DPI and Pixels

[RKissane]

Ok I know this has been covered before but I am more confused now on how Xara handles DPI and Pixels when loading a picture.

What I have is a picture that we purchased for commercial use.
The picture is specified as being 3831 x 2554 px - 12.77" x 8.51" at 300DPI

I look at this picture in Corel Painter Essentials and Gimp everything matches up what it is specified as. If I take a the original size of the picture in pixels and divide by the 30DPI it comes out to 12.77" x 8.5"

When I bring this picture into Xara and tell it to come in at the DPI specified in comes in way bigger at 39.9" x 26.9". Where does this size come from?

If I save the file at 300DPI I then get a file that says it is 11972 × 7982 pixels. Which matches up to the inch size it came in as.

If I setup Xara to open the file as 96DPI for 1:1 scaling I still get the same large size in inches. And if I save the file as 96 DPI it keeps the size in inches and says it is 96DPI when I look at the image properties in either Corel or Gimp.

What am I missing and why does Xara work differently than what other programs do in regard to DPI and pixels?

I should point out that this is for print work.

Thanks
Ray

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi Ray, just think pixel size, don't worry about inches.

[RKissane]

Egg,

I tried that but when I bring the picture in it is coming in way larger than what other programs are saying it should be. I tried the import at 96DPI and the file comes in way bigger in inches because of the 96. But when I bring it in at 300DPI it is coming in at the same size in inches that the 96DPI is and when I look on the bitmap gallery tab it is still showing the picture as being 96DPI.

So I am really confused why when I bring the picture in at specified size in the image which is 300DPI is showing everything as being 96DPI. If Xara opened the file as 300DPI then I would get the correct measurement in inches.

Ray

[gwpriester]

If the image is 300dpi and you import the image at 1:1 then I think the pixel amount will be something like 3 1/8 times bigger.

In Xara reduce the image until the resolution on the screen is 300dpi and the pixel size should be the same as you stated in your first post.

[Egg Bramhill]

Further to Garys comment:

If you want to use the image for print then use "Import image at dpi specified in the image file".

If you want to use it for the web use "Import all photos at 96 dpi" and resize as required.

Attached two 1" x 1" files, one exported at 96 ppi the other at 300 ppi

[RKissane]

Ok I have figured it out.

What I was doing is opening the picture file in XARA by using the open command and opening into the picture space not a document space. When you do this it brings the file in at 96DPI. If you have a document window and import the file by using the import command it will bring the file in at the specified DPI and keep the pixels and dimensions as specified.

So My new question is if I open the photo file and it comes in at the 96DPI into the photo space and now I save at 300DPI it still keeps the same 11972 × 7982 pixels as the 96DPI. Am I losing image quality or did Xara in effect increase the size the photo without loss of image quality?

Thanks
Ray

[Egg Bramhill]

if I open the photo file and it comes in at the 96DPI into the photo space and now I save at 300DPI

Ray, why would you do this? You can't increase the resolution of a photo by just increasing the dpi

[RKissane]

Egg,

I am not trying to I am just trying to understand what is happening currently in the photo space when I save the photo at a higher DPI because it is not reducing the pixel count like I thought it would.

Ray