Category: News

The terrible confusion between DPI and PPI

Sometimes life can be cruel and two very different things get confused as being the same as each other.

One such thing is DPI and PPI.

In the printing world, DPI stands for Dots Per Inch and is a measure (print resolution) for printing equipment about how many ink or toner dots are put down per inch.

PPI stands for Pixels Per Inch (pixel=picture element) and is a measure (digital resolution) of how many pixels are in an inch of a digital image (Bitmap).

The two have no relation to each other and DPI is often wrongly used when describing the resolution of a digital bitmap image.  Perhaps when the transition to printing from digital images started many years ago, printers and designers may have inadvertently called PPI DPI because both printing and digital systems use the term ‘resolution’ even though it applies differently in each process.

Unless you’re a printer or have some interest, you don’t need to be concerned with DPI. Because modern print machines can print at very high resolutions, it’s almost not worth thinking about.

If you are sending us digital images to be printed, then it is worth having an understanding of PPI and it’s fairly simple.  PPI (Pixels Per Inch) is how many pixels in each inch of a digital bitmap image, the more pixels there are, the more information in that square inch which means more detail and sharper images.  If you keep zooming into a digital bitmap image you will start seeing squares which are the pixels that make up the image.  Each pixel is its own colour and images with a high-resolution of pixels will make colours seemingly transition smoothly, but pictures with a low resolution of pixels will look harsh in their transition and hence the term ‘pixelated’.

Most lower end digital cameras and phone cameras take photos with a resolution of 72PPI, the size at which they are taken can vary considerably.

For example if a photo is taken with the overall pixel size of 1632 x 1224 at 72PPI then the print size in inches will be 22.667 inches x 17 inches (57.57cm x 43.18cm).   Divide 1632 by 72 and 1224 by 72.

For larger prints, 72PPI isn’t a good resolution to print from (unless the print is going to be viewed from a distance), the print won’t have sharpness at this size because there isn’t enough pixels per inch to transition the colours in a smooth fashion.  A recommended resolution of 250PPI to 300PPI can produce good results, so the the example of 1632 x 1224 pixels at 300PPI will work out to a print size of 5.44 inches x 4.08 Inches (13.82cm x 10.36cm).  This produces a smaller print but the smallness blends the pixels seemingly better to the human eye.

To make a beautiful print, you need to start with a beautiful piece of equipment.

Cameras are not cameras anymore and megapixels has become mostly a marketing term.  1 megapixel equals 1 million pixels.  An 8 megapixel camera is capable of capturing 8 million pixels however the quality of those pixels and the way they transition from one to another depends more on the quality of the optical lens, image sensor and image processor  – this process will decide how much of the information in an optical image will be converted into electronic data.  High end cameras are capable of taking pictures with 300PPI which means there is a lot more data within the file and more detail when printed.

We get a lot of pictures sent by customers wanting to get printed as stickers and signs.  Small stickers are usually fine with low quality pictures but signs are usually bigger and using low quality pictures will make the sign look cheap, which makes our product look cheap and can make your business look cheap – perception – we all have it.

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”

– Anthony Robbins

A little known service that we haven’t advertised is the ability to take worn out, washed out, dragged through the mud, dilapidated and pixelated artwork and recreate it to it’s original glory.  Using the latest computer software to redraw and digitize, we can handle the majority of conversions.  Great print results will always start with the artwork, no matter how state of the art equipment and materials are, if the file from which a printer is using is poorly constructed artwork it will reflect right through to the finished product making good quality equipment and materials seemingly inferior and looks visually crapola for your brand.

We see quite often artwork that is low in digital quality and recommend to have the artwork redrawn into a high quality format, it’s truly worth the time and effort to produce results that won’t distract from the message of the sign or print.

 We understand that sometimes it’s painful trying to understand this process, we recommend you send us what artwork you have and details of what you need the artwork to be used for and we will recommend you with the best option and cost for how your artwork will be handled.

We are not the print shop that will print anything just to make dollars, we do believe in how an item is presented will affect how it will be perceived and this has a direct result on sales.

It’s very easy to make a cheap sign and save dollars, but what is the value of a potential customer’s perception?

So if you have artwork that doesn’t do your business justice, send it over to us.

Whether you are in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Canberra, Brisbane or Mexico – we can convert your artwork into high quality digital artwork.

“It’s all in the mind”

– George Harrison

We’re excited!

We can now handle all your stationary requirements including Business Cards, Flyers, Posters, Fridge Magnets and Lots, Lots More. More products to be added in the months to come.

Visit http://stickerart.toprint.com.au

We have expanded our range and now able to provide a large range of promotional and office media at a competitive pricing with great quality all made right here in Australia.

You expect great Australian quality in your stickers and signs from us, now you can expect this in the following products.

Our new range is: (If not suitable to your needs, please contact us as we can make custom sizes and quantities)

Flyers

Stationery

Promotional Cards

Fridge Calendars

Posters

Business Cards

Postcards

Presentation Folders

Brochures

Magnets

Tent Calendars

Envelopes

Simply your order and pay for it online and we’ll ship it right to your door. If you have any trouble ordering or prefer to deal with us directly, please contact us and we will take care of it for you.

Our new printer has amazing colour range over our old printer, with the addition of Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Light Black and White to the existing colour system of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, the print is amazing and vibrant.  Our new printer can make a variety of products from stickers, labels, decals to large signs and even print fine photography on photographic papers.  When we print high quality the print is spectacular by using the latest in digital print technology.  We just became more versatile in what we offer by having this printer and we can make banners with full colour and photographic printing, it can make traditional type stickers and print very fine and complex detail that the latest graphics programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw produce.

With a printing resolution of 1440 Dots Per Inch and ability of unidirectional printing and ability to slow print head speed, extremely fine gradients and text are stunningly reproduced to a standard suitable for galleries and fine art prints, imagine the sticker on the back of your car was produced by a machine that also produces fine art print in high-end galleries, that machine exists at The Art of Stickers.

Our printer is capable of printing white which means we can print onto clear material and use white as a colour and as a backing to others colours to produce more vibrant colours, we haven’t fully tested the printers white ink print capabilities but are confident it will produce the results we are looking for.

 We will be making a complete list for the products we will sell shortly once we finish our testing, please check later posts and the main website page.  In the meantime, please let us know what you require and we will let you know if we are capable of doing it.

Below are pictures that we printed on photographic paper.

We make many different types of Stickers and Decals from small labels right up through to large format full colour digital vinyl prints.  Our stickers and decals are made from quality and trusted vinyl using the latest in digital printing and ink technology, be assured that stickers from The Art of Stickers are vibrant and last for years to come.

We now have the capabilities to print Wide and Large Format Printing up to 1300mm+ wide x unrestricted length using 8 colours to combine and achieve millions of colours. From large signage to fine photography prints with awesome and warm skin tones, our versatility is evolving.  We print many different materials from fine canvas and poster paper to banner vinyl and wall graphics vinyl.

From small car stickers to truck container sides, we can cover it…literally!  Your graphics, our sticker manufacturing skills and nothing but good quality materials to suit the application required.

We supply one-off stickers to individuals right up to thousands for large corporate companies.  We ship Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Adelaide, Darwin and Canberra and all other towns and cities in Australia either by road freight or Australia Post.  We welcome international customers and ship all over the world.

Get your sticker fix only from The Art of Stickers – stickers for all things grand and small – we can cover it!

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”

– Dr. Seuss

Individuality and originality is what makes us extremely different and exactly the same as each other.  We reckon that the best way for you to express your individualism is through a sticker or sign, if the eyes are the gateway to the soul and the soul is the gateway to the heart then a great looking sticker or sign is going smack the soul head on and get into people’s hearts!

Whether it’s good or bad imagination or more likely a combination, I’m certain that most of us do it.  It is said that imagination helps our learning process and the way we perceive the world around us.  Without imagination we wouldn’t have communities and societies and without communities and societies we wouldn’t have stickers and signs, it would be a truly sad world!  But thank goodness that isn’t the case and our imaginations have collectively built everything our lives are based on,  we have a connected world where we can trade easily, securely and quickly with someone on the other side of earth because people have always imagined that and now it has been turned into a reality .  Imagine what it will be like in 100 years.

Let us help you turn your imagination into a reality.

We all have many creative tools at our disposal and it’s very easy to create artwork yourself these days, however, we do understand that sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to create something tangible on a computer that you have imagined in your mind.  So if you’re better at drawing on paper or cutting and pasting (computer or paper) to portray your ideas, then that could be enough to pass your ideas to us to make that awesomely beautiful sticker or sign that you’ve imagined!  We’ve gotten good at turning ideas into high quality artwork, however if you don’t have the time or inclination for the imagination and creative process but think it’s an important part of your business, we can recommend a graphic artist that will work with you.

So next time you brainstorm and have a wicked idea for a sticker or sign let us know and we’ll give it a go!

“Imagination means nothing without doing” – Charlie Chaplin