Pixels to Inches Calculator
Physical size of a pixel measurement at a given resolution, in inches, centimetres and points — and the resolution is the whole question.
With pixels 1200 px, resolution 300 dpi, pixels to inches comes to 4.000 in — inches. It is reached in 5 steps, the last of which is pixels / dpi, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by W3C CSS Values and Units, not an approximation fitted to it.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Pixels 1200 px, Resolution 300 dpi
4.000 in
Inches for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Inches
pixels / dpi4 in- Centimetres
inches * 2.5410.16 cm- Millimetres
inches * 25.4101.6 mm- Points, at 72 to the inch
inches * 72288 pt- The same pixels at 72 dpi
pixels / 7216.667 in
Worked example
1,200 pixels at 300 dpi prints 4 inches wide. The same 1,200 pixels at 72 dpi is 16.667 inches — the pixels did not change, only the density they are laid down at, which is why "how big is this image" has no answer without a resolution.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Find the pixel dimension of the image, from its file properties or the editor.
- 2.Decide the resolution: 300 dpi for print, 72 dpi for a screen mock-up.
- 3.Divide the pixels by the resolution. That is the size in inches.
- 4.Multiply by 2.54 for centimetres, or by 72 for typographic points.
The formula
- Inches
pixels / dpi - Centimetres
inches * 2.54 - Millimetres
inches * 25.4 - Points, at 72 to the inch
inches * 72 - The same pixels at 72 dpi
pixels / 72
Source: W3C CSS Values and Units — absolute lengths, NIST — international inch, exactly 25.4 mm
Questions people actually ask
- Is dpi the same as ppi?
- Close enough here. Strictly, ppi counts pixels in an image and dpi counts ink dots a printer lays down, and a printer may use several dots per pixel. For sizing an image the two are used interchangeably.
- Why does my image print smaller than it looks on screen?
- Because a screen is showing it at roughly 72 to 110 pixels per inch and the printer is packing 300 into the same inch. Same pixels, a third of the width.
Related
- Square Footage CalculatorSquare footage of a room, wall, border, gable end, ring or triangle from feet-and-inches measurements, with a waste factor and the cost.
- Circle CalculatorArea, circumference and radius of a circle from its diameter — in square feet and square inches.
- Feet and Inches CalculatorConvert to feet and inches, or add, subtract, multiply and divide feet-and-inches measurements, with the rounding error shown beside the fraction.
- Circumference CalculatorCircumference of a circle from its diameter or the other way round, with the radius, the area and the arc of one degree shown alongside.
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