Resolution of File when Downloaded (72 vs 300 dpi)

When I download my pictures from my 60D camera (set on Large Format jpg) and then open the file in Photoshop CS4, the resolution of the file is 72 dpi.

Is there a way to automatically make the file 300 dpi? Also, i feel like i am losing quality by it downloading 72 dpi - is that correct?

Jewel wrote in post #11717273
Is there a way to automatically make the file 300 dpi? Also, i feel like i am losing quality by it downloading 72 dpi - is that correct?

There is no quality loss. The DPI setting does nothing until it comes time to print on paper. The monitor displays pixels and does not use the dpi setting at all. Even printing, all dpi will do is set the size of the print. It has no impact on the data contained in the image.

No, it is not correct. The only thing that matters is the size of the image in pixels. As long as that is the same the quality, from the view point of resolution, is unchanged.

Dpi is used as a synonym for ppi, which is pixels per inch. Note the word "inch". Computer files don't have inches, only prints do. The dpi number is an arbitrary default size for a print to be made from that file, but even then it isn't really relevant because the
real ppi will be the actual number of pixels divided by the actual inches of the print.

In PS you can easily change the default number to anything you want, 300 or 3,000.

Just so you'll know, the reason there is a figure there is because the file standard requires a value and so cameras just put one in. It doesn't matter what it actually is so Canon puts the 72 value in because there is an old long-forgotten meaning for it, but in digital imaging it no longer has any meaning. Other camera makers put other values in there. And, when you use editing software such as Photoshop or Digital Photo Professional, they each have a defauls value they plug in that is different as well. You only will change that value if you are explicitely designing a document that has specific dimensions in inches for a print or a document presentation with size specifications.

The EXIF specification says that if there is no DPI reported by the camera the default of 72 is to be inserted in that field so it won't be blank.

So the 72 is totally meaningless except as a placeholder.

-js

Dpi is used only when printing, the bigger it is the smaller your prints will be (but more detailed)