Free PDF DPI & Print Resolution Checker

A print resolution checker tells you whether a file has enough pixels for the size you intend to print it at. DPI is not a property of a file — it is the relationship between the file's pixel dimensions and the physical size it is printed at, so the same image can be perfectly sharp at A4 and unusably soft at A0. This free checker reads your file's dimensions and reports the effective DPI for every common poster size, flagging anything below 150 DPI as risky and below 100 DPI as unprintable. It reads PDFs as well as JPEG and PNG: a PDF has no single DPI of its own, so it takes the page's physical size and the pixel count of the artwork placed on it, and reports the resolution that combination actually delivers. It runs entirely in your browser: the file is never uploaded.

Check your file

Drop your artwork here

JPEG, PNG or PDF. Several at once is fine — up to 24. Nothing is uploaded.

How to use it

Add your artwork — Drag files onto the drop area or click to choose them — JPEG, PNG or PDF, one file or up to twenty-four at once if you are checking a whole batch before publishing. Each file is read in your browser to get its pixel dimensions, and a PDF has its page size read as well. Nothing is uploaded.
Scan the list — Every file is listed with its pixel dimensions, its megapixel count and a verdict, so you can see which of a batch will not print at any size you offer without opening them one at a time.
Open a file for the size-by-size table — Select a file to see its effective DPI at every A-series size and at the common inch and centimetre poster sizes, each marked good, risky or too low.
Act on the sizes that fail — Below 100 DPI prints visibly blurry and below 150 is risky at close viewing distances. Either remaster the artwork larger or stop offering the sizes the file cannot carry.

The problem this solves

You cannot see resolution on a phone screen. A file that looks perfect at fit-to-screen prints with furred edges and mushy text at A1, and the first you hear about it is a three-star review that stays on the listing forever.

What it does

Every size at once

Reports effective DPI across the full A-series and the common inch and centimetre poster sizes in one pass, so you find out that A2 is fine and A0 is marginal before you enable A0.

Orientation-agnostic

Takes the worse of the long-edge and short-edge figure, so a rotated file cannot report a flattering number it will not deliver.

The same thresholds the app enforces

Under 100 DPI is an error, under 150 a warning, 300 ideal — identical to the pre-publish check that runs inside PSDmate.

Nothing leaves your browser

Dimensions are read locally. No upload, no account, no file stored anywhere.

PDFs, read properly

A print-ready PDF is opened in the browser, its page size read in inches and the artwork on it measured in pixels — so you get the effective resolution at the size the file was built for, plus the same size-by-size table. A vector-only page is reported as vector rather than given an invented DPI.

Pixel dimensions for every print size

What a file needs to measure to print cleanly at each size. 100 DPI is the floor below which PSDmate refuses a file, 150 DPI is the point it stops warning, and 300 DPI is what a print shop asks for. Dimensions are short edge × long edge, in pixels.

