Don’t get noticed for wrong reason

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 8:46 PM EDT

Look around your house at the pictures on the wall or on your mantle. Notice any that are out-of-focus? Of course not! One of the primary characteristics of a quality image worthy of display is sharp focus. In the printing business, clean, crisp focus largely depends on the resolution of a file. Using the correct resolution for your image or document will help you get noticed, and for the right reason.

Generally speaking, resolution is a term for measuring the number of dots of ink that are printed in a given area - generally, per inch - hence the term “DPI” or Dots Per Inch. A higher DPI (greater number of dots per inch) means more detail and a sharper image, also known as higher resolution. Typically, the standard resolution to ensure your image prints with the maximum clarity is 300 DPI.

So why wouldn’t you want to always use the best possible resolution? Actually, for offset and digital printing jobs, you probably would. But just because something looks good at 300 DPI in print doesn’t mean it will look good in all media, such as the internet. Computer monitors are only able to display a maximum resolution of 72 DPI, so don’t waste valuable memory and risk a slower-loading website using images at higher resolutions.

On the flip side, however, think twice before you grab an online image for use in a printed piece. Seventy-two DPI looks great on the screen, but when adjusted for printing on paper, you will likely notice either white space between the ink dots, or dots which aren’t the most accurate color, which in turn will yield a “fuzzy” image. If you need to re-size (or especially upsize) the image at all, the quality will certainly suffer. So, in general, try to avoid using online images for printed materials. If you have no choice, ask your printer about a few industry “tricks” for reproducing low-res files at a print quality standard.

For more information or questions, call 718-820-0688 or visit www.advantages.net.

Fran Biderman-Gross is President of Advantages.