Newbie Resolution and workflow Question . . .

[BayAreaPhotog]

According to the Manual, when I shoot in the Large/Fine JPEG mode with my D60, the image is recorded at 3072 x 2048. I usually download the image to my computer with a Lexar Film reader and using Downloader Pro software. I then call the image up in Photoshop and resave it at 300 dpi and as a Tiff file.

When I call the image up in Photoshop, the image size says 72 dpi. . . is that a default that I can change in Photoshop or Downloader Pro? Has that JPEG actually been saved at 72 dpi when I downloaded it onto my computer?

I know that I probably should be shooting in Raw Mode, but should I be doing something different? I want to be able to keep most of my images available for printing more than for web use. Any thoughts?

[Jesper]

Already many people have asked questions about the DPI number, it seems that many people are confused about what it means...

A digital image is nothing more than a rectangular grid of pixels, for example 3072 x 2048 pixels from your D60. The DPI number is not an intrinsic property of the image. It's saved in the header part of the image file, but in itself the number doesn't mean anything.

Only when you print your image, the DPI number is relevant. For example, if you print your image at a size of 12 by 8 inches, you are spreading out 3072 over 12 inches on the long side (and 2048 pixels over 8 inches on the short side), which means your print will have a resolution of 3072 / 12 = 256 DPI - or, more accurately, PPI (pixels per inch). The terms dots per inch (DPI) and pixels per inch (PPI) are often mixed up.

Have a look at this article: Display, Printing, DPI and PPI (http://www.photo.net/learn/resize/)

Shooting in RAW mode doesn't have anything to do with the resolution. When you shoot in RAW mode, you'll still get an image of 3072 x 2048 pixels.