How to render from Blender for print: resolution, DPI and bleed

Updated 2026-10-23

Blender works in pixels; printers work in millimetres and DPI. The formula: pixels = (mm ÷ 25.4) × DPI.

Size	mm	Pixels at 300 DPI	With 3 mm bleed
A4	210 × 297	2480 × 3508	2551 × 3579
A3	297 × 420	3508 × 4961	3579 × 5031
A2	420 × 594	4961 × 7016	5031 × 7087

Set these in Output Properties → Resolution at 100%. Bleed is extra image (usually 3 mm per side) that gets trimmed off; keep important content away from the edges.

Very large renders can run out of memory. Rendering in tiles and stitching avoids that. Also check that textures have enough resolution for the printed size, or they will look soft, and that saturated colours are printable.

A tool that helps

Seamless Poster Render: Render huge Blender stills in tiles without seams in Bloom and Glare, with print presets, DPI and bleed. ($12). Free alternative: the steps above work by hand too.