What does resolution mean?
Resolution is a broad term that can refer to different things in different contexts. A detailed discussion of the different meanings and interrelationships is beyond the scope of this guide. Instead we provide This section provides a brief overview of the different possible meanings to clarify our use of resolution in PlanetPress Design.
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Term: |
Means: |
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Scan resolution |
The resolution at which you scan an image on a scanner. It refers to the number of samples per inch (spi), where each sample represents a single pixel in the resulting bitmapped image. |
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Display resolution |
The resolution of the monitor screen. For example 96 DPI means the screen displays 96 pixels per inch. Thus an image with pixel dimensions of 96 x 96 would measure 1 inch x 1 inch on this monitor screen. |
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Printer resolution |
The number of spots of ink the printer can produce per inch, commonly measured as dots per inch (DPI). The use of DPI as a measure can be confusing as it may be interpreted as meaning one dot of ink maps to one image pixel. In fact the number of spots of ink the printer uses to represent a single pixel can vary with the halftone screen used for a print job (the lines per inch (LPI)), the color depth of the image, and the algorithm the printer uses to represent individual colors. |