and the image size thank you." So rather than educate my client and get the information I needed I only ticked him off by over explaining what dpi is and why "300dpi" doesn't mean anything. To avoid this situation in the future I would like to give everyone who may be interested access to all of the answers about DPI, PPI, File Size and Format so they can understand what is needed to meet their needs.
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So as not to be condescending, nor explain something in infinitum that which is already well understood by the reader I We produce have written each explanation with a high quality photography mostly bolded title. You can scan over these and for business to business marketing. only read those areas that interest you, or may be relevant to your needs, skipping Our principal markets are over those areas you are already well the construction industry acquainted with. and the automotive manufacturing industry. A significant portion of our work is A Not So Brief Introduction
also divided among the hospitality DPI is the Wrong Term for Most Applications industry (hotels, resorts, casinos & Why 300dpi? How to make a 300dpi file. restaurants) File Formats - Compression Our specialties include >> Architectural (interior & exteriors), >> Automotive (interiors & exteriors, studio & location), >> Industrial, shooting manufacturing facilities & equipment. >> Environmental & Studio Executive Portraiture for Editorial, Annual Report and similar, >> Studio Product including electronics, glass, plastic, package goods & food. In addition to photography we also offer >> Digital Retouching >> Large Format Printing >>Graphic Design & Offset Printing for brochures, catalogs and promotional materials >> Website Design & Hosting. We've been in business since 1987 File Formats - Color Space When
do I need a 300dpi JPeg? Can I use a CMYK JPeg? My Printer is 1200dpi, so what size file do I need? A Not So Brief Introduction;
I get requests almost every week for a file as "300dpi". This is an incomplete equation. I've tried explain this using various analogies and so far none has been ideal, but I will try again; suppose you are buying tires for your car and when the dealer says "what size tires do you want" you say "I don't know, but I want it in inches". I can give you a 1"x1" photo at 300dpi. That's probably not what you need, but when the client asks for 300dpi they have probably been told by a publisher or printer that images must be submitted as "300dpi" without further explanation. The complete equation is to have the dimensions of the image and the resolution. One without the other is useless. For example 4"x5" or 5"x7" are commonly used sizes. If I then make the file "300dpi" that makes an image file that is 1200 pixels by 1500 pixels for the 4x5, or 1500px by 2100px for the 5x7. If you multiply the two dimensions (1200px x 1500px =1.8M) you see where "megapixels" come from. You may be familiar with "megapixels" from its use in describing the resolution of images produced by consumer digital cameras. While a "megapixel" description of a file size may make more sense than "300dpi" it doesn't account for the preferred resolution or proportion of the image, only the total pixels. So where does that leave us? As it turns out dpi is actually the wrong term for nearly every application it's used so lets start there;
consumer desktop prints and big commercial printers print "dots" of ink onto paper. The dots may be in clusters called "Rosettes" which simulate the wide range of colors we see in print using only 4 ink colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK, where K is blacK). A desktop printer may use 4-8 different color inks, placing the individual dots "Stochastically" (rather than using Rosettes) to appear as a wider "gamut" of color.
please) you can see the largest size that file can be reproduced in its current form. If the resulting dimensions are too small you have the option of reclicking the "resample image" box and making the image any size and resolution you want. Be sure to consider the different upscaling processes at the bottom of the box as each affects different qualities of the image. "Rezzing" up the image will not improve the quality and you may find that if you start with a fairly small image and enlarge it significantly it will look rather poor; either fuzzy, blurry or even pixilated. In many cases you can enlarge a file by up to 50% without a serious downgrade in quality depending on the content and quality of the original file. So what about the 300dpi Jpeg? In an application that uses a 300ppi image we would probably prefer to use a TIFF format file instead of a JPeg. As you will see why, with just a few exceptions (see below) you would not use a "300dpi JPeg". See additional step by step instructions further down.
