DPI has meaning only when printing - the resolution of a digital image is determined purely by the number of pixels it contains.

If an image contains a DPI then this will simply be a numeric value stored in the image‘s header. Software such as Photoshop may read this value and use it to determine the size at which the image is printed or displayed.

For example, if you have an asset that is 1000 pixels square and it has a DPI setting of 70 then if you print it using software that uses the DPI setting then it will be printed quite large. If you then change the DPI setting to 300 and print it then it will be much smaller. The resolution of the digital image itself is unaffected by the DPI setting.

If the users are interested in determining how high-res the image is, pixel size is always indicated in Asset Bank.

When I‘m adding a new usage type, I‘m able to choose the DPI setting for the format. What does this do?

Unless the image is going to be opened in software that uses this setting, it does not matter what value you enter into this field. Setting a value for density ensures that it is set in the converted image - this may or may not be used by the software printing the image.

Enter a value of 0 if you do not want to set a value for the density - note however that the DPI of the original image will be left in the image if present.