Same old pixel question

[racislo]

Why does Photoshop Elements 5 show in the properties of a photo taken with a Canon A75 a resolution of 180 (ppi) and in the properties of a photo taken with a Canon A630 the same resolution of 180 (ppi). The A75 is a 3 megapixel camera and the A630 is a 6 megapixel camera. For a similar image it seems like the photo from the A630 would have a higher resolution.

Thanks for your comments.

[AngelicKim]

Hi and welcome. The ppi is pixels per inch that the camera is set to as default resolution of an image. This is a different ratio for than the megapixels of an image. The mega pixels relate to the actual size of the image. I can't personally explain it better than that but hopefully Chuck, Gary or Lee or some others are good at the technical stuff will be along soon to explain it better.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

I think all Canon cameras are set at 180 ... but resolution set in this way doesn't matter at all. The only time you need to look at this is when you cant to print out an image and then you need it to be higher.

Imagine a whole lot of pixels sitting in a photo ... if they all spread out then the size in inches gets bigger (but the resolution gets lower) and if they all crush together then the size in inches gets smaller and the resolution gets higher.

Try this :

Open up any image
Then do Image>resize>Image Size (make sure that resample image is unchecked as you do not want to add of subtract any pixels)
Now change the resolution to 300 and see what happens
Then change it to 72 and see what happens.

As I said before the only time you really need to look at this is when you want to make a print (then I tend to use somewhere between 250 & 300)

Wendy