Journal
Image Resolutions and Getting The Right Results
by Jen Pennington
Resolution is a measurement of the output quality of an image. Images are often referred to as high resolution (hi-res), medium resolution (med-res) or low resolution (low-res). High resolution works better for print, medium resolution generally works well for in-house printing, and low res images work best for screen display, Web and emails. Resolution is measured in “dots per inch” or “DPI.”
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* Traditional Offset Printing requires a minimum resolution of 300 DPI – highest quality
* In-house LaserJet or InkJet printing requires between 150-200 DPI – medium quality
* Web graphics – requires 72 DPI – lowest quality
* Never use an image from the Web for print. Aside from the low quality, it’s most likely not legal to use the image without permission from the owner
* Always work with the highest resolution image you can. It’s easier to downsize an image to a lower resoultion than the other way around
* Try not to enlarge images inside a new application. Go back to the original (often called “native”) program the image was created in (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.). Enlarge it there, and save a new version of image for this purpose
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