V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 747
Why do we specify the “resolution” as 288 dpi for printing?
Because typically that’s the most pixels per inch you need to
send to the printer to get a very high perceived quality.
Anything over that makes changes that are very difficult to
see, if they can be seen at all. And I’d never set over 360 dpi,
as I don’t know of a printer that actually can use more than
that effectively. The printer driver of your printer “invents” in-
between pixels, if necessary, to maximize its output quality,
but those invented pixels are usually good enough that we
don’t have to supply them in the first place.
Output on Commercial Printers
While it’s a little bit out of the scope of this book, enough
D300 users have asked me about professional printing options
that it makes sense to give a brief set of tips here, especially
since color issues are usually the biggest complaint.
As I write this, the Fuji Frontier is probably the most
ubiquitous automated printer you’ll run into at labs (and Wal-
Mart and Costco in the US)
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. Thus, I’ll present the overall
workflow for it (other printers should be similar—but work
with your lab to verify each step I present). The following
example assumes you use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements
(other software products should be similar, but may use
different file extensions or command names):
1.
Crop, size, adjust, and sharpen your image as usual.
2.
Instead of 288 dpi (see “Printing Resolution” on page
<744>), use 300 dpi.
3.
Save your edited copy as a PSD file in case you need
to revisit your changes.
4.
Flatten all layers.
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The popular Noritsu and a few other commercial printers are similar. Try following
the directions given here for them—you’ll probably find that it works for them, too.
