How to check an image for printing
- Choose or drop an image, or enter its actual pixel dimensions. Rotate the source if needed.
- Set the finished trim size and required image PPI. Add your printer's bleed per edge; optionally show a safe-margin guide.
- Choose fill/crop or fit/keep whole image. Adjust position and inspect what the trim and bleed remove.
- Compare sizes, copy the report, and confirm color, quality, and file requirements with your printer. This tool does not alter your original image.
DPI versus PPI
Image resolution is pixels per inch (PPI). Printer DPI describes a device's dots per inch; it is not interchangeable with image pixel density. Searches often call an image-resolution check a “DPI checker,” but the useful quantity here is effective PPI at the size you actually print.
An image's embedded resolution tag does not establish how many pixels remain after placement. A 3,000 × 2,000 image printed at 6 × 4 inches has 500 PPI without cropping. At 12 × 8 inches it has 250 PPI, regardless of its stored DPI label.
How much resolution is enough?
300 PPI is a common target for close-viewed photographic prints. Large prints viewed from farther away may use lower targets; detailed raster line art may need more. Set the target to your printer's specification rather than treating a preset as universally correct.
Meeting the target means enough source pixels for the selected placement, not that the image is sharp or suitable. Focus, noise, prior upscaling, compression, paper, and print process also matter. The tool does not invent a quality score from dimensions alone.
Crop, fit, and bleed explained
Fill scales proportionally until the entire artwork box is covered, then crops surplus image area. Fit keeps all image pixels, which can leave borders if aspect ratios differ. Neither stretches the image. The crop percentage is source image area removed to fill the outer box; the bleed is then trimmed away separately.
Bleed is artwork beyond the finished edge, not extra finished size. A 6 × 4 inch trim with 0.125 inch bleed per edge requires a 6.25 × 4.25 inch outer artwork box. At 300 PPI that box needs 1,875 × 1,275 pixels. Confirm the required bleed with your printer. A safe margin is an inset guide for important content; it does not identify or move text automatically.
Resolution formulas
Artwork width = trim width + 2 × bleed (and likewise for height). For fill/crop, effective PPI = min(image pixel width ÷ artwork inches wide, image pixel height ÷ artwork inches high). For fit/keep whole image, use the maximum of those ratios. Target artwork pixels are each physical dimension multiplied by target PPI, rounded up.
The largest fill size keeps the current trim aspect ratio and the same fixed bleed per edge. The full-image size simply divides the original pixel dimensions by target PPI. These are different questions and are shown separately.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make a low-resolution image print at 300 DPI?
You can print it smaller to raise effective PPI. Changing a metadata tag does not add pixels. Resampling can create additional pixels but cannot guarantee original detail. This tool reports the shortage and does not upscale or rewrite your image.
Why does adding bleed lower effective PPI?
The same source pixels must cover a larger physical box. Depending on the aspect ratio, bleed can also change the crop. The preview shows the outer artwork and the inner trim edge so you can inspect both.
Is this an embedded DPI metadata reader?
No. It measures effective PPI from browser-decoded pixel dimensions and your chosen physical size. EXIF/JFIF/PNG density tags are not read or modified. JPEG orientation follows the browser's decoded image; manual rotation changes the preview and calculation dimensions only.
Which image files work?
PNG, JPEG, and WebP supported by your browser. Animated WebP is treated as the browser-decoded frame, not a frame-by-frame check. SVG, PDF, TIFF, RAW, and HEIC are not accepted; enter raster pixel dimensions manually where applicable. Limit: 40 MiB and 24 million decoded pixels.
Does my image leave my device?
No. The tool decodes and previews it in your browser, does not save it, and does not send image bytes or dimensions to analytics. Copy, download, and print are explicit actions.
Print references
Adobe explains image PPI and physical print dimensions, and its print-resolution guidance discusses resolution and viewing distance. Short Run Printing's bleed guide shows why artwork extends beyond trim; its requirements are examples, not a universal specification.