Pro tip: I keep seeing people export their digital paintings at 72 DPI for prints and it's a mess.

I work at a local print shop in Austin and we get files from digital artists all the time. At least once a week, someone sends a beautiful piece but it's set to 72 DPI, so it prints super tiny and pixelated. The other side says DPI doesn't matter if the pixel dimensions are big enough, but that's not how our printers read the file data. Which side is right, and what's your actual workflow for getting prints made?

3 comments

3 Comments

skylerrobinson2mo ago

Wait, is this really a common problem? Most software lets you resize on export. If the pixel count is high enough, you can just set the DPI to 300 when you save it. Sounds like the printer software might be the issue, not the artist.

davis.ruby2mo ago

Our large format printer ignores DPI metadata completely.

nora_walker572mo ago

Honestly that sounds like a feature... one less thing to mess up before hitting print.