Hi folks,

I never thought I would be confused with this PPI / DPI stuff, but I am thoroughly confused now.

Here is the question as it relates to the workflow controls in ACR 4.6.

What does the PPI (in this case set to 300) in the ACR workflow options mean? I thought that when we are editing / converting a raw file, the PPI is not important (since each pixel is brought in individually).

Here is the specific control I am trying to understand:

http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00CEgS

It just sets the ppi to a default that you prefer. You are right until you print it is virtually meaningless. Set it to the number you prefer to send to the printer or whatever number makes scene to you. Canon cameras set the jpgs to 72ppi which is about as useful closing your eye and filling in the ACR default with a random number. Don't be confused, they are just f-ing with your mind don't give it another thought.

The ppi setting is only relevant if you're going to print your image. Otherwise, it makes no difference at all what you set it at.

Note in the blue link that you circled, the dimensions of your image are 3888 x 2592 px. That isn't affected by the ppi setting.

So the first question is: Are you planning to print your images?

Thanks folks this clears it up a bit. I think basically what this does is sets up the default PPI in the Image -> Image Size dialog box and that is relevant only for printing...

Having said that, I _still_ feel it is a disservice to put it in there. It is more confusing to have it a the "import" level especially for a raw file. Just my 2c.

Thanks again.

-- Vivek

Vivek wrote:
Thanks folks this clears it up a bit. I think basically what this does is sets up the default PPI in the Image -> Image Size dialog box and that is relevant only for printing...
Exactly.

Having said that, I _still_ feel it is a disservice to put it in there. It is more confusing to have it a the "import" level especially for a raw file. Just my 2c.

Thanks again.

-- Vivek

In some cases it's handy to have that option in the raw converter. If you're batch processing a bunch of raw files and you know you're going to print at, say 250 ppi, you can set that in ACR. Then you won't have to run the batch again inside Photoshop to change that setting.