Optimum dpi values for Pixma Pro 100

[lwatawala]

Hello,

I recently bought a Pixma Pro 100 and would like to understand how to achieve the “best” photo print output on it.

I’m using Canon DPP 4 on Windows 10. I initiate printing from the “Print” button in DPP set to “Print with Print Studio Pro”. I use a Canon 7D Mark II, which produces Raw images of 5472 x 3648. I usually crop my photos in DPP to get a desired composition.

My question is when cropping images, do I have to aim at getting a final image size that would result in an “good” dpi value to achieve the “best” print out?

For example, for printing borderless on a 19” x 13” paper, “good” cropped image sizes of:

               4560 x 3120        corresponding to 240dpi               (19*240 = 4560,  13*240 = 3120)

               3800 x 2600        corresponding to 200dpi               (19*200 = 3800,  13*200 = 2600)

               Etc.

On the other hand, if my desired cropped composition is odd (say 3300 x 2258) that would result in an “odd” dpi value (173.6842 dpi), is the resulting print out going to be sub-optimal?

Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.

Lakshman

[rs-eos]

Unless you are doing extremely large prints, any artifacts created when scaling-to-fit would be quite minimal or even non-perceptible.

Having said that, the purest part of me does strive to have content match up to pixel/dot boundaries. Thus, I will resize images to match the desired print DPI exactly.

Do you do color calibration of your display and printer? That, IMO, would provide more towards improving quality.  Well and using good paper as well.

[lwatawala]

Thank you for your response. At this point I’m only printing 13”x19” on a Pro 100. I’m just trying to be a purist about things to try and produce sharpest possible prints.

Yes, I have calibrated my monitor using a ColorMunki and use “Canon Photo Paper Pro Luster” paper with ICC profile “Canon Pro -100 <LU> 1/2 Photo Paper” profile. I do get great color prints, closely matching what I see on the calibrated monitor. I’m very happy with printed colors.

Your response prompts me to ask a couple of more questions:

   1.  Which component performs the “scale-to-fit” resizing? Is it the Pro 100 printer driver?

   2.  Are there “Native” dpi’s for Pro-100 printer that would give the best results? Are they something like 600, 300, 240, 150?

Thank you.

[lwatawala]

Just thought of expanding on my question on the optimum DPI for printing on a Pixma PRO-100 printer. When cropping a photo, is it better to make the cropped dimensions to correspond to a multiplier of an optimum DPI value? For example for borderless 13 x 19 paper, assuming 300 is the optimum dpi value for the printer, the crop dimensions to be:

(13” x 19”)*300 = 3900 x 5700

Or if 240 dpi is optimum, make the crop dimensions to be: 3120 x 4560

The basic question is, is there an “optimum” dpi value we should aim for Pixma Pro – 100?

Thank you.

[David_E]

New here. Wondering the same thing as in what is the best DPI for the Pro100. I normally resize my images in PS to match my print size and up/down scale the DPI to 300. I get very good prints this way. But I just printed and 8x10 and resized it to 150 DPI and it looks identical to the 300DPI version. In print studio Pro, I select "High" quality. I can't help but think Print Studio Pro/Driver resizes the photo?

[jrhoffman75]

It is my understanding that the printer driver upscales or downscales as necessary to 300dpi.

[lwatawala]

Thank you, John.

However, since you mentioned that it is "your understanding", it would be very helpful if someone from Canon can give us a definitive official asnwer to our question.

Lakshman

R5, 5D Mark III, 7D Mark II, Many Canon lenses, Pixma PRO-100.