how many ppi??

[colorado]

I'm entirely confused about the number of pixels per inch my camera is taking. There was a previous post on this subject, but it wasn't very clear to me. It seems that when I open my files in Photoshop (I have 5.5), it automatically makes them 72 ppi. Is this true, or is that what my camera takes them at? I have a Pentax *ist DL, and am taking them as raw, and saving as jpeg on my comp.

Before I send photos to be printed (4”x6” for now), what should I do? Do I need them at 300 ppi, and if so, how do I accomplish this? Thanks for any advice. Sean.

[another view]

The camera doesn't record them at any DPI or PPI. Basically I'd say it's just a default of the way the file is set when you open it up in Photoshop. DPI doesn't mean anything until you start working on a print because there are no dimensions in inches until that point. Before that, you're looking at the image on one screen or another and the actual size you see the image at will depend on how big the screen is and the resolution of the screen. For example, on a 1.8" LCD on the back of the camera the image will be very small (obviously ). On a 17" monitor you'll see the same image just that much larger, and actually the resolution of a monitor is usually going to be a lot less than the file you're looking at, so if you see it at 100% in Photoshop you're only seeing a small part of the whole shot.

If the file shows up at 3008 x 2000 pixels at 72dpi, then the print size is about 42" x 28" but the resolution is low (72dpi) and you probably won't be happy with the results. The camera records 3008 x 2000 pixels (or whatever resolution it has) but it could be changed to the same pixel dimensions at 300dpi for a print that's about 10" x 6.7" at the same file size.

The dpi just tells the printer how many pixels to put in an inch, and 72dpi is very low. For small prints, 300dpi is usually what I use. Bigger prints can get away with lower resolution for a lot of reasons, but change the dimensions to 6" x 4" at 300dpi and you'll be in good shape. Hope this helps.

[colorado]

Perfect. I think you answered all of my questions 'another view'.

[another view]

Great - glad I could help.