How to Increase PPI?

Increasing the PPI (pixels per inch) of an image involves adjusting its resolution. Here's how to do it:

1. Open Your Image: Start by opening the image you want to modify in an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP (free), or similar software.

2. Access Image Size/Resolution Settings: Navigate to the "Image" menu and select "Image Size" or "Resolution." The exact wording may vary depending on the software you're using.

3. Understand the Options: In the Image Size dialog box, you'll typically see fields for width, height, and resolution (PPI).

4. Deselect "Resample" or "Resample Image": This is the crucial step. Deselecting this option prevents the software from adding or removing pixels. This is important because artificially adding pixels doesn't truly improve image quality; it just spreads the existing information over more pixels, often resulting in blurriness or artifacts.

5. Increase the PPI Value: With "Resample" deselected, you can increase the PPI value. Notice that the width and height will decrease proportionally. This means you are essentially packing the same number of pixels into a smaller space, thus increasing the density (PPI). For example, if your image is currently 10 inches wide at 100 PPI, changing the PPI to 200 will reduce the width to 5 inches. The total number of pixels stays the same.

6. Accept the Changes: Click "OK" or "Apply" to save the changes.

Important Considerations:

• Don't Expect Miracles: Increasing PPI without resampling decreases the physical dimensions of the image. It does not add detail. You are simply making the existing detail more densely packed.
• Resampling (Generally Avoided): If you enable "Resample," the software will attempt to add pixels to increase the image size and PPI. While this allows you to keep the original dimensions, it can result in a loss of image quality, especially if you significantly increase the PPI. Common resampling methods include Bicubic, Bilinear, and Nearest Neighbor. Each method has its pros and cons, but all involve some degree of approximation.
• Original Image Quality Matters: The quality of the original image is paramount. If the original image is low-resolution or blurry, increasing the PPI, even without resampling, won't magically fix it.
• Purpose of PPI: Consider the intended use of the image. Higher PPI is generally needed for printing to achieve sharper results. For on-screen display, a lower PPI (like 72 or 96) is often sufficient.

Example:

Let's say you have an image that is 3000 pixels wide and 2000 pixels high.

Property	Value (Original)	Value (Increased PPI, No Resample)
Width (pixels)	3000	3000
Height (pixels)	2000	2000
PPI	100	300
Width (inches)	30	10
Height (inches)	20	6.67

In this example, increasing the PPI from 100 to 300, without resampling, reduces the physical dimensions of the image from 30x20 inches to 10x6.67 inches. The pixel dimensions remain the same.