Spent 2 years exporting at 72 DPI and wondering why my prints looked trash

I had a piece in a group show last March in Portland and the gallery owner asked if I had a higher res file because my 20x30 print looked soft up close. Turns out I was saving everything at 72 DPI because that's what looked fine on screen, never thought about the physical size. Re-exported at 300 DPI and the difference was ridiculous, I basically wasted a whole portfolio cycle learning that. Has anyone else had a basic setting slip past them for that long and only caught it at a professional moment?

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the_ben23d ago

72 DPI for two years is practically a right of passage at this point. I went through almost the exact same thing with a 16x24 print for a client's office wall, and the look on their face when they saw the pixelated text on their company logo was something I'll never forget. They asked me if I had "the version that wasn't blurry" and I remember saying I'd just print it bigger next time. Big brain moment, me. Now I keep a checklist taped to my monitor that literally says "300 DPI, you dummy" in sharpie. This hobby really is just a series of embarrassing lessons you pay for with time and materials.