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dpi of your photos is important too

H

holys

Registered Users (C)
Dear all,

Since the beginning of online application period (October 2005 I guess),
there's always one point that many miss, dpi value of the applicant's photo.

A lot of people miss this point, never pay attention to it, don't even know
about it.

In its most basic definition Dots per inch (dpi) value defines the
quality and print size of a photo.

Since the beginning, the officials never mentioned the dpi value
of a newly taken digital photo. All they ask were the dimensions (in pixels)
of a newly taken digital photo. It continues this year too.

On the other hand, they always mentioned the dpi of a scanned
photo. It was 150dpi in the past and now they ask at least 150dpi.

It's written in the DV-2010 instructions that it would be enough if the
scanned photo has at least 150dpi.

1) Let's say we have a 150dpi scanned photo, what about a newly taken
digital photo's dpi? Nothing mentioned in the instructions,
as usual since 2005 (DV-2006).

We know that if a 600pixel by 600pixel photo has 300dpi (both
horizontal and vertical) the print size of it is 2in by 2in
(exactly what the officials want for a regular visa).
As long as we keep the dimensions as 600pixel by 600pixel
any dpi different than 300dpi will not result in a 2in by 2in photo
when printed on a paper.

2) Do you think the officials missed this point when they
wrote 'at least 150 dpi' on the DV-2010 instructions
or, the information given in the instructions pdf is enough for them
to manage the submitted photos.

Any response to these two questions would be highly appreciated.
 
dpi is not a property of a digital image.
1. paper image has only one property - size (for instance, 4 inches x 4 inches). resolution or dpi are not properties of paper image
2. digital image has only one property - resolution (for instance, 600 pixels x 600 pixels). Paper size or dpi are not properties of digital image.
3. process of conversion of a digital photo to a paper photo (called printing) has only one parameter - dpi. Resolition or paper size are not properties of printing.
4. process of conversion of a paper photo to a digital photo (called scanning) has only one parameter - dpi. Resolition or paper size are not properties of scanning.

So, when instructions describe new digital photo, scanning is not involved, and the only parameter of a digital photo is resolution. As long as dpi is a non-parameter, dpi is excluded from instructions, in order not to confuse anybody.

However, when instructions describe a scanned digital photo, scanning is involved, and even though the only parameter of a digital photo is resolution, dpi is included on purpose to make it easier for everybody to fulfill the conversion from paper image to a digital image, because dpi is a necessary parameter of the process of scanning. Of course, when a digital image has been already obtained by scanning, dpi has no meaning any more and must be forgotten.

I hope the answer to both questions is clear.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It would not be correct to say dpi is not important for a digital image. dpi is just not a property of a digital image.
 
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