Print resolution... how?

[Zay]

This link is nice to have in your bookmarks.

http://www.pixelcalculator.com/

[rappet]

This link is nice to have in your bookmarks.
http://www.pixelcalculator.com/

That is a nice one.. thanx Zay.

[slepy8]

Not to be rude - it's not my point.

But how come people go into graphics design without understanding fundamental basics?

It's like you met a mechanic who doesn't know how to use a screwdriver....

[rappet]

I guess some people get into rendering and graphics with different backgrounds,
Some people need to know and some people don't need to know for quiet a while about dpi to do their job well
A lot of people have difficulty with dpi, resolution and pixels, and often my customers have a hard time to understand if I ask them what dpi/res/pixels they need me to produce for them.
I do understand it, but have to calculate it everytime by opening a new file in Corel,
because I cannot do the exact calculation by head.
I like Zay's link, it is quick and easy, and even better.. it is also a good link to forward and let third party calculate.

I often ask what kind of printer the customer want to use for prints.
Sometimes it is 150 or 200 dpi.. sometimes it is proffesional offset and it is 300dpi.
A lot of times I just make different pixelsize images and give recognizable names to the images (i.e. 300dpi for A4, 150dpi for A3, 1024x768px for ipad, and so on).. That way the customer can forward images with the right resolution without having to understand the dpi/res/pixel idea.

That's my 50 cents

Greetz,

[dionysiusmarquis]

Photoshop added some confusion as well. Because Photoshop will create an image with more pixel if you leave the default setting in the "Image Size" dialog. That was always the first thing graphic designers argued in this debate: "Look, If i change the dpi in my Photoshop document i'll get an Image with much higher resolution".

Resampling is a real confuser here.

Btw: Operation Systems still use 72 dpi as reference for High density Displays, they just double the displayed Pixel, or you can optional provide double as much pixel data. Hope this adds some more confusion

[Zay]

Not to be rude - it's not my point.

But how come people go into graphics design without understanding fundamental basics?

If a teacher teach you to use a tool the wrong way, you will of course use it the wrong way. Sadly I was one of those who had a teacher like that when taking a Web Designer course some years ago. Even more sadly I had to pay $300 a day for that course
For a year I worked with that in mind until I found a site explaining DPI the right way. I was a little pissed after reading that.

But I can understand people getting confused about it. So when asked I always say DPI is for the physical world while Pixels are for the digital world. And a graphic card do not understand DPI - only pixels.

But I agree that Photoshop can confuse people in that area. Even Windows also have an option to change DPI

[slepy8]

I understand that someone might have problems with recalculating DPIs.
I don't do it myself. I always use PS for this and don't give a shit.
I just need to understand what it's all about.

But things like:
- what is a pixel
- what DPI means
- what is sRGB
- what is CMYK

are such basics to understand as for a mechanic are:

- what is engine
- what is engine oil for?
... and so on

Offtopic mode off.

It's just my voice to ask other designers to understand fundamental basics before you start the "real thing".

[FrankPooleFloating]

Another important thing to add to this discussion is large format printing (tradeshow prints, point-of-sale displays, fleet graphics on cars/trucks/buses, billboards)... These things are meant to be seen from multiple feet away - and most large format printers are not super high-quality anyway. Often times, 150 dpi or so is great for tradshow and p-o-s displays -- but with billboards, buses, stadium graphics etc you can usually get away with much much less. Some times things are actually printed below 30 dpi for huge stuff. The farther folks are going to be from print, the lower the res. Always try and ask the actual printer (if possible) before doing a render (meant for large format) way more high res than you need... If anyone ever asks you to provide artwork at 300dpi for something bigger than 3 feet, walk away.

[tuts3d]

Paquito

This might help you... In photoshop, make a new file with the setting you need like in you case 7x7 at 300dpi. Now open your rendered image with the equivalent size in 72 dpi. Then just press " shift " and drag your image into the new file You created and save as whatever name you want. When your client open the file, it will show as what they need.

I guess this is a way of translating it to a language they understand. Hope this helps.

[PAQUITO]

Paquito

This might help you... In photoshop, make a new file with the setting you need like in you case 7x7 at 300dpi. Now open your rendered image with the equivalent size in 72 dpi. Then just press " shift " and drag your image into the new file You created and save as whatever name you want. When your client open the file, it will show as what they need.

I guess this is a way of translating it to a language they understand. Hope this helps.

Definitely. Thanks. I have found the same solution, pasting the image in a 300 dpi document. Thanks everyone for clarifying this.