Originally posted by BruceBanner Thanks, that was helpful indeed.
I'm seeing a couple of recent images I have imported into LR saying PPI 445 or around that mark, so really I should set PPI to higher than 300 for that (if I were to print)?
445 ppi is only the result of letting LR inform you that your ppi is 445 at the particular print size and what it will send to the printer if you do not specify another figure. So I am sure I have explained it OK - you know that if you decide to print a larger size then that value will drop and it follows therefore if you decide to print a smaller image then ppi will increase?
Quote: How do I know what my printer is capable of doing PPI wise? Is it just a case of going between two values (300 or 600, or with Epson 300/720?).
The question should perhaps be how sharp does my printer print and that you will only find by making some tests. There will come a point after which you will not see any improvement in resolution - it may be that you see an improvement going from 300 to 600 ppi but going further to 1200 ppi may add nothing. This is also
highly dependent on the nature of the image so sharp capture, camera on tripod, mirror up and delay may help to maximise what your capture system can record - send less than optimal to printer will not result in better images at higher ppi.
Perhaps I confused by stating my Epson resolutions as well as Canon. Your Canon printer I am pretty confident will be effectively 300 ppi output with a higher quality level of 600 ppi (remember do not confuse ppi with dpi - mantra it take many dpi to make 1 ppi)
Quote: I'm a little confused by the fact you seem to be able to put any value in that field, does it not make more sense for the PPI box to be a pull down menu with only a choice of 300 or 600 etc (or whatever your printer it can sense attached/selected is capable of)?
No it does not make more sense to make a dropdown box, what prnter would it aim at 300/600 Canon, or 360/720 Epson or higher resolution potential of 1200, 1440 respectively? What about other printers such as some Fuji expecting 400 ppi and others that I am not aware of.? There are some specialised applications out there for printing that have a few more bells and whistles if you want or need the sophistication and added expense and added learning curve
Quote: My Print Resolution was set to 300 PPI, but when I unticked this and checked Dimensions it says 445PPI (or something like that), should LR not have sensed I should need 600?
Thereore you had set the Print Res to 300ppi and once you had switched that off LR informed you that at the print size you requested the ppi was actually 445. So you could have just sent data as is 445 ppi, or use your original 300 ppi (you will have binned data though) or upped the rate to what shouild be optimal for your Canon i.e. 600 ppi.
What I can say is that at any of these ppi you should get a very acceptable result and unless your image data cries out for the optimal quality for close up viewing you may not even notice a difference. The type of image and the amount of native data will dictate your treatment of the print. But if your images are below native 300 ppi then it makes some sense to just let LR upsample (you must set the required ppi) similarly if above 300 ppi then upsampling to 700 ppi will not be a waste (you must set in LR and make sure max it high set in print driver)
Rememer in LR you are not spawnig TIFF file after file for different sizes and purpose and thereby generating masses of image data to be stored - a proof print is only a small series of instructions that you may save or delete leaving original data alone.
Dont get too worked up about the highest quality until such time as you have a huge lanscape, architectural or commercial product advertising shot - get your printing colour and luminosity correct matching your monitor if that is your aim.