About Printwise
Printwise is a free browser-based print planning toolkit. It turns image pixels, paper dimensions, crop choices and bleed into practical checks you can review before sending a file to print.
Calculation methodology reviewed: September 30, 2026
What Printwise is for
Use Printwise to estimate whether an image has enough pixels for a chosen print size, compare common paper and photo formats, and prepare production dimensions with bleed.
The results are planning guidance, not a guarantee from a printer. Print processes, viewing distance, sharpening, paper and the printer’s own requirements can change the final result.
How the calculations work
Calculations use the entered pixel dimensions, the selected physical size and the chosen fit mode. When image and paper ratios differ, crop or border choices affect the usable image area.
Effective PPI
image pixels ÷ print dimension in inchesThe calculator evaluates both axes: fill-and-crop uses the lower result after cropping, while contain-with-borders uses the higher scale because the whole image fits inside the paper.
Required pixels
print dimension in inches × target PPIWidth and height are calculated separately, then rounded to whole pixels.
Maximum print size
pixel dimension ÷ target PPIThis estimates the largest physical size at the chosen quality target before crop adjustments.
Production size with bleed
finished dimension + (2 × bleed per edge)Bleed is added to both sides of each axis; production pixels are calculated from that larger size.
Units and rounding
Printwise uses the exact conversion 1 inch = 25.4 millimetres. Displayed dimensions may be rounded, while calculations keep greater internal precision.
ISO A-series dimensions follow ISO 216. North American and photo formats use their stated inch dimensions.
PPI describes image pixels per printed inch. Printers may use DPI for device output; follow the terminology and export specification supplied by your printer.
Reference sources
Use the printer’s specification first
A printer, photo lab or marketplace specification always overrides Printwise’s general guidance.
Confirm bleed, safe margins, colour space, file format, embedded profiles, scaling and any minimum-resolution rule before final export.
Your images stay on your device
Image dimensions and previews are processed locally by your browser. Image files are never uploaded to Printwise servers.
If you send feedback, only the information you deliberately enter in the feedback form is submitted. Read the privacy page for analytics and data-handling details.
Privacy detailsContact and feedback
Found a calculation edge case, unclear wording or a paper size we should add? Send it through the feedback form so the report reaches the Printwise team without publishing an email address to spam crawlers.