The Difference Between DPI and PPI

Most people heard the term DPI. In most cases the term is used in the wrong context to express the number of pixels in a photo, the number of dots in a print or the maximum dots per inch a printer can output. A relatively new term PPI was introduced in order to resolve this wrong usage of the term DPI. In this article we will try to explain in simple words what is DPI and what is PPI and should each be used.

PPI: stands for Pixels per Inch. PPI describes the number of pixels per inch in a photo. PPI is a function of the number of pixels the camera's sensor supports (also known as megapixels) and the size of the photo. To calculate a photo's PPI simply multiply the page length by its width in inches. The result is the number of square inches on the page. Now divide the number of pixels the sensor supports by the number of square inches. The result is the number of pixels per square inch. All that is left to do is to find the square root of this number. Following is a table that shows the PPI for various page sizes for a 5 megapixel camera.

page size 4X6 - 456 PPI

page size 5X7 - 377 PPI

page size 8X10 - 250 PPI

page size 11X14 - 180 PPI

page size 16X20 - 125 PPI

page size 20X30 - 91 PPI

DPI: stands for Dots per Inch. DPI is really a physical characteristic of a printer. Every printer prints dots that when put next to each other comprise a photo. Each dot has a physical size. DPI is also known as the maximum resolution that a printer is capable of. Low-end printers have lower DPI while high-end printers have higher DPI. DPI is defined as the number of dots a printer can print per inch. For example if a printer supports 1200 DPI it means that the printer can print 1200 dots per inch (on both X or Y axis). When printing it is important to make sure that the DPI is higher or equal to the PPI. If the DPI is lower than the PPI the printer will not be able to fully display the high resolution of the photo. When printing a photo that has a lower PPI than DPI the printer will use multiple dots to represent one pixel. As opposed to PPI, DPI is not relative to the page size. DPI is a fixed number for a given printer.

Small Business, Think Big

Running a small business is much harder than running a corporation. Surprising? Not if you're a small business entrepreneur.

As a fledling business owner on a restricted budget you have to multi-task,juggle,prioritize and balance. Unlike corporations, you don't have a specialized professional team to help you manage, allowing you to focus on more critical business strategies.

Neither do you have the capital to afford such luxuries.At best you have about twenty employees that you need to train, supervise, motivate, schedule and pay.

You're the sole manager, running your business on a shoe-string budget with only 24 hours a day.

Given such stressful financial and time constraints, how can you successfully maintain a balance between excellence, efficiency, and improving productivity all on your own?

The answer? Think big.

Manage your business like the big corporations do. Corporations rely on efficient organization that is cost-effective. Yes, even big companies have budget (granted big, but not unlimited) constraints that warrant resourcefulness. Today big businesses resort to business management software whenever possible to replace business processes that were once done manually, reducing costs of labor, time and human error.

Scheduling employees, for instance, used to be a tedious, time-consuming task before automated scheduling software made rosters, schedules and shift management a breeze.

Today, small businesses can not only easily be a more efficient organization with the help of such software but can also obtain business software at no cost. The business software market offers a variety of free trial software programs for evaluation before purchasing. The downside of those programs are either a time limitation (meaning you might not get fully acquainted with all features) or limited in features (meaning you can't test all the features). If you like the program, you find out it carries a corporate price tag.

On the other hand, there are companies (few though they exist), such as Kappix, that offer free fully functional business management software, with no time/feature limitations.

Kappix, a leading provider of employee scheduling software, provides businesses of all sizes with DRoster Employee Scheduling. DRoster creates, manages, and automates shifts, rosters, schedules, personnel contact information, job descriptions and tasks. DRoster Employee Scheduling software enables a small business to manage its workforce in advance. You can ensure replacement for absentees, breaks, time-off, vacations. Kappix gives small businesses the professional edge that big companies have. This software provider is an example of the few quality providers of true free business management software.

Now you can "think big" - focus on more critical business issues and leave the scheduling to DRoster. Kappix provides DRoster at no cost along with free support. Their employee scheduling software is intuitive and designed to meet the scheduling needs of a myriad of industries.

Free software like Kappix's DRoster Employee Scheduling Software, can afford you the time to boost productivity without sacrificing valuable money and precious time. Think big, like the big successful corporations. At no cost.

For more information about various free business management software or DRoster Employee Scheduling Software servicing your business, contact the author of "Small Business,Think Big" Nancy Berger.

(DRoster Employee Scheduling Software can be downloaded at http://www.kappix.com/setup.exe)