96 DPI in pixels
At 96 DPI an inch is 96 pixels and a centimetre is 37.8 pixels. An A4 page is 794 × 1123 pixels and a US Letter page is 816 × 1056.
96 DPI is the reference resolution of Windows and of the web: CSS defines one inch as 96 pixels, so a web page sized in inches or millimetres is laid out at 96 pixels to the inch.
At 96 DPI the pixels of a print blend together, for someone with 20/20 vision, from about 35.8 inches (91 cm) away. Closer than that, an eye can pick out the pixel grid; further back, more resolution adds nothing you can see.
Paper and photo sizes at 96 DPI
| Size | Dimensions | Pixels at 96 DPI | Megapixels | Uncompressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A0 | 841 × 1189 mm | 3179 × 4494 | 14 | 41 MB |
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | 2245 × 3179 | 7.1 | 20 MB |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | 1587 × 2245 | 3.6 | 10 MB |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | 1123 × 1587 | 1.8 | 5.1 MB |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 794 × 1123 | 0.89 | 2.6 MB |
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | 559 × 794 | 0.44 | 1.3 MB |
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm | 397 × 559 | 0.22 | 650 KB |
| A7 | 74 × 105 mm | 280 × 397 | 0.11 | 326 KB |
| Letter | 8.5 × 11 in | 816 × 1056 | 0.86 | 2.5 MB |
| Legal | 8.5 × 14 in | 816 × 1344 | 1.1 | 3.1 MB |
| Tabloid | 11 × 17 in | 1056 × 1632 | 1.7 | 4.9 MB |
| Half Letter | 5.5 × 8.5 in | 528 × 816 | 0.43 | 1.2 MB |
| 4 × 6 in | 4 × 6 in | 384 × 576 | 0.22 | 648 KB |
| 5 × 7 in | 5 × 7 in | 480 × 672 | 0.32 | 945 KB |
| 8 × 10 in | 8 × 10 in | 768 × 960 | 0.74 | 2.1 MB |
| 11 × 14 in | 11 × 14 in | 1056 × 1344 | 1.4 | 4.1 MB |
| 16 × 20 in | 16 × 20 in | 1536 × 1920 | 2.9 | 8.4 MB |
| 12 × 12 in | 12 × 12 in | 1152 × 1152 | 1.3 | 3.8 MB |
| 12 × 18 in | 12 × 18 in | 1152 × 1728 | 2 | 5.7 MB |
| 18 × 24 in | 18 × 24 in | 1728 × 2304 | 4 | 11 MB |
| 24 × 36 in | 24 × 36 in | 2304 × 3456 | 8 | 23 MB |
| Business card | 2 × 3.5 in | 192 × 336 | 0.06 | 189 KB |
Lengths at 96 DPI
| Inches | Pixels |
|---|---|
| 0.25 in | 24 |
| 0.5 in | 48 |
| 0.75 in | 72 |
| 1 in | 96 |
| 1.5 in | 144 |
| 2 in | 192 |
| 2.5 in | 240 |
| 3 in | 288 |
| 3.5 in | 336 |
| 4 in | 384 |
| 5 in | 480 |
| 6 in | 576 |
| Centimetres | Pixels |
|---|---|
| 0.5 cm | 19 |
| 1 cm | 38 |
| 1.5 cm | 57 |
| 2 cm | 76 |
| 2.5 cm | 94 |
| 3 cm | 113 |
| 3.5 cm | 132 |
| 4 cm | 151 |
| 4.5 cm | 170 |
| 5 cm | 189 |
| 6 cm | 227 |
| 7 cm | 265 |
| Millimetres | Pixels |
|---|---|
| 1 mm | 4 |
| 2 mm | 8 |
| 3 mm | 11 |
| 5 mm | 19 |
| 10 mm | 38 |
| 15 mm | 57 |
| 20 mm | 76 |
| 25 mm | 94 |
| 30 mm | 113 |
| 35 mm | 132 |
| 40 mm | 151 |
| 45 mm | 170 |
Changing an image to 96 DPI
The DPI stored in an image file is a label that says how large to print it. Changing the label to 96 without resampling keeps every pixel and only changes the print size: a 3000 × 2000 pixel photo becomes 31.25 × 20.83 inches. Resampling changes the number of pixels instead, and making an image larger that way does not add detail.