DPI question

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antispatula

antispatula

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I want to send in my album artwork soon. I don't know much about graphic design, and just figured out cd replication co's want the cd art files in 300 dpi. Mine are in 72 dpi. I know that this isn't nearly as good, but will companies accept this?

If 72 dpi is just too low a quality, I don't know what I'm going to do. The photos in the art were taken at 72 dpi.

how do I save at 300 dpi in photoshop anyways (new to the program)
 
They'll accept whatever you send usually.

But it will look cheap and pixelated.

You can save a 72 dpi as 300 dpi using image properties but it won't look any better.

Lock the document size too, image size and dpi are linked. If all your art is 72 dpi when sized to 5" by 5", personally i'd start again and keep all the resolutions as high as possible as long as possible.

300 dpi is an absolute minimum when we go to print. DO NOT trust your monitor, even a test print on your home printer will give a more realistic impression of how the art looks.
 
Ps. Check the size of the photo.

If they are 72 dpi but massive you'll be fine.
 
what if I print out my photos into good quality photos, then scan them at 300 dpi?
 
antispatula said:
what if I print out my photos into good quality photos, then scan them at 300 dpi?
Click to expand...
You would only lose more resolution when scanning. If you can print out your picture into a good quality photo so can the cd replication company. Matthew said it all.
 
ok

how do I save a file as 300 dpi? I've got photoshop 5.0

And how do I know if my original photo is 300 or more dpi? When I check it under properties in my computer it says 72, yet It's like a 3.1 megapixel and I chose the largest resolution to shoot them, 2048 x 1536
Do those values sound like it's over 300 dpi?
 
I just called Nikon and they said that it doesn't matter which camera you use, but what you set it to inside the software. I asked him "so you can't shoot pictures at 300 dpi?" And he said that that was correct.

woah am I confused.
 
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ok so I think I just figured something out.

The original image was shot at 72 dpi, BUT

the original image, at 100% is over 30 inches long and over 23 inches tall. I scalled it down to 5x5, then shot the dpi from 72 up to 300, then zoomed out on the picture till it was back at about 5x5.

And it looked great.

Am I missing something here, isn't it supposed to look terrible? Or is it because my image was so huge, it compensated? Because it is now at 300 dpi, and when I Zoom it out to 5x5 it looks great.

Thanks for the help.
 
Yeah basically it will compensate. The pixels in the picture themselves get smaller, so its going to appear smoother/less pixelated because the corners of each pixel aren't as defined to the eye...because they're smaller.

Its the same principle as if you were to get the original picture, and stand far enough back so it appears in your peripheral vision as 5X5. You cant see details like the corners on the pixels because you are too far away.
 
yes I think you're right. This picture has the correct dimentions and and is 300 dpi:

cmonjp.jpg


does that picture look good enough to be in an album cover? I think so. I'm happy with the result.
 
oh boy... dpi isn't your concern... megapixel is... for professional print work generally 6MP+ basically an image like 2000x3000 etc.. just multiply the length by width and if it's close to 6 million (9 preferably) you're probably good enough...

for CD sized things 3MP would even work...

DPI is print density... if you try to measure out a digital image in inches you're just wasting your time what if they happen to print at 600DPI? ... send them the best you can get and they'll deal with scaleing and cropping and bleed
 
Yeah, you need to get your head around the relationship between size and dpi.

Low dpi, massive image = high dpi, small image.

72 dpi photos are fine if they are large photos, as you shrink the image to CD cover size the dots get squeezed together.

Go to image properties and tell us the DPI and the Image size (in pixels OR mm). The two thinks are completely linked and one means nothing without the other. Then i can give you some exact advice.


A real life example.

We recieved some art which was 300 dpi but sized for a CD cover.... (i felt like throttling the artist)... it was meant for 12" vinyl.

We had to make the desicion to not blow up the art to 12" as this would lower the dpi.

Instead we increased the image size (decreasing the dpi) to a level where we were happy with the size/quality payoff and then use a border. Not ideal but the only solution when deadlines are looming.
 
the image is at 300 dpi, 343x343

so whats wrong with submiting this as album art? It looks fine to me.
 
Yeah it looks great to me too. I don't know why these guy's are still blabbering on about tech stuff. you've got the Pic Nice and crisp looking at the right size. and it looks good (well you don't but the pic does :p )I say prin't off a copy at your home PC to dubble check then send it away!
 
hey thanks, I honestly don't understand the problem anymore either.

I mean, it's at 300 dpi, it's exactly the correct size for the template down to the pixel, and it looks great.

Are you guys saying it simply doesn't look pro, or is there still something technically wrong with it? If it's the latter, please clarify, but if you're just pointing out that I didn't use a pro camera to take the picture, yeah, I know :rolleyes: That doesn't bother me, it looks great to me.
 
if the image is 343x343 pixels ... when printed at 300 dpi it will be about an inch big... at 72 dpi it will be about 4.76 inches ...

a 343x343 pixel image is about one tenth of a megapixel

HOWEVER because you didn't give a unit of measure for the 343x343... if it is in mm at 300dpi then the image would be 4051x4051 pixels which is 16 megapixel which is fine...

For comparison:
Professional medium format film and diital will generally be atleast 12MP and strive for 20MP for "the real deal" ...medium format film scans can go 40MP...

35mm film and consumer digital cameras are 12MP and below. ... theoretical limit of 35mm is 20MP (and typically an 8x10 inch image)
 
EDIT:

Ok I think I have a handle on all this. If I have any more questions I'll ask. I appreciate all the help guys!
 
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