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The JPeg format is ideal for display on screens in the content of Websites, PowerPoint presentations and the like because it produces suitable files that are easy to view on computers, are vivid in color and are relatively small due to their compression. When a JPeg is used for ink printing, particularly high quality printing (high line screen) the damage caused by compression quickly becomes apparent. The image may need to be enlarged if it was originally only 72ppi resulting in a grossly pixilated image when printed in a magazine as you may occasional see when advertisers supply their photos or logos from web sources. A 300dpi version of the file may seem to be the answer, but the JPeg format is not the ideal format for this type of application. TIFF is an image format which can, but does not always use compression. When compressed it is not like the destructive form used in JPeg. The standard compression format of a TIFF file is not "lossy". The TIFF compression scheme (most commonly LZW, named for the inventors Lempel, Ziv & Welch) finds all duplicate elements in the file and replaces them with an indication of multiples. In effect in stead of having 000000000 it is replaced with 0x9. This means that no information is lost and the process is referred to as "lossless compression". This allows users to modestly compress an image file without damaging it. However the process of compressing and uncompressing files does take time and computer power and as such many printers and publishers prefer "uncompressed TIFF" format.
image is viewed on. Otherwise if the monitor is slightly green and an image looks "neutral" it may consistently output as slightly red or magenta. If we know the Profile of the output device to be used in the final version of the image we can account for this in the Color Space using our Color Management. The range of color reproducible in RGB is significantly higher than can be output in CMYK. Because of the limitations of reproducing color on paper with ink the color spectrum is not as wide or vivid as RGB. A neon green or super rich blue can be produced in RGB combining the three colors on the monitor, but these same colors cannot be reproduced on paper using only the 4 color inks CMYK. By adding additional ink in the printing process a wider gamut of color can be achieved and that's why we now see 6, 7 even 12 color desktop printers. But even those cannot reproduce neon colors as they appear on the monitor. To anticipate this smaller color gamut we can review the images on screen simulating the smaller gamut of CMYK so we can anticipate the limitations of the smaller gamut.
cannot display a CMYK JPeg or do so with gross color shifts which could be a problem if being reviewed by someone who isn't aware that the file is CMYK and that is why the color shift in the viewer.
what resolution file should I send it? I had a vendor call me for a client who needed to output graphics for a vehicle. I asked the vendor what resolution he wanted the file. He said, "well, it outputs at 1200dpi, can you give it to me at 1200dpi?" He was unable to open the file I sent him because it was so large. He in fact did not need a file at 1200dpi (ppi). The dpi indicated by the printer refers to the small dots of ink and are not directly related to the file size itself. This type of printer will make fine dots of ink for most any resolution, even low resolution until the the square pixels become visible. For most desktop inkjet printers a file that at final size is 150ppi will look just fine. For high resolution inkjet printers of 18" or more in paper width 300ppi works well, with 200-400ppi being a suitable range. You may be able to go even lower, such as 150, 100, even 80 ppi or lower, but the resulting output may appear blurry, pixilated, jaggy or pointillized to varying degrees depending on the printer and the image. Commercial printers and publisher generally need file sizes in relation to the line screen output they are doing because they typically use technology involving an ImageWriter and plates which transfer the ink to paper. Even plate-less direct to press setups are usually based on a presumed line screen.
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Many people have written to me "I found your article very helpful, except what I wanted to know is how do I make a 300dpi file". Below is the best I can offer. How to make a 300dpi file from any file using Photoshop (don't have Photoshop? sorry but you'll have to look elsewhere, but perhaps you better understand the concept now). Open your file in Photoshop. Under Image/ImageSize (Alt+Cntr+I) open the image size control dialog. Scale & Proportions should be checked. Resample should NOT be checked. In resolution type in "300". Your image is unchanged in its pixel size but is now 300dpi (ppi). You can Save As to lock the setting into a new file. Now if you want to upsize or downsize the file first "Save As" to a new name as you will now be changing your original. Then check the Resample box. Select the process under that (Bicubic Smooth for Enlarging, Bicubic Smoother for Reduction) and change one of the pixel dimensions or the document
size dimensions. Everything else should stay proportional. Once you are satisfied resave the file, you are done, you have a new file sized to 300dpi and your original is unchanged (unless you forgot to "save as" a new name.) If you find the above process too confusing, don't have Photoshop or are still at a loss you should consult a professional graphic designer, photographer, printer or production department where they will use your image for additional help. If you are trying to change the dpi or size in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher or most any consumer program other than Photoshop and some additional professional programs then you are probably using the wrong tools and again should consult a professional.
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