Best “DPI” for Scanning and Copying

DPI, or Dots Per Inch, refers to the measure or density of “dots” which the copier or printer places in 1 square inch.  Therefore, it relates to the resolution or copy/print quality of your images and copies.

Bigger and Better Resolution

The higher the dpi the better the resolution and the better copy/print quality. For example, 1200 X 1200 dpi will give you better resolution or copy/print quality than 600 X 600 dpi, thus giving you better copy/print quality and better half tones.

Almost all of Kyocera copiers and printers are 1200 X 1200 dpi capable.  This is at the high end of current standards. The higher resolution combined with our exclusive Micro Toning System and Ceramic Drum Technologies not only provide you with exceptional copy/print quality, but also consistent quality year after year after year……

Scanning at Higher DPI

When scanning your originals, it is important to understand dpi and how it relates to scanning. Scanning a document at 1200 X 1200 dpi will yield high resolutions and thus greater copy quality. However, scanning at 1200 X 1200 dpi will take longer than scanning at 600 X 600 dpi.

Almost all of Kyocera copiers offer you the choice of scanning resolutions: 200 X 200, 300 X 300, 400 X 400, 600 X 600 and 1200 X 1200 dpi.

Scanning Text

TEXT: When I scan simple text documents black on white paper and documents that do not have pictures or graphics, I scan them at 300 X 300 dpi because they scan faster than 600 X 600 and 1200 X 1200 dpi.

GRAYSCALE: If I have Grayscale images, which are different shades of black such as black & white photos, I scan them that at 1200 X 1200 dpi because I found out that this is the best resolution.

HALFTONES: If I am scanning Halftones, which are small dots that form an image, I always scan them at 1200 X 1200 dpi, because this high resolution gives me the best result

COLOR: When I scan Color images such as Color pictures, I scan them at 600 X 600 dpi, because this gives me the best result

If you are particular about your scanning results, I suggest that you do what I have done and test each scanning resolution to your liking.