opinions on dpi over 600?

  • Thread starter Thread starter genericaudioperson
  • Start date Start date
G

genericaudioperson

hello,

some people say that printing above 600dpi is a waste of time. But I
have to think that 1200dpi is better than 600dpi.

does anybody have any technical knowledge or observations on this?
 
In theory, more dots allow for more numbers of colors, better gradients
and more accuracy of dot locations.

Art
 
Arthur said:
In theory, more dots allow for more numbers of colors, better gradients
and more accuracy of dot locations.

Art
Click to expand...

In practice, few can see any difference over 600 dpi, unless the image
is printed quite large.

Do a few tests yourself.
 
genericaudioperson said:
hello,

some people say that printing above 600dpi is a waste of time. But I
have to think that 1200dpi is better than 600dpi.

does anybody have any technical knowledge or observations on this?
Click to expand...

It also occurred to me that you may mean ppi, which is the "resolution"
of the file of the image being printed vs. the number of dots of ink a
printer lays down.

Printing an image from a file that's over 360 *ppi* is a waste in many
folks' opinions.
 
genericaudioperson said:
hello,

some people say that printing above 600dpi is a waste of time. But I
have to think that 1200dpi is better than 600dpi.

does anybody have any technical knowledge or observations on this?
Click to expand...
Hmm,
Text or graphics?
 
genericaudioperson said:
hello,

some people say that printing above 600dpi is a waste of time. But I
have to think that 1200dpi is better than 600dpi.

does anybody have any technical knowledge or observations on this?
Click to expand...

Yeah.
1200 is better. But there's hardly any time when I need it. In my work
(plain paper, mostly text, some B/W and color photos, no highest-quality
photo printing), 600 is excellent -- really good enough. 1200 imposes a
heavy penalty on my own system in terms of memory, processing time drag,
etc. 300 just zips along nicely, very OK for text work -- but 600's
better for even that.

Richard
 
It depends upon the technology and type of dot placement used.

With black and white printing using laser technology, I can definitely
see the differences between a 600 dpi and a 1200 dpi print. The gray
levels and gradients are cleaner and more refined, and edges are crisper
with the higher dpi.

It is less obvious with color laser, especially since human eyes are not
nearly as sensitive to color levels and definition, as they are in black
and white.

Art
 
It is not clear if he is speaking of the source file resolution (PPI,
pixels per inch) or the printer output (or dots per inch) as both are
possible. Many printers, especially laser, offer 600 or 1200 dpi or 600
x 1200 dpi. In this case, 1200 dpi will provide a better image, and
often it will be obvious to the observer, and moreso with black and
white output.

I agree that the source file usually doesn't benefit much from over
about 300 ppi.

Art
 
Back
Top