Output Resolution and Type Quality

Images of contemporary digital type are composed of dots. On a computer monitor screen, with a typical resolution of little more than 100 dpi, individual dots are big enough to see clearly. In this environment, it’s very difficult to identify a particular typeface onscreen at common text sizes. There just aren’t enough pixels available to draw a sufficiently detailed picture (Figure 1.16). To see type onscreen as clearly as it appears on the cheapest inkjet printer means zooming in to at least 300 percent magnification, at which point you don’t get a good view of the page anymore.

Figure 1.16. Bodoni at three resolutions: Giambattista himself above, and the typeface that bears his name below. The more pixels available to image a photo or a typeset character, the clearer and more faithful the final representation will be. The three magnifications here could be likened to screen, desktop printer, and imagesetter resolutions.