How do I change my camera's default DPI setting?

[Alis]

I have a Rebel XTi DSLR, and checking the picture properties, I noticed all of them are 72 dpi. Is there any way I can change the dpi setting? Anyone knows? My point and shoot SD1000 camera takes pictures at 180 dpi. Not sure how to change it on my Rebel.

[McQ]

Hi sedali, welcome to the forums. The default DPI your camera uses will have no influence on the resolution of your images because it only relates pixels to absolute units (inches). The DPI setting therefore does not affect anything when displaying the photo on your screen, the web, via email, etc. To be honest, the only time it will matter is if you are not setting the print size of your images prior to printing. Setting the print size always overrides the embedded DPI. Also take a look at the page on digital camera pixels, DPI and print size for a bit more on this.

If you need to change the embedded DPI for some other reason, this can be done within photoshop and most other image editing programs. In Photoshop, the DPI can be changed by: Image>Image Size>Resolution (pixels/inch). Make sure to uncheck the "resample image" box at the bottom, otherwise the number of megapixels in your image will change (using interpolation).

There may also be a way to change the default JPEG DPI from within your camera, but doing this varies from camera to camera. The best thing would be to check your digital camera manual, possibly under a section about direct camera to printer prints. 72 DPI is the default for computer displays, which is probably why your Digital Rebel XTi defaults to that setting.