• Skip to navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

AAEPA, Inc

Find a Member Member's Login
Call Today (800) 846-1555
  • Membership
    • Membership Membership
    • submenu
      • Why Join?
      • Member Requirements
      • Become A Member
      • Meet the Team
  • Estate planning software
  • Education
  • Practice management
    • Practice management Practice Management
    • submenu
      • 11 Essential Systems
      • Coaching
      • Law Firm Marketing
  • Resources
    • Resources Resources
    • submenu
      • Live Training
      • Blog
  • Contact Us

Q&A: Why do the pictures I download look so fuzzy in my materials?

Home » Practice Management » Q&A: Why do the pictures I download look so fuzzy in my materials?

Ever wondered why the images you so painstakingly pirated downloaded from the web for your newsletter end up printing so fuzzy when they were so sharp onscreen?
It’s a matter of resolution.

Not one of those resolutions you vow to follow each new year, but image resolution.
Think of every picture as a tightly packed bunch of dots, so tiny and in such close proximity as to appear seamless. On your monitor in takes 72 of these pixels (that’s what your monitor’s dots are called) to fill a linear inch. We will then say that your onscreen pictures display a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (ppi).

Printed materials, on the other hand, generally require more, smaller dots to fill the same area. On average, every linear inch will contain 300 dots, which translates to your images having a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi).

So, does this mean you will never be able to use web images (72ppi) for print (300dpi)? Not necessarily.

Say that you need to print a 7″ x 5″ picture, and you found a beautiful free pic online that you want to use. You think “72ppi, darn, there goes another good resolution,” but then discover that the image you downloaded is 2100px wide by 1500px tall.

That would be a 29″ x 21″ picture on your screen (2100/72 and 1500/72), so you would fire up PhotoShop and resize it to 7″ x 5″, print it, and start cussing because you just wasted a couple of dollars’ worth of that incredibly expensive printer ink.

That happened because by resizing you threw away a great number of perfectly good pixels, and are left with a 7″ x 5″ 72 ppi image, 504px x 360px.

What you need to do, instead, is resample, that is change the image’s resolution instead of its size.

So your resampled image will still be 2100px x 1500px, but, at a resolution of 300dpi (instead of 72), its size will be the 7″ x 5″ you needed (2100/300 x 1500/300).

Ok, can you take the image you ruined earlier and resample it to 300dpi? Well, you could, but you have only 504 pixels left to work with, so your image would be only just over 1.5″ wide (504/300).

Then why not resize it back to 2100 x 1500? Mostly because if you could create dots from nothing, you would dedicate your creative talent to producing money, instead. Think about it, if you have only $500, can you buy that $2100 sweet gadget you crave so? Whipping out your credit card is cheating and we won’t consider it.

In conclusion, when you provide images for printing, multiply the desired size by 300. That is the minimum dimension in pixels your picture needs to be.

Example: you need to print a 7″ long image. Your picture will need to be 7×300 = 2100px long.
Example 2: you have an 800 x 600 image you want to use for a brochure; what’s the maximum size you can print it? 800/300 x 600/300 = 2.67″ x 2″

Conversely, if you took a megapixel picture with your state-of-the-art digital camera and you need to use it for a webpage, resize it (throw away the extra dots) to fit within your webpage’s dimension and not require several seconds (or minutes!) to load.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Medeis Nadir
Graphic Design Manager,American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys
Latest posts by Medeis Nadir (see all)
  • Are Your Marketing Pieces Printing with Blurry Images? - June 23, 2017
  • Part 5, Hard Drives: Computer Tips for Your Estate Planning Law Firm - June 16, 2010
  • Part 4, RAM: Computer Tips for Your Estate Planning Law Firm - June 9, 2010
SHARE

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to our blog

Recent Posts

  • Aging Parents and Estate Planning
  • How Do I Title Thee…Part I
  • Turning Stalled Out Goals into Actions
  • What Makes a Will or Trust Invalid
  • Ultimate Social Media Cheat Sheet: Character Limits & Best Days/Times to Post

Categories

  • Academy Girl Friday (33)
  • Client Services (238)
  • Coaching (33)
  • Consumer Advantage (3)
  • Counseling (21)
  • Elder Law (5)
  • Estate Planning (920)
  • Estate Planning Documents (5)
  • Estate Planning Education (199)
  • Financial Analysis (3)
  • Financial Services (1)
  • General (19)
  • Law Firm Marketing (281)
  • Law Firm Net Revenue (7)
  • Law Firm Staffing (99)
  • Law Firm Technology (45)
  • Law Firm Web Tips (185)
  • Leadership (191)
  • Legal Education (645)
  • Marketing Tools (2)
  • Medicaid (1)
  • Member Services (1)
  • Owners Compensation (1)
  • Peak Performer Focus (1)
  • Practice Building Calls (1)
  • Practice Management (496)
  • SEO/Social Media Support (3)
  • Software (6)
  • Strategic Planning (9)
  • Uncategorized (15)

Footer

logo of American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

About Us

  • Meet the Team
  • Site Map
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy

Explore Our Services

  • Coaching
  • Estate planning software
  • Events
  • Legal education
  • Marketing
  • Web and SEO

Keep in Touch

Mon-Fri

9444 Balboa Ave. Suite 300

San Diego

(800) 846-1555

info@aaepa.com

Take Back Control of Your Business and Your Life

+

footer section | American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

© 2022 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc All rights reserved.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Don't sell my personal information.
Cookie Settings Accept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
Save & Accept