Size	Inches	Centimetres	100 DPI (minimum)	150 DPI	300 DPI (ideal)
5x7	5 × 7 in	12.7 × 17.8 cm	500 × 700	750 × 1050	1500 × 2100
6x8	6 × 8 in	15.2 × 20.3 cm	600 × 800	900 × 1200	1800 × 2400
A5	5.8 × 8.3 in	14.8 × 21 cm	583 × 827	875 × 1241	1749 × 2481
8x10	8 × 10 in	20.3 × 25.4 cm	800 × 1000	1200 × 1500	2400 × 3000
A4	8.3 × 11.7 in	21 × 29.7 cm	827 × 1169	1241 × 1754	2481 × 3507
10x10	10 × 10 in	25.4 × 25.4 cm	1000 × 1000	1500 × 1500	3000 × 3000
12x12	12 × 12 in	30.5 × 30.5 cm	1200 × 1200	1800 × 1800	3600 × 3600
11x14	11 × 14 in	27.9 × 35.6 cm	1100 × 1400	1650 × 2100	3300 × 4200
30x40cm	11.8 × 15.8 in	30 × 40 cm	1181 × 1575	1772 × 2363	3543 × 4725
11x17	11 × 17 in	27.9 × 43.2 cm	1100 × 1700	1650 × 2550	3300 × 5100
A3	11.7 × 16.5 in	29.7 × 42 cm	1169 × 1654	1754 × 2481	3507 × 4962
14x14	14 × 14 in	35.6 × 35.6 cm	1400 × 1400	2100 × 2100	4200 × 4200
12x18	12 × 18 in	30.5 × 45.7 cm	1200 × 1800	1800 × 2700	3600 × 5400
16x16	16 × 16 in	40.6 × 40.6 cm	1600 × 1600	2400 × 2400	4800 × 4800
16x20	16 × 20 in	40.6 × 50.8 cm	1600 × 2000	2400 × 3000	4800 × 6000
18x18	18 × 18 in	45.7 × 45.7 cm	1800 × 1800	2700 × 2700	5400 × 5400
16x24	16 × 24 in	40.6 × 61 cm	1600 × 2400	2400 × 3600	4800 × 7200
A2	16.5 × 23.4 in	42 × 59.4 cm	1654 × 2339	2481 × 3509	4962 × 7017
20x20	20 × 20 in	50.8 × 50.8 cm	2000 × 2000	3000 × 3000	6000 × 6000
18x24	18 × 24 in	45.7 × 61 cm	1800 × 2400	2700 × 3600	5400 × 7200
50x70cm	19.7 × 27.6 in	50 × 70 cm	1970 × 2756	2954 × 4134	5907 × 8268
20x30	20 × 30 in	50.8 × 76.2 cm	2000 × 3000	3000 × 4500	6000 × 9000
24x32	24 × 32 in	61 × 81.3 cm	2400 × 3200	3600 × 4800	7200 × 9600
A1	23.4 × 33.1 in	59.4 × 84.1 cm	2339 × 3311	3509 × 4967	7017 × 9933
24x36	24 × 36 in	61 × 91.4 cm	2400 × 3600	3600 × 5400	7200 × 10800
28x40	28 × 40 in	71.1 × 101.6 cm	2800 × 4000	4200 × 6000	8400 × 12000
30x40	30 × 40 in	76.2 × 101.6 cm	3000 × 4000	4500 × 6000	9000 × 12000
A0	33.1 × 46.8 in	84.1 × 118.9 cm	3311 × 4681	4967 × 7022	9933 × 14043

Where it lives in PSDmate

Free and open on this page. Inside PSDmate the same check runs automatically before you publish, against only the sizes you have actually enabled on the listing.

Questions

What DPI do I need for posters?

300 DPI is the comfortable default. For large formats viewed from across a room, 150 DPI is genuinely fine — viewing distance scales with print size. Below 100 DPI is visibly soft at any size.

Can I just change the DPI setting in Photoshop?

No. Changing the DPI field without resampling relabels the file and adds no pixels. What matters is pixel dimensions against physical size.

Can I check the DPI of a PDF?

Yes. Drop the PDF in and it reports the page size in inches, the pixel dimensions of the artwork placed on it, and the effective resolution that gives you — plus the same good, risky or too-low verdict at every poster size. Nothing is uploaded: the PDF is parsed in your browser.

Why does my PDF show a different DPI in Acrobat?

It should not, if you are reading effective resolution rather than native. A PDF does not have one DPI. An image placed at half its natural size doubles in effective resolution; placed at twice its size it halves. This reports the effective figure at the page's own dimensions, which is the number the printer works to.

What if my PDF is vector artwork?

It is reported as vector, with no DPI. Vector art is drawn from maths rather than pixels, so it stays sharp at any size and has no resolution to run out of. A DPI figure for it would be meaningless.

Is my image uploaded anywhere?

No. The check runs in your browser and reads only the file's dimensions. The file never leaves your device.

My file is too low for the size I want. Can I upscale it?

You can, but upscaling invents pixels rather than recovering them, and the result prints soft. The better fix is to master the artwork at the largest size you sell and let smaller orders downsize from it.

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