Resolution setting for print on Pro-100

[mclynn]

I'm taking an online course to get an Adobe-certification for Photoshop. The instructor said that for the best print quality, one should use the maximum resolution possible on your printer, which on a Pro-100 would be 2400 according to this guy.

I've never heard this before and considered it ridiculous to set the resolution for more than 360. Am I wrong or is the instructor? I realize that this may depend on the size print you want and the number of pixels you have available, but even if you had that much info in the file, would you ever want to set the resolution that high?

Thanks for your input,

McLynn

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

I worked for Hallmark Cards, in Kansas City, for 40 years. We have every way there is possible, or conceivable, to put ink on paper! Believe me.

Our normal working resolution is 300. I have the Pixma Pro-100 and the older Pro-9500 II and I use 300.

[mclynn]

Thanks for confirming what I'd always heard before. I thought maybe I'd missed something before I took this course, but I'm beginning to think the guy teaching it isn't as much of an expert as he thinks he is.

[PLee]

The instructor was talking about output resolution, which the maximum for the Pro-100 is 4800 x 2400dpi. You two are talking about input resolution. Those are two different things.

[mclynn]

Thanks for your answer, but could you clarify what you're saying? I cannot think of anywhere within Photoshop to change a setting for output resolution. I looked in the Print dialog box, but couldn't find anything. Would this be something to change within the printer settings and if so, how?

TIA.

[ebiggs1]

Don't confuse pixels-per-inch in your photos with dots-per-inch in your printer. They are not the same thing. There isn't even much of a relationship between the two.

You can ignore printer resolution numbers over 1440 for all practical purposes. The reality is printers print at 360 DPI (360 x 4 (CMYK) = 1440).

Its also meaningless when you are using Photoshop. People edit their images for printing by sizing mostly. Usually, say somewhere between 240 DPI to 360 DPI (300 DPI is most commonly used). But when you send the image to the printer, the print driver will interpolate it to 360 DPI and then print.