The resolution depends on the effect you're going for.
"Fine Art" printing that's going to get pixel-peeped (you expect the viewer to get right up close to the piece and look at it critically) should be at 300dpi. For something at normal art-show viewing distance, 150 will do. For things that aren't going to be looked at up close or are going to be blown up to mega poster size, you can get away with 72 without too much worry.
While higher is fine, going above 720 (the max detail that will still permit the proper color screening) doesn't get you anything more. Lower than 72 is possible as well but not recommended, as even the best of upscaling can only do so much.
If you use photoshop, the best way you can check the dpi is by using the 'resize image' dialog. Turn off the "resample image" checkbox so it's only changing the measurements and not actually resizing the picture's pixels. Type in the size you want (in height and/or width boxes) and the DPI will be computed for you in the DPI box. Use the 300/150/72 guidelines above, as needed.
If you're starting with a blank canvas and want to set it for a certain print size, just fill in the DPI field at the rate you want and set the size for the final print size in the new-canvas dialog. That'll set the pixel size appropriately.
Now if you want to talk color matching, that's a whole different beast entirely... :)
As long as Peggy doesn't mind the journal-spam, I'm more than glad to type out any part of the process you want to know!
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Date: 2008-06-23 05:59 pm (UTC)"Fine Art" printing that's going to get pixel-peeped (you expect the viewer to get right up close to the piece and look at it critically) should be at 300dpi. For something at normal art-show viewing distance, 150 will do. For things that aren't going to be looked at up close or are going to be blown up to mega poster size, you can get away with 72 without too much worry.
While higher is fine, going above 720 (the max detail that will still permit the proper color screening) doesn't get you anything more. Lower than 72 is possible as well but not recommended, as even the best of upscaling can only do so much.
If you use photoshop, the best way you can check the dpi is by using the 'resize image' dialog. Turn off the "resample image" checkbox so it's only changing the measurements and not actually resizing the picture's pixels. Type in the size you want (in height and/or width boxes) and the DPI will be computed for you in the DPI box. Use the 300/150/72 guidelines above, as needed.
If you're starting with a blank canvas and want to set it for a certain print size, just fill in the DPI field at the rate you want and set the size for the final print size in the new-canvas dialog. That'll set the pixel size appropriately.
Now if you want to talk color matching, that's a whole different beast entirely... :)
As long as Peggy doesn't mind the journal-spam, I'm more than glad to type out any part of the process you want to know!