PSA: Please stop exporting your digital art at 72 DPI and calling it "print ready"

Tyler Mason · 2026-10-09T15:40:04.115276+00:00

I've been selling prints of my digital pieces at a few local comic and art shows around Cincinnati for about two years now, and I keep running into the same thing with newer artists. They show me a gorgeous piece on their tablet, I ask if they have a print version, and they pull up a file that's 1200 by 800 pixels at 72 DPI. They genuinely think DPI is some magic quality slider instead of just a number that tells a printer how to space the dots. Last month at the Oakley art walk, this guy was selling 16 by 20 inch prints of a piece he made at 72 DPI, and up close it looked like a watercolor that had been run through a paper shredder. I tried to explain that for a decent 16 by 20 print at 300 DPI you need roughly 4800 by 6000 pixels, and he just nodded and said his tablet screen looked fine. That's the part that gets me, because your screen is backlit and tiny compared to a poster on a wall. The fix is boring but real, start your canvas at the biggest size you might ever print, or make it vector, and don't trust the zoom on your phone. Has anyone else had to break this news to a friend, and how did you do it without sounding like a jerk?

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PSA: Please stop exporting your digital art at 72 DPI and calling it "print ready" | Digital Art Showcase - Librear