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How to Check the DPI of an Image

Has your printer ever changed the size of your picture from what it was on your computer screen? Have you noticed that your printed pictures tend to look choppy? This may depend on the dots per inch, or DPI, of your digital pictures. DPI refers to how many tiny blots of color will appear in every inch of the printed image, and relates to the resolution (commonly in megapixels) of the original picture. There are two ways to find an image's DPI--with Windows Explorer, and with the free image viewer IrfanView.

Things You'll Need

IrfanView image browser
EXIF plugin for IrfanView

Instructions

Quick & Simple: Windows Explorer
- 1
  
  Right-click the image file. Select "Properties" from the context menu.
- 2
  
  Click on the "Summary" tab in the top of the pop-up. If "Title," "Subject" or "Author" fields are displayed, click the button "Advanced >>" at the bottom.
- 3
  
  In the Advanced properties view, the fields "Horizontal Resolution" and "Vertical Resolution" indicate the respective DPIs.
More Powerful: IrfanView
- 4
  Install the EXIF plugin for IrfanView, or the following steps will not work. (See "Additional Resources," below, for free EXIF plugin.)
- 5
  Go to "Image/Information," or press the shortcut key "I."
- 6
  
  DPI appears in boxes next to "Resolution" (the fifth line of the pop-up window). If the resolution boxes are blank, click the "EXIF info*" button at the bottom of the properties window.
- 7
  
  In the new, more detailed pop-up, the camera's horizontal and vertical DPI are next to the items "XResolution" and "YResolution."
- 8
  
  To bypass checking the EXIF resolution, view the DPI in the "Resize/Resample" dialog by going to the menu "Image" and choosing "Resize/Resample," or pressing the shortcut "CTRL" and "R." The DPI will be at the bottom left.

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