Don't confuse image resolution with aspect ratio

When talking about image quality, the confusion that exists between resolution and aspect ratio of an image is extremely common. Although they are closely related terms, it is important to clarify that they indicate different concepts.

Image resolution

Image resolution is expressed in PPI units, in English PPI indicates Pixels Per Inch, that is, how many pixels exist for each inch of an image.

Resolution is understood through the term density, the higher the pixel density, the higher the resolution, which, in turn, results in a sharp, high-quality image.

The opposite happens when an image has fewer pixels, in which case the resolution will be much lower. For example, have you noticed that when you enlarge an image, it loses sharpness? Well, this happens because the image is enlarged without precisely maintaining the aspect ratio, so the pixels will be too large, and there will be loss of sharpness in the image.

Aspect ratio

On the other hand, the aspect ratio indicates the proportional relationship between the width and height of an image. It can be said that it describes the shape of an image. Aspect ratios are written as a width to height formula, as in the following example: 3:2.

In the case of a square image, it has an aspect ratio of 1:1, since the height and width are equal. The image could be 600px × 600px or 2000px × 2000px, and the aspect ratio would still be 1:1.

As another example, a portrait-style image might have a 2:3 aspect ratio. With this aspect ratio, the height is 1.5 times longer than the width. So the image could be 500px × 750px, 1500px × 2250px, etc.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to understand the difference between these two concepts, and at the same time, to understand that both concepts are codependent, since by changing the aspect ratio, the resolution will change and vice versa.