File Size for Print

[Corot]

Hey guys,

I was wondering, what size do you guys use when you paint? I think I am working a bit oversize because my computer starts to lag ( 2GB memory) I usually go for 12x18 300 DPI. I think that is overkill. I really want to paint so when it prints, it wont be pixelated. If I was to work on a 12x18 on lets say 72 DPI, and I print it, would it look any good as if I did on 300 DPI? ( its like a 2 part question). So what dpi should I go for if I want to print something of this size(12x18)?

[Anid Maro]

300 DPI, period.

72 DPI will look just as nice on the web, but will suffer when printed.

Not quite sure why your computer is lagging at 2GB of memory. Is your processor up to spec? When did you last defragment your hard drive? Maybe a bit of cleaning up and maintenance will help out.

When I color in Photoshop, I typically work at 300 DPI at about 8x11 size. I only have 256 megs of RAM though, so if I'm doing something that includes lots of blending I have to downsample. Fortunately, I don't typically print, so this isn't really a problem.

[Corot]

Ahh.. Thanks!

It starts to lag when I start using the smudge tool. There is a 1 second lag time and when I go a bit nutz with it, it can lag pretty long. I defrag and scan my comp alot. My cpu is quite old maybe? its about 3.2 GHZ. with 2 GB of memory. I had this computer since 2003. Maybe I should turn off my norton virus because it do take alot of memory to have it on.

Arh... So the bottom line, Work at 300dpi.. not 72dpi..

i was working on this piece. 300 dpi. It got so big, the file was about 1 gb. My god, I had to paint each person on a different file. After that, I would combine all the files together. It was a mess.

[Anid Maro]

i was working on this piece. 300 dpi. It got so big, the file was about 1 gb. My god, I had to paint each person on a different file. After that, I would combine all the files together. It was a mess.

Woah! That's a large file. How many layers are you using? Lots of layers will slow you down biiig time. You might want to look into Optimizing Photoshop (http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?event=view&id=KC.332271&extid=332271&dialogID=65944531&iterationID=1&sessionID=111386fd22ad5d182e41&stateID=1+0+65952662&mode=simple) (thanks Azrael!). The link is for CS2, but I'm sure if you poke around (either there or elsewhere on the web) you'll find instructions for other versions (if you need it).

My computer is a Dell from 2001 with 256 megs of RAM (plus an extra 256 in my video card, although I'm unsure if Photoshop accesses that...) and a 1.6 Ghz processor running Photoshop CS.

As I stated, I only run into problems when I do lots of blending work. Of course, I tend to use the pencil and fill bucket tools, so clearly I'm making it easier for myself there. But my point is, if I can run Photoshop on my machine, you shouldn't have too many problems, so either you need to optimize your Photoshop settings or there's something wrong with your computer (though from what you're saying, it sounds like Photoshop needs the tweaking).

Good luck with getting things running smoothly!

[masque]

Corot, always tailor your file size specs to your output method. if you're doing offset printing, then 300dpi is a fairly standard spec, but check with your printer, he may be able to a great job with less (like 225dpi). if you're just desktop inkjet printing, 150-200dpi should do fine, anything higher is probably more detail than the printer can reproduce effectively. i often did 150dpi poster-sized (approx 16" x 21") printouts on an Epson 3000 as lobby art for clients, made from much higher-rez repro files produced for offset, and they looked absolutely great on the glossy stock. many of my vendors doing inkjet output at very large sizes only asked for 100dpi.

as far as using the smudge tool goes, it's one of those that can be slow regardless of memory -- it just takes a boatload of computation cycles, 'specially when working with a large fuzzy or complex brush over lots of layers (probably the worst-case situation).

one solution is to make a layer in another file that non-destructively merges the layers you're working on (using Copy Merged will do that), work on that, then bring it back into your "master" file as another layer, maskable as needed. not always a perfect solution but one i use now & then when things start bogging down.

[Corot]

ah! thats good advice ! I also heard that 150 dpi would do. Not all of the printer really need that 300dpi. My work isnt a masterpiece or anything. I'm just starting out so I should start working down a bit from the DPI.

Yea, smudging is difficult. Ill just have to try it with lower resolution and just try to maintain my strokes.

Thanks alot again guys! I almost went for 72 dpi because most of the tutorial I seen are in that resolution ( probably because its for demostration on how to paint)

[Bill_Rizer]

Hmm Im glad I found this thread, print size has bugged me for awhile now.

So I have more questions;

When printing for comics what size should I be working in PS with?

This might sound dumb but when you guys say 8x11 etc you mean in inches right?

So let me get this right if I was printing for an A3 size poster would that mean working in PS at 33"x23" at 300 dpi?

I mean 33"x23" is what A3 size is, I mean do you have to go bigger? smaller?

what If I scanned in the work from an A4 size sketch, would it matter?

I mean without doing any art the file size starts at around 200meg is that ok?

sure less than a gig though.

Sorry if these sound like dumb questions.

[Anid Maro]

I don't remember the specific dimensions worked with in comics, but generally speaking you work at 300 dpi with larger dimensions than you would print. For example, for an 8x11 comic page you might work at 11x14 (at 300 dpi).

I'm pretty sure you can find the specifics at PencilJack (http://www.penciljack.com), a web-forum dedicated to comic books.

For the A3 poster (33x23), well I'm not quite sure how much larger, so use your best guess-timate for that. I don't think there's a mathematical formula for these things, everybody just does what everybody else does. :)

[Bill_Rizer]

hey man thanks for the reply, it was helpful, thanks.