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Photography vocabulary · Files & Image Quality

Resolution

Meaning in photography, with examples

/ˌrezəˈluːʃən/nounCore term

In photography, resolution means: The amount of detail in an image, usually given as its size in pixels (e.g. 6000 × 4000) or as how many pixels or dots fit into an inch when printed.

In Turkish: çözünürlük

How it is used

Clients ask for high-resolution (hi-res) files for print and low-resolution files for the web. Print resolution is often given as 300 PPI or DPI. Lenses also have resolution, meaning how much fine detail they can show.

Example sentences

  1. Please send the full-resolution files; the web versions are too small for the billboard.

  2. The online gallery shows low-resolution previews with a watermark.

Common collocations

  • high resolution
  • full resolution
  • low-resolution preview
  • print resolution
  • megapixelOne million pixels; the unit used to describe how many pixels a camera's sensor records, as in a 24-megapixel camera.
  • DPIShort for dots per inch: the number of ink dots a printer places in one inch. It is often used loosely to mean PPI (pixels per inch).
  • printA photograph produced on paper or another material, such as canvas or metal, from a digital file or a negative.
  • JPEGA common image file format that compresses photos to make them small, losing some detail. Short for Joint Photographic Experts Group.
  • cropTo cut away the outer parts of a photo to improve the composition, remove distractions or fit a particular shape.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Files & Image Quality

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