design tool
Pixels to inches converter
To convert pixels to inches, divide the pixel count by the DPI: 3000 pixels at 300 DPI is 10 inches, or 25.4 centimetres. Type a pixel size and a DPI to get inches, centimetres and millimetres, or switch direction and turn a print size back into pixels.
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- Runs on your device, nothing is uploaded
- Free, no sign in
- No watermark, no file limit
How it works
- 1
Pick a direction
Pixels to inches and cm takes a pixel size. Inches or cm to pixels takes a print size and a unit.
- 2
Type the numbers
Enter the width, and the height if you want both sides. The answer updates as you type.
- 3
Set the DPI
Type any density, or tap 72, 96, 150 or 300. Three hundred is the usual figure for print held in the hand.
- 4
Read or copy the result
Read the sizes and the density table, then press Copy the result to paste the line into an email or a print order.
The one line of arithmetic
Inches equal pixels divided by DPI, and centimetres equal inches multiplied by 2.54. That second number is exact: since 1959 the inch has been defined as 25.4 millimetres, a figure NIST still publishes. So a 1080 pixel wide image is 3.6 inches at 300 DPI, 7.2 inches at 150 and 15 inches at 72. Going the other way, pixels equal inches multiplied by DPI, which is why an A4 page, 8.27 by 11.69 inches, needs 2,480 by 3,508 pixels at 300 DPI. The converter rounds that direction to the nearest whole pixel, since a fraction of a pixel is a few hundredths of a millimetre on paper.
Why there is no single answer without a DPI
A pixel has no physical size. A photo straight off a phone might be 4032 by 3024 pixels, and that file is equally happy as a 13 by 10 inch print at 300 DPI or a 56 by 42 inch banner at 72. The number stored in the file's header is only a suggestion that layout software reads to pick a starting size, and changing it alters no pixel. On screens the question mostly disappears: CSS fixes one inch at 96 reference pixels, and phones scale those to their own displays, so the 96 option here answers what a browser means by an inch rather than what a ruler would measure.
Reading the density table
With a width and a height entered, the table shows how large the same file prints at six densities, in inches and centimetres, and the biggest A series or US sheet it covers at each, in either orientation. Read it from the top for photographs and small print, which want 300, and from the middle for anything on a wall, where 150 is the figure most large format printers give as a minimum. The bottom rows are a sense check rather than a target: 72 DPI is how big a file looks if someone prints it without thinking.
Posters, and the pixel counts they need
Large sheets need more pixels than most people expect. A0, at 841 by 1189 millimetres, needs 9,933 by 14,043 pixels at 300 DPI, nearly 140 megapixels, and 4,967 by 7,022 at 150. The poster builder works the other way round: it lays boards out on a 1656 by 2340 canvas and exports A0 portrait at 3312 by 4680 pixels, which comes out at 100 DPI on the sheet. Type those numbers in to see the print sizes they give, or work out what a figure or a photo on the poster needs before you place it.
Limits worth knowing
The converter does arithmetic, nothing more. It cannot tell whether a photo is in focus or has already been enlarged, and a soft file at 300 DPI is still soft. Sizes show two decimal places, and very large or nonsensical inputs get a plain message rather than a number. Nothing is uploaded, because nothing is opened: the numbers you type stay in this tab, and nothing is stored, ever.
Limits
- DPI is a print instruction, not a property of the pixels. The same file prints at any size; the DPI only says how densely.
- Sizes are shown to two decimal places. Pixel counts for a print size are rounded to the nearest whole pixel.
- One side may be up to a million pixels and the DPI up to 10,000. Anything beyond that gets a plain message instead of a number.
What it does not do
- It does not open, resize or resample an image.
- It does not change the DPI value stored inside a JPEG or PNG.
- It does not judge sharpness at a viewing distance; the DPI calculator does that.
Questions people ask
How many pixels is one inch?
As many as the DPI says. At 300 DPI one inch holds 300 pixels, at 150 DPI it holds 150, and on a web page CSS defines one inch as 96 reference pixels. An image file has no fixed inch, which is why the converter asks for a density first. For print the usual answer is 300, for screens 96.
How big is 1920 by 1080 in inches?
At 300 DPI it is 6.4 by 3.6 inches, about 16.3 by 9.1 centimetres. At 150 DPI it doubles to 12.8 by 7.2 inches, and at 96 DPI, the CSS reference for screens, it is 20 by 11.25 inches. A full HD video frame is a small print, so it suits a postcard or a slide better than a poster.
How do I convert pixels to centimetres?
Divide the pixels by the DPI to get inches, then multiply by 2.54. At 300 DPI, 1000 pixels is 3.33 inches, which is 8.47 centimetres. A shortcut: at 300 DPI each centimetre holds about 118 pixels, and at 150 DPI about 59. The converter shows centimetres and millimetres next to inches, so you never have to do the second step by hand.
Why does my image print smaller than it looks on screen?
A screen shows roughly 100 to 200 pixels per inch at normal zoom, while a printer laying the file down at 300 DPI packs the same pixels three times tighter. So the photo that fills a monitor becomes a print a few inches wide. Check the size at 300 DPI here before ordering, and pick a smaller sheet or accept a lower density.
Should I use 72 or 300 DPI?
Use 300 for anything printed and held in the hand: flyers, cards, photos and booklets. Use 150 for posters and banners seen from a metre or more. The 72 figure is a leftover from early Mac screens and means nothing to a printer, though some software still sets it by default, which is why prints come out unexpectedly large and soft.
Lay out a poster at the right size
Take what you made here into posters.
Create a poster with OneCraftMore tools like this
- DPI calculatorEnter a pixel size and a print size and see the sheet drawn at real proportions, the area your file covers sharply, and a plain verdict on whether it will do.
- Print scale percentage calculatorFind the print scale percentage between two paper sizes, such as A4 to A3 at 141.4%, the density a photo keeps after scaling, and the crop when shapes differ.
- Poster font size calculatorA poster font size calculator: enter the reading distance and the sheet to get the minimum title, heading and body text size in points, drawn to scale.
- Aspect ratio calculatorType a size and see your shape drawn against any target: the bars if you fit it whole, the crop if you fill it. Presets for print, screen and social.
- Check image size onlineCheck image size online: width, height, aspect ratio, file size, format and colour depth for up to 20 images, plus which flyer sizes each one fills.
Background reading: the question page on this.
Sources
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .