There’s no better feeling than seeing your photos in print. But for whatever size you want your photos to be, it’s important to keep check of your resolution to ensure the best quality – especially when it comes to film!

What is image resolution?

The image resolution is the total number of pixels an image contains, which determines the amount of detail in the image.

How is resolution measured?

PPI vs. DPI

What are the differences in image quality from scanning to printing?

Scanning directly translates details from your film negatives into a digital file – while printing can only reproduce digital resolution.

The quality of your print can only be altered through your scans, not by changing print resolution.

Scanning resolution is how much detail from your film negative is translated into a digital image. Resolution is measured in PPI or DPI.

How is scanning resolution measured?

What is print resolution?

Print resolution is determined by the scanning resolution and natural grain of your film. A large film frame will generally allow you to create larger prints in higher resolution.

Important notes:

Print Resolution cannot alter the quality of an image itself. Pixels define the total digital information of an image, while DPI is just metadata that tells a printer how far apart to spread those pixels.

Scanning Resolution will determine the overall quality of your photo print!