Photoshop inches on my monitor don't match real life inches.

malcolm · Aug 2011

So I had this idea today that I could make an image 72dpi and make an image 3x2 and if I measured it on my monitor with a ruler the inches would actually be the same in physical space. This is not the case. Am I missing something here or do measurements in Photoshop vs screen resolution never match up?

MasteroftheFork · Aug 2011

Your monitor can be any size, so unless theres some place you can input the real world size of you monitor into photoshop it has no way of knowing what a real world inch is.

malcolm · Aug 2011

Lame, for some reason I thought 72 dpi was some standard that would make inches show up as actual inches.

Jason Young · Aug 2011

You need to figure out what ppi your monitor is and use that number if you want it to be more accurate. For example, my dell 22" is 90ppi.

MasteroftheFork · Aug 2011

I'm pretty sure 72 dpi is just talking about when you print it out.

Vailias · Aug 2011

The rulers in photoshop (ctrl+r) reflect actual inches at print size. (When set to inches obviously)

72dpi is a sort of generic standard for monitors, however, its only rarely held to.
Measure your monitor, then divide its resolution by each dimension to find your PPI. Mine is 90.

IF you want to fix your print size zoom level in photoshop take your measured PPI, go edit>Preferences>Units and Rulers and change the Screen Resolution setting in "new document Preset Resolutions" to match your actual monitor size. Then things will match up. Yes I tested it.

malcolm · Aug 2011

Vailias, awesome trick. My resolution is 1920x1200 on a 24" dell so that means a ppi of 94. Just tested it with a cut out template piece of paper matches up perfectly.

Photoshop inches on my monitor don't match real life inches.

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