Images come in many sizes and resolutions. If your 72 PPI camera takes an 800 x 600 pixel image, the printed size should be just about 11.11 x 8.33. Of course, the print quality will not be high since the resolution is set so low (72) and the pixel density (800 x 600) is high. To reproduce high quality, you need to understand the roles that image resolution and printer output resolution play. The term DPI (dots per inch) and PPI (pixels per inch) are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing.
Resolution (PPI) defines the pixel density. An 800 x 600 pixel image will always be 800 x 600 pixels, regardless of resolution. At 72 PPI, it will print 11 inches wide. If you set the resolution at 1600 PPI, the image would print 1/2 inch wide, but it would still be 800 x 600 pixels.
• More on Resolution
- DPI is the number of ink droplets an ink jet printer can place on an inch of paper. The printer's output quality settings affect DPI. In coming lessons, I will touch a bit more on printing specifics.
• More on DPI - PPI defines how many pixels make up a square inch of the image. A pixel is the smallest part of an image, and if viewed close up looks like a colored square. See example.
• More on PPI