Anyway megapixels describes how large an image is by multiplying the height and width of it's pixels. You can have a 5MP camera take better photos than a 12MP camera. It's all about capturing light - some cameras don't do so well in low light situations. Camera producers make it seem like the more megapixels a camera has that it's better quality - that is false. Megapixel: This is how cameras are described. Dividing the pixels by dpi gets you how large an image can print. This is important to know mainly when printing. Image Size: This is the dimension of an image - usually measured in inches. In the end the higher resolution image will just have more pixels. High resolution can mean more pixels crammed into less space - for example 72 dots per inch vs 300 dots per inch. Resolution: Usually refers to pixels, but mainly describes how much detail an image has and how large it can be printed or magnified before it starts to pixelate. PPI: Pixels per inch is used for computer monitors and other devices with screens. Out of all printer types ink jet printers are more forgiving and can print a great image at 240 dpi. Most printers optimum quality is 300 dpi even if they don't use dots. The standard is 300 dpi for most ink jet printers. See the header graphic above.ĭPI: Dots per inch usually referred to how many dots a printer plots in a inch. An image is created with millions of these tiny squares.

Here is a list of terms and what part of an image they refer to. Everything depends on pixels, pixels, and pixels. I'll show you some simple math, but I must explain some details. Having only a couple numbers of any of the above you can calculate or estimate all the other information. What's the difference between pixels and resolution? It's kind of the same thing - they are all related to each other. Pixels vs DPI vs PPI vs Resolution vs Image Size vs Megapixles vs File Size vs Scan Resolution It's even used when describing sharpness and image detail. When asking what resolution something is the answer can be given in many ways, such as in pixels, dpi, or megapixels. People use the term 'resolution' loosely.

Resolution for picture sizes