How do you convert pixels to inches?

Question

I have a bunch of pictures that I want to convert to 5" x 7" to print but I don't know how many pixels that would be. I've seen stuff talking about DPI and resolution and a bunch of calculations, but if I had a clue about all that I wouldn't be asking. And besides, whatever simple formats I have on my computer don't seem to say anything about that. Whichever programs I use to open pictures just say "px" or "pixels," nothing about resolution. Some help please, even if they are just ballpark figures!

Answer 1

Hi,

Well, there is no set formula to convert from pixels to inches, as you've already found out, they actually depend on the dots per inch. I'll try to keep things as simple as possible in the answer.Oh and remember pixels = dots. Likewise, dots = pixels. So if you have 150 dots per inch, you'll also have 150 pixels per inch. The difference between pixels and dots is that when the dots are on a computer monitor they are referred to as pixels, that's it.

The first thing you have to remember is, if you're going to print something the DPI (thats the dots per inch) HAS to be at least 150 DPI, or else the print will not look as good because a lot of "dots" will be missing from the picture. Professionals recommended that you use 300 DPI  if possible but thats just overkill unless you're doing something really big for an art gallery.

The second thing is that some programs will allow you to select the 'inches' you need for the canvas. However usually if you're using 150 pixels per inch then for 5 inches by 7 inches it should be 1050 pixels by 750 pixels. Because 150 pixels x 5 inches = 750 and 150 pixels x 7 inches is 1050. Similarly when you use 300 pixels/dots per inch the dimensions will be 2100 pixels by 1500. This is of course because the pixels in each inch depend on the amount of pixels in each inch. So you just multiply the pixels per inch and the number of inches to derive the number of pixels.

Hope this helps.