Written May 13, 2025
By Kraig Downham, Marketing Director, Printing Partners
We’re excited to announce that our two new Canon imagePRESS V1350 now allow us to offer digital prints at 1200 DPI for stunning clarity and detail — even though this difference might be hard for the untrained, naked eye to spot. Please note: This upgrade applies to digital printing only. Our offset printing standard remains at 400 DPI, which is 100 DPI higher than the typical high-quality PDF output of 300 DPI—be sure to check your PDF settings to match.
Understanding the Jump from 400 DPI to 1200 DPI
Previously, our digital printing standard was 400 DPI, which still delivers excellent quality for most projects at normal viewing distances. The jump to 1200 DPI offers sharper details, especially for close-up viewing, ensuring fine elements like textures or small text remain crisp. For most standard applications, 400 DPI is sufficient, and we’re happy to guide you on the best resolution for your needs.
Why 1200 DPI Matters for Digital Printing
Printing at 1200 DPI delivers exceptional detail and sharpness, making it ideal for photographic prints, graphic designs, and technical documents where nuances like textures, vibrant colors, and fine details are crucial—especially when viewed closely.
Optimizing Your PDFs for 1200 DPI
To take full advantage of our 1200 DPI digital printing, ensure your files are prepared correctly. PDF settings will downsample to the highest resolution your image supports (up to 1200 DPI), ensuring optimal quality while keeping file sizes manageable.
Here’s how to adjust your PDF settings in Adobe InDesign:
- Go to File > Export.
- Choose Adobe PDF (pdf) as the format.
- Select the PP Digital COATED preset (or a similar high-quality preset).
- In the Compression tab, configure the following settings for all image types (Color, Grayscale, Monochrome):
- Bicubic Downsampling to: 1200 pixels per inch
- For images above: 1800 pixels per inch
- Compression (Color/Grayscale): Automatic (JPEG)
- Compression (Monochrome): CCITT Group 4
- Image Quality (Color/Grayscale): Maximum
- Ensure that Compress Text and Line Art and Crop Image Data to Frames are checked.
Important Note: If your original image has a resolution lower than 1200 DPI (e.g., 300 DPI), the PDF settings will not increase its quality. The output will be limited to the resolution of your source image.