Photoshop to Printer

TheDriver

Hey all,
Was making up a poster in Photoshop for mass printing but the proof comes out all pixely, even the writing. I am using 5M camera images, resized and sharpened, text in Photoshop etc. Is it my "new" settings when i open a template as when i put in A4 size, its 72dpi and if I change to 300, the template opens up at massive size altogether. I know I am missing something small, anyone have any ideas please?

matt-dublin

try editing it in illustrator.

it uses vectors rather than pixels to edit images.

either that or edit a RAW image in photoshop maybe

nikimere

This is the worng section for this type of question... however, an A4 page for print should be 210mm wide by 297mm high. 300 pixels/inch. CMYK color.
By the sound of your message above you changing it to 300 after making the poster, so your basically stretching the poster triple its size. Thats why its going blurry.
It should be set to 300DPi from the start. It will be a very big canvas. But try doing A2!

TheDriver

Thanks Niki, when i set it to 300 at the start, it is indeed a very big canvas so do I make it up that big and rezise at end?

Liam Byrne

TheDriver wrote:

Thanks Niki, when i set it to 300 at the start, it is indeed a very big canvas so do I make it up that big and rezise at end?

No - do not "resize it at the end".....that is what's causing the problem, or would result in the same problem.

Edit it at the 300dpi size, zooming in and out as required, and then save it - at the 300dpi.

What's on your screen is traditionally either 72 or 96 dpi (dots per inch) on screen (although this varies depending on physically screen size - 15", 17", etc - and the screen resolution - 1024x768, 1280x800 widescreen or whatever) so as niki said everything will look at least 3 times bigger than it will print......THIS IS NORMAL, and bear in mind that the key phrase is that "it looks 3 times bigger", but it isn't (believe me!)......best explanation is to think of it as an equivalent of having hit "zoom in" so that you can work on it in more detail, but the picture isn't physically any larger.

There should be an option of "View...Print Size" in Photoshop if you want the computer to simulate the print size, but DO NOT RESIZE IT; the printer needs the 300 dpi to create a smooth image.

TECHIE EXPLANATION/BACKGROUND:

Picture is 12x10 (inches) @ 300dpi (dots per each of those inches), which if you multiply it out is 3600x3000 dots; this is what you'll need

A computer screen is typically only capable of showing 96 of those dots in each inch, so it will require more inches in order to show you the picture (via scrolling), but on-screen the number of inches is irrelevant when you think about it - the picture hasn't changed.

Imagine that you have two screens - a 15" widescreen monitor and a 17" widescreen monitor - both @ 1280x800, a 1280x800 picture will fill the screen in both cases....but the picture in question will actually be the same size. If you do the division, the 17" screen will be 75dpi (to show the 1280 pixels) and the 15" screen will be 85dpi (again, to show the 1280 pixels).....but the picture was saved with that many pixels, and doesn't get physically changed/resized in order for the 2 different screens to display it.

The same applies to DVDs (kindof).....what size is the picture on a DVD ? Answer: it depends on the size of your TV screen, from a 7" portable DVD to a 14" portable TV to a 32" widescreen, but the same DVD does both, with the screen displaying it as best it can.

* Overview of HD-TV and HD-DVD left out, as it would only confuse things unnecessarily, but....

Technically, if you could play a HD-DVD directly onto a standard screen, you would experience the same problem that you have now - it would look like the picture was too big, but that's because was not designed to be output to a standard screen....likewise, because you're printing, you are not designing to match the screen, but to match the printer - the eventual destination of the poster.

heggie

also, if your doing it in photoshop and not keeping text vectors, text should be 1200 dpi as an image (but u really should keep it vector!)

TheDriver

Thanks Lads, will give it all a try. You've been a help and hopefully that should solve my problem. I was doing it at A4 size but 72dpi so naturally messing it all up!

TheDriver

Well folks, did as ye said and brought it to printer and all great, so may I give ye all my biggest thank you!

nikimere

glad it worked out