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PPI vs DPI

PPI (pixels per inch) describes an image; DPI (dots per inch) describes a printer. A pixel is a multi-colour sample, a printer dot is a single-colour mark, and the same pixels print at different sizes depending on the PPI you tag them with. ArtzFolio Custom prints at 100 pixels per inch.

pixels (PPI)printer dots (DPI)

Diagram: pixels versus printer dots. Schematic.

The difference in one table

PPIDPI
MeasuresPixel density of an image or deviceDots a printer places per inch
Unit isA multi-colour sampleA single-colour on/off mark
Lives inThe image fileThe printer
SourceWPD, WDPIWPD, WDPI

Wikipedia's examples: a 100 x 100 pixel image printed as a 2 inch square is 50 PPI; a 1,000 x 1,000 pixel image tagged at 250 PPI prints at 4 x 4 inches (which, at 100 PPI, works out to 10 x 10 inches); the pixel count does not change. Inkjet printers run 300 to 720 DPI and lasers 600 to 2,400 DPI, and a common inkjet guideline sets image PPI to half or less of printer DPI.

What a photo prints at

Print size = pixels divided by PPI. ArtzFolio Custom works at 100 pixels per inch for its print files, and Printumo advises 300 DPI at the intended print size for its readers. The table shows the maximum print size of four photo pixel sizes at each figure. Glossary note: on this site "DPI" means the same as pixels per inch when we say 100 DPI.

Photo (pixels)Print size at 100 ppi (in)Print size at 300 ppi (in)
1,600 x 1,20016 x 125.3 x 4
3,264 x 2,44832.64 x 24.4810.9 x 8.2
4,000 x 3,00040 x 3013.3 x 10
8,000 x 6,00080 x 6026.7 x 20

Lookup by print size: pixels needed by size.

Sources

Figures from these pages are paraphrased and re-checked on 2026-11-12. Where two sources disagree, both figures are shown. Hardware and wall products vary, so follow the pack instructions.

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