Which image resolution do you chose when starting a painting?

[andrea.bianco]

Here it goes the question : which image resolution do you chose (I mean actually : longest size of canvas, in pixels), when starting a new painting? I'm expecially talking about speed paintings. Of course there are some projects that require you to adopt a particular resolution, etc.

I've seen many beautiful artworks here, and I always wondered if they are shown in the same resolution they are painted at, or if they are resized.

A

[~KJK~]

Due to my slow computer, i usually take 2000x2000 and down from that, for bigger resolutions makes the photoshop lag :<

[Rist]

Always resized for the web. Usually 800x800 pixels or such.

I usually make a document with cm to the size I wish to print (so for art of... books I would usually start at A4). I set the resolution at 100px and then change it as the project gets going (from 100 to 200 to 300 etc). the more detail you need, the more pixels that are required. Using an A4 format makes it easier to follow the actual size of the print when printed.

Many others here are much more capable than me at answering this question.

[unimad]

but I notice after increase DPI, image become blurry! how you fix this?!

I start with 800x600px/72DPI, and slowly increase DPI (up to 300 max)

[Mirana]

If I do not have to work with a specific print size, I usually open something up that's the size of my desktop (or half that, if vertical) at 300dpi. I crop as needed once I've got a sketch going. I used to work smaller occationally, but then I always found myself needing to zoom in beyond what I accounted for to detail or blend.

but I notice after increase DPI, image become blurry! how you fix this?!

Work large to prevent blur.

Only do work at 72 dpi that you don't need to have sharp when enlarged. So, do your sketch and your large, base colors at 72, then increase the size to 300dpi/print size for lineart or color detail.

[Cthogua]

but I notice after increase DPI, image become blurry! how you fix this?!

I start with 800x600px/72DPI, and slowly increase DPI (up to 300 max)

Well you're adding new pixels, which the computer is coloring based on the average of those around it, so yeah...its gonna get blurrier, that's just what happens when you up-rez. I've seen some neat algorithms that apparently are somewhat content sensitive, in that they seek out areas of relative plainness to add the pixels to in strips that can follow contours based on contrast and pattern recognition...but those aren't part of any commercially available software package yet though. You might try the Unsharp Mask filter after up-rezing. That might tighten it back up some.

As for you original question, I like to work 2000X3000/3000X2000 at 72 dpi right now. I never really print anything out so I rarely worry about issues surrounding that. I'm not gonna pretend like I'm ready for the pages of Spectrum or anything .

[Dile_]

i start with 1400x900 , get the idea down with some big fast strokes.. when I have the idea 'done' and values laid out.. I increase to 3000 + and go from there..

I never knew dpi mattered ? always used 72 .. haha maybe I should start using 300 then :]

[Jabo]

DPI settings will add or subtract pixels to/from the image if resampling is enabled (going from 100dpi to 200dpi will scale a 1200px wide image to a 2400px wide image).
If resampling is disabled, it will change the resolution used for printing, thus increasing/decreasing image quality (the 1200px wide image will still be 1200px, but will be printed smaller/bigger).

If you're working without printing in mind, you don't have to care for dpi settings [sic].

On-Topic: Usually I start with something like 1600x1000 (landscapes) or 1000x1600 (portrait) and double the size later when refining. In the first stages of a painting, speed in the application is more important than image quality.

[Jabo]

I've seen some neat algorithms that apparently are somewhat content sensitive, in that they seek out areas of relative plainness to add the pixels to in strips that can follow contours based on contrast and pattern recognition...but those aren't part of any commercially available software package yet though.

You mean this? Content Aware Scaling? It will come with PS CS4 in a couple of months, Adobe aquired it when it first became publicly shown. This isn't resizing though as the information in the picture will be altered

[unimad]

very nice information here, thanks guys...

[J Wilson]

I've seen many beautiful artworks here, and I always wondered if they are shown in the same resolution they are painted at, or if they are resized.

A

Assume 99 out of 100 images here are resized for the internet.

Print resolution will typically be 300 dpi and whatever physical size you need. If I'm working on something small like cards, I work several times larger than it will actually print. If I'm working on something bigger I might just work at twice the size it will print. As long as the image isn't huge I like to work at least twice as big as I need, so I have extra pixels to play with. If I'm just doing studys or playing around I'll stay at 72 dpi and work at any size that feels right for what I want to do. There isn't any magic number for me.

[Grief]

mac computers display internet images at 72dpi, whereas pc's use a default of 96dpi.

as j wilson said: 300dpi is a good standard for artists because it's typically the resolution that printers will be set to print at by default.

so moral of the story: work at 300 dpi (or prefered resolution), save an additