Friday Print Tip – “Please use 300 ppi images” isn’t the whole story

If you design for print, you’ve probably seen this requirement in specs:“Please use 300 ppi images.”

On its own, that line is incomplete. What actually matters is:

• the size of the image in your layout, and

• the number of pixels the image has.

You can have three images at 300 ppi, 72 ppi and even 10 ppi that look identical in a print-ready PDF, as long as they all have the same pixel dimensions. The PPI field in the file is not the hero here – pixel count at the final print size is.

A practical workflow for designers and marketers preparing print files:

1. Decide how big the image will appear in the layout (inches or cm).

2. Use that size to calculate the minimum pixel dimensions needed for your print application (e.g. commercial print, newspaper, large format).

3. Only upscale as a last resort – it’s still an artificial trick and can introduce artifacts.

4. Wherever possible, work from the original high-resolution files and let your export-to-PDF settings handle the final downsampling.

If you’re regularly fighting “your images are too low-res” comments, it’s worth switching from “always 300 ppi” thinking to “right pixel dimensions for the final size and application.”

At CETTEC Printing, we’re happy to check your PDFs or key images before you go to proof, and help you choose the right settings so you don’t have to wrestle with resolution warnings.