High Resolution VS Low Resolution

Short Answer: High Resolution = Happy Printer, Low Resolution = Suicidal Printer

Long Answer: You’ve probably heard the phrase 300 dpi in relation to hi-res images. The number 300 stands for the actual number of dots or pixels per inch. Together these dots contain the tiny specs of color information that make up the whole picture. The higher the number of dots, the clearer the picture will be because more dots means smaller specs of color.

Images set at 72 dpi are called low resolution; these photos usually look fine on the web, which creates confusion for small business owners. After all, you don’t have the budget to hire a pro photographer. You will likely find yourself wondering why you can’t recycle the images on your website for your product catalogs. The phrase the devil’s in the details rings true in this situation. The product photos on your website are optimized for the internet, so they’re small and light to prevent slow load speeds. When you print these low res pics, there’s not enough to color information to recreate the original image without a grainy, blurry appearance.