Pixel to Inch Converter | Convert pixels to real sizes

Convert pixels to inches, centimetres, millimetres, points and picas at any DPI. Includes presets for screen and print resolutions and a full pixel size chart.


Pixels are not a physical size on their own. The resolution is what ties them to inches and centimetres. Use 96 for screens and CSS, 300 for print.
Common resolutions

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Pixel sizes at common resolutions

How many pixels you need for a given physical size, at each of the usual resolutions.

Physical size 72 DPI96 DPI150 DPI300 DPI600 DPI
1 in 72 px 96 px 150 px 300 px 600 px
2 in 144 px 192 px 300 px 600 px 1,200 px
1 cm 28 px 38 px 59 px 118 px 236 px
5 cm 142 px 189 px 295 px 591 px 1,181 px
10 cm 283 px 378 px 591 px 1,181 px 2,362 px
21 cm (A4) 595 px 794 px 1,240 px 2,480 px 4,961 px

Why a pixel has no fixed size

A pixel is a count, not a length. Asking how many inches are in 100 pixels is like asking how many centimetres are in 100 bricks: it depends entirely on how big each one is. That is what DPI describes, dots per inch. At 96 DPI, 100 pixels is a little over an inch. At 300 DPI, the same 100 pixels is barely a third of an inch, because each one is much smaller.

DPI and PPI are not quite the same

Strictly, PPI (pixels per inch) describes a digital image or a screen, while DPI (dots per inch) describes what a printer physically puts on paper. In everyday use the two are treated as interchangeable, and for conversion arithmetic they behave identically, which is why this tool accepts either.

Which resolution should you use

For anything on screen or in CSS, use 96: that is the value the web platform defines, which makes one CSS inch exactly 96 pixels regardless of the actual monitor. For printing, 300 is the normal target for photographs and general work, and 600 or higher is used for line art and fine detail where edges must stay crisp. The old value of 72 comes from early desktop publishing and is now only relevant to typographic points.

Worth knowing

  • One inch is exactly 2.54 centimetres, so the pixel conversions follow directly once the resolution is fixed.
  • A typographic point is 1/72 of an inch, which is why 72 DPI makes one point equal one pixel.
  • A pica is 12 points, or 1/6 of an inch, and is still used for column widths in print layout.
  • Resizing an image to a higher DPI without adding pixels does not add detail. It only changes the printed size.
  • Retina and high-density screens pack more physical pixels into the same CSS inch, which is why a 96 DPI assumption still works for layout.

Frequently asked questions

It depends on the resolution. On screen and in CSS the standard is 96 pixels per inch, so one inch is 96 pixels. For print at 300 DPI, one inch is 300 pixels. There is no single answer, which is why every pixel conversion has to state a DPI value.

Divide the pixels by the DPI to get inches, then multiply by 2.54. So 300 pixels at 96 DPI is 3.125 inches, which is 7.94 centimetres. Enter the numbers above and the tool does it in both directions.

Use 300 DPI for photographs and most printed work; it is the point where the eye stops resolving individual dots at normal viewing distance. Use 600 or more for line art, logos and text-heavy graphics where hard edges matter. Large posters viewed from a distance can go as low as 150.

PPI counts pixels per inch in a digital image or on a display. DPI counts the ink dots a printer lays down per inch. They describe different things technically, but they are used interchangeably in everyday work and the conversion arithmetic is identical, so this tool accepts either term.

The web platform defines one CSS inch as exactly 96 CSS pixels, so that layouts stay consistent across devices with very different physical pixel densities. It originated with early Windows displays and has stuck as the reference value. High-density screens render more physical pixels per CSS pixel, but the 96 figure still governs layout.

At 96 DPI, one centimetre is about 37.8 pixels. At 300 DPI it is about 118.1 pixels. The maths is the DPI divided by 2.54, since there are 2.54 centimetres in an inch.

Not on its own. Changing the DPI value stored in a file changes only how large it prints, not how much detail it contains. If you resample the image to add pixels, software has to invent the new ones, which does not recover detail that was never captured.

A typographic point is exactly 1/72 of an inch. That means at 72 DPI one point equals one pixel, which is where the old 72 DPI convention comes from. At the modern screen standard of 96 DPI, one point is 1.333 pixels, which is why 12pt text renders as 16 pixels in CSS.

How do you convert pixels to inches?

Divide the pixel count by the resolution. At the screen standard of 96 DPI, 100 pixels is 1.04 inches or 2.65 cm. At the print standard of 300 DPI, the same 100 pixels is only 0.33 inches. A pixel has no physical size until you state a DPI, which is why this converter always asks for one.