--- title: "Check Image DPI – See a Photo's Resolution and Print Size" description: "Find out the DPI recorded in a JPG or PNG and the size it would print at, then change it to 200, 300 or 600 if a form or print shop asks for another value." url: "https://imagecompressor.si/check-image-dpi" lang: "en" --- # Check the DPI of an image Add a picture to see the DPI stored in it, its size in pixels and how large it prints, and set a new DPI if you need one. ## How it works 1. **Add your images** Drag and drop, paste, or pick files. They upload over an encrypted connection. 2. **Pick a quality or a target size** Use the quality slider, or tell it exactly how many KB or MB you need. 3. **Download** Save each file, or grab them all at once as a ZIP. DPI, dots per inch, is a number stored inside an image file that tells a printer how many pixels to place in each inch of paper. Forms that ask for a 200 or 300 DPI photo check this number, and print shops use it with the pixel size to work out how big the print will be. Most phones record 72 DPI, which is why such photos are often refused even when they are perfectly sharp. Add your picture and the page shows the DPI it carries now, its width and height in pixels, and the print size those give in centimetres and inches. If the form wants a different value, pick 200, 300 or 600, or type your own, and download the same picture with the new number recorded. Changing the DPI does not change a single pixel: the picture looks identical on screen, only its stated print size moves. That is exactly what such checks look for, so the file passes without losing any quality. ## Reading the numbers A photo 2,400 pixels wide at 300 DPI prints 8 inches, about 20 centimetres, wide. The same file at 72 DPI claims to be 33 inches wide, which is why printers and portals care about the number even though the pixels are the same. When a picture has no DPI at all, the page says so; many programs then assume 72. Pixels decide sharpness. If a form asks for 300 DPI at 3.5 by 4.5 centimetres, the picture also needs about 413 by 531 pixels; the cm to pixels calculator works that out for any size. ## Which DPI to choose Use what the form or print shop names. Without a rule, 300 DPI is the usual figure for photographs that will be printed and 200 DPI for scanned documents. 600 DPI is mostly asked for fine line art and signatures on some systems. ## Formats JPEG and PNG both carry a DPI value, and it is kept in the format you uploaded. Other formats are read and the result is saved in a format that keeps the number. A file with no value at all gets one as soon as you pick a number and download it. ## Privacy Your picture is read on our server to find its DPI and deleted once the result is ready. Neither the original nor the new file is kept anywhere on our server after the download. ## When a portal still says the DPI is wrong Some portals check the pixel size and call that the DPI. If yours refuses a file that shows 300 DPI here, compare its pixel size with what the form's centimetres need at that DPI, and resize the picture to match. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does changing DPI reduce quality? No. The pixels stay the same; only the recorded number changes. ### Why does my phone photo say 72 DPI? Most phones store 72 DPI by default, whatever the camera's sharpness. ### Can I set 300 DPI? Yes. Pick 300 and download the picture with that value recorded. ### Does DPI change the file size? Hardly at all; it is a few bytes in the file. ### Is my photo kept? No. It is deleted from our server once the check is done. ### What if the picture shows no DPI? It was saved without one. Set a value here and it will carry one. ### How do I make a picture print bigger and sharp? It needs more pixels, not a different DPI; the AI upscaler can add them. ## Related tools - [Change an image's DPI](https://imagecompressor.si/change-image-dpi): Record the resolution a form or a print shop asks for, and see how large the picture will print. - [View an image's metadata](https://imagecompressor.si/view-image-metadata): See the camera, date, settings and location stored inside a photo. - [Convert cm, mm and inches to pixels](https://imagecompressor.si/cm-to-pixels-calculator): Type a size on paper and a DPI to get the pixels, or type pixels to see how large they print.