Photoshop Image Size for Printing

[panickedrobert]

Hello guys,

 

I have to do a 80x167 (centimeters) image that will be printed and apllied on a shop window. The thing is, I inserted the centimeters in Photoshop and it automatically converted to pixels (4734 x 2268). What I would like you guys to help me with is: 1) Is this resolution enough so it won't look pixelated? 2) I tried to figure it out as DPI how much is it, and I think it's 72 DPI, is this ok for a picture that size to be printed in this resolution?

 

Thanks alot guys, I don't have experience with this, I have to send the project to a company so they will print it. Thanks again.

[givingtnt]

1 minute ago, VATO said:

Hello guys,

 

I have to do a 80x167 (centimeters) image that will be printed and apllied on a shop window. The thing is, I inserted the centimeters in Photoshop and it automatically converted to pixels (4734 x 2268). What I would like you guys to help me with is: 1) Is this resolution enough so it won't look pixelated? 2) I tried to figure it out as DPI how much is it, and I think it's 72 DPI, is this ok for a picture that size to be printed in this resolution?

 

Thanks alot guys, I don't have experience with this, I have to send the project to a company so they will print it. Thanks again.

for printing, DPI = 72

put in your dimentions and make sure they're in cm (you can pick while creating a new file)
also
Make sure the colors are set to CMYK

otherwise you'll have unprintable colors and it will look weird.

[panickedrobert]

4 minutes ago, givingtnt said:

for printing, DPI = 72

put in your dimentions and make sure they're in cm (you can pick while creating a new file)
also
Make sure the colors are set to CMYK

otherwise you'll have unprintable colors and it will look weird.

I did what you jut said. The ideea si that Photoshop when you create a new project you can insert in centimeters the parameters, but after you press ok and the worksheet is created, it automatically convert it to pixels. I want to know if those pixels are enough for my dimensions in centimeters (80 cm x 167 cm). Thanks.

[givingtnt]

Just now, VATO said:

I did what you jut said. The ideea si that Photoshop when you create a new project you can insert in centimeters the parameters, but after you press ok and the worksheet is created, it automatically convert it to pixels. I want to know if those pixels are enough for my dimensions in centimeters (80 cm x 167 cm). Thanks.

yes. its normal 
press R to get the ruler out. should be in CM

[minibois]

10 minutes ago, givingtnt said:

for printing, DPI = 72

put in your dimentions and make sure they're in cm (you can pick while creating a new file)
also
Make sure the colors are set to CMYK

otherwise you'll have unprintable colors and it will look weird.

Now I am not a graphical design expert, but I believe 72DPI is for digital pieces and 300DPI is for printed pieces.

For optimal results I personally work at double the DPI (or in vector art if possible, for infinite rescaling) so it can be scaled down so you wont see little tiny mistakes made previously.

 

And to OP, yeah Photoshop converts whatever unit of measurement you give it to pixels, because it's a raster (pixel) based program and calculates its own stuff in pixels.

[panickedrobert]

So 72 DPI isn't gonna do the job... I gotta remake them to 300 dpi.

[givingtnt]

38 minutes ago, Minibois said:

Now I am not a graphical design expert, but I believe 72DPI is for digital pieces and 300DPI is for printed pieces.

For optimal results I personally work at double the DPI (or in vector art if possible, for infinite rescaling) so it can be scaled down so you wont see little tiny mistakes made previously.

 

And to OP, yeah Photoshop converts whatever unit of measurement you give it to pixels, because it's a raster (pixel) based program and calculates its own stuff in pixels.

Ooh shit you're right.

It is 300dpi

I got confused for a minute.

 

[cc143]

It is unrealistic to expect to have an image of that resolution to get 300dpi that would mean a 19800x9600 resolution in pixels.

 

The 300dpi thing is actually dependent upon viewing distance. For instance a billboard which won't be looked at that close is usually only 50dpi.

 

Now assuming this is a composite digital design, it might be possible, but it isn't for a camera, which would need to be a 392mp camera. (or actually given the aspect ratio, 3-4 images or so at 138mp each. without allowance for cropping to overcome perspective issues usually done when combining images.)

 

I would say that for a storefront, as long as you have something like 100-150dpi, it should be more than enough. That being said, this is only theoretical, I haven't ever done prints of this size so I have no actual experience and it also depends a lot on the sharpness of the image itself (which depends more on optics) and the quality of the print.

 

Usually, if I look at doing a 90x60 print, I am looking at something like 145dpi if its a single image and not a composite. That is from a 22.3mp 5dmk3 with generally an acceptably or average sharp lens. Generally, I always aim at 200dpi if the print is going to be too large, and stitch images together if I know in advance.

[xQubeZx]

I would talk to the printing service and ask for their reccomendation on what dpi to use. If its not possible I’d probably send them the highest quality file you’ve got. Really its very hard to say whats good if you haven’t made prints that size before. Personally I’ve never made prints larger than 50x40 cm ish and when I did that I let the printing service handle the dpi settings. 

[vanished]

Normally a print would be at least 300 dpi if not 600, but that's for things you hold in your hand.  A shop window is going to be viewed from farther away, and due to its size, it's expected and understood that it'll be a bit soft if you get up really close.  You'd be amazed how little resolution billboards have for this reason.  I'm sure in this case 150 dpi would absolutely be plenty.  Even 72 would be passable imo.  With that in mind, you'd want 5 - 10k wide by about half that tall.  Nothing too insane by any means.  What is your content?  If it's created digitally from the start, you could easily generate the image at 30k wide or more if you have enough RAM just to make sure it's fine (and even that wouldn't need a lot - the image would be a couple GB at most).  If you are going to be using photos though, that's where how good is good enough will come into play.  Don't want to waste time and money trying to get resolution you won't need.  If you do find yourself falling short though, if possible, you can try zooming in and taking many shots, then stitching together a "panorama" to increase resolution.

17 hours ago, VATO said:

I did what you jut said. The ideea si that Photoshop when you create a new project you can insert in centimeters the parameters, but after you press ok and the worksheet is created, it automatically convert it to pixels. I want to know if those pixels are enough for my dimensions in centimeters (80 cm x 167 cm). Thanks.

During that stage, you can manually set the DPI, or better yet, just change units and enter pixels manually.  I don't know why it defaults to cm but yeah, you can change it