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How do I get symbiostock to be able to sell photos at different resolutions (ppi)?
For example I have three options (licenses) web, low resolution and high resolution
Web version I want maximum height/width to be 800 pixels with a 72 or better yet a 96 ppi
Low Resolution version I want maximum height/width 1200 pixels but to be 300 ppi
High Resolution version I want maximum height/width 3200 pixels but with 300 ppi (or higher)
I can get the height and width to work but not the ppi – how do I do that?
I do not want the original file made available for direct download as that is a premium service.
Thanks
DPI/PPI does not exist when it comes to digital files; there is only resolution. JPEGs are converted to certain dimensions when translated into DPI for print.
So, for example, a 1000×1000 JPEG can be 500DPI at 2×2 inches. It can also be approximately 300DPI at 3×3 inches. It can also be approximately 72 DPI at 14×14 inches.
So Symbiostock correctly allows you to customize the resolution provided. If you want to let customers know what print length that is at a specific DPI, you would have to code this up for your front end or send us a support request.
Thanks for the question.
OK thanks for that, I think I understand now.
I have noticed however a degrading of image quality between what I upload and what the client would get as the download, jpg to jpg – is this normal?
Is it possible to set the default download format to be jpg (jpeg) even if the file is a tiff or png?
I just tried a png instead of a jpg, however when I went to download the png file and open it with photoshop CS6 I get this error ‘Could not complete your request because the file format module cannot parse the file‘
BTW Imagick is disabled on my server is this the issue?
Thanks
You can only parse JPEGs with GD – PNG will not work without Imagick, nor will vectors. TIFF may, work, but is unsupported. As for degradation, it should not degrade at all with GD or Imagick (GD is set to output at 100% quality). If it is indeed degrading, it is likely server related.
As per the latest version of Symbiostock, it does not convert it to JPEG if it is a PNG – it returns the same original format. The only exception to this is vectors which are returned as JPEGs if resized. If you want it to be only JPEG, you’d have to alter the function accordingly.
Hi there,
I exhume this topic as i’m also interested by this resolution matter.
I would like to sell two licences for the same size but not the same resolution. Let’s say :
- 4000 x 4000 px @ 72 dpi for a web usage
- 4000 x 4000 px @ 300 dpi for printing
Is it possible to do that with Symbiostock ?
Thanks for your response !
Mickael.
Hi Mickael
As Robin said, resolution does not mean anything at all in a digital file. so a 4000 x 4000 pixel file is exactly the same regardless of what dpi you set. All that might change is when you open it in some applications, the image would show as a different size on the screen, but if you made it 100%, it would be the same image. In addition, you don’t want to sell a 4000 pixel image for web usage – that is what the 800 and small sizes are for.
So this isn’t a Symbiostock thing – it is just that a digital file is just a set of pixels, nothing else.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Thanks for responding so fast.
Digitally, i agree it’s the same but speaking about a print, the difference will be “physical” ;).
The fact is that i would like to create a single media that can sellable for digital use OR print use (whatever is the size). In that case, resolution matters as the resulting size (or the quality) of the print will be different depending on the resolution of the original file. Don’t you agree ?
Mickael.
The way Symbiostock works is you upload the maximum sized file then restrict the pixel resolution based on the license. Symbiostock will resize for you – so it is one master file that is replicated based on the resolution.
So, i guess that’s better to create a specific product for print and another one for digital use as Symbiostock works independently from dpi resolution.
I will get a closer look to the linked products.
Thanks for your responses.
Not a different product – same product, just have two licenses. One for print which will be a higher resolution, and one for web which will be a lower resolution.
Your buyer can change the dpi to whatever they want once they download the pixel size they want. You don’t have to set a dpi at all – just give them options for pixel size and the buyer does the rest. DPI only means anything when you convert the file to a physical format (which could be a screen or could be a print), but that conversion and output is done by your buyer, not by you.
Steve
Ok i think i got it ! In fact, the dpi of an image is only a “tag” in the digital file. This tag is used to display (or print) the image in a certain way; the quality of the image itself is not affected by this tag and the tag can be changed later, depending on the type of display needed.
Then, indeed, a single product is enought to manage all the licences.
Ouf !
Thanks for explanations and your time spent here.
Yes – it’s not entirely your fault. This information, obvious and totally clear, is muddled with misinformation online.
Digitally it is all very easy though – 1 pixel is one pixel. How densely you pack those pixels when you print is what ‘dots per inch’ means. But digitally, all we need to worry about is how many dots we have in total.
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