Inches: For Print OnlyĪn inch is an inch right? That's true when you're measuring printed items, but since the pixel density - or DPI - between computer monitors can vary, inches have little to no bearing on a design when you're viewing it on a computer. If you're creating a design that is going to be printed, then you'll have to understand the relationship between pixels, inches, and DPI, which I'll talk about later. If you're creating a design for on-screen display only, you can forget that DPI and inches even exist, because they're irrelevant. This may have been true at one point, but not anymore. You may have heard that monitors display images at 72 or 96 DPI. Your monitor is made up of "dots" called pixels. You can see that the more dots you have, the more detail you can cram into an image. That means you have a total of 10,000 individual dots (100 x 100 = 10,000). If you have 100 DPI, that means there are both 100 horizontal dots and 100 vertical dots, which gives you a 100 x 100 grid in a single square inch. If you have 1 DPI, then you have a 1 x 1 grid and you're just going to have a solid color in a single square inch. The two most common types of "dots" are pixels (when looking at a computer screen), and droplets of ink (when printing something out). Heck, if you're in a sports arena and you look across the stadium, each of the people in those seats can be considered a "dot". A dot can be anything: a pixel, a drop of paint, a spot of printer ink. "Dot" is an ambiguous term, but for a good reason. DPI: A Measurement of Image DetailĭPI stands for dots per inch, and is an easy way to tell how detailed an image can be without actually seeing the image. Rather than write another rushed email trying to explain it in as few words as possible, I figured now would be a good time to show everyone exactly how pixels, inches, and DPI work together in both print and web design. ![]() I get a ton of emails from confused designers asking me to explain the relationship and differences between pixels, inches, and DPI.
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