300ppi vs 72ppi

     Hello internet. PPI is a way of measuring pixel density. PPI stands for pixels per inch and refers to resolution. Resolution itself can determine what the physical size of the image will be as well as the amount of detail that will be displayed. There are two resolutions we will compare in this blog, 72 PPI and 300 PPI.
     72 PPI is the lower of the two resolutions. 72 PPI only having 72 pixels per inch^2 will be less clear and crisp zooming into the image. In the 72 PPI resolution the pixels are spread thinly accross a screen, making a 1280x720 pixel image look larger. 72 PPI is a good resolution to display onto a computer monitor. This is because computer monitors, like iMac screens, are particularly large and it is more pleasant to have the image you want to veiw spread out on your large monitor screen than it to be squished in one spot.
     300 PPI is on the higher resolution end. 300 PPI is more crisp and clear zooming into the fine details of the image. 300 PPI does not spread out an image, it does the opposite. 300 PPI concentrates the 1270x720 pixels in one specific focus area. This makes the image look smaller however. 300 PPI is good for printing images. Since these images will be smaller in physical size you can print it on paper, which is smaller than the 27 inch monitors of these days, and it will still look clear and crisp. A piece paper can be 8.5" by 11" (size varies a lot however) but it is not a big monitor that displays images spread out.
     One last thing to mention with resolutions is image editors. And really resolution doesn't matter too much when it comes to editing images on image editing software. Resolution, as mentioned before, only determines physical size when it comes to image editing software. However, one thing that does matter in image editors is dimensions in pixels. 1280 pixels (length or width) is a good dimension since you have flexibility with it. It can be displayed and printed well. However if the dimension is something smaller like 288 pixels the image will be displayed properly, albiet probably small, but the image when printed will be too small to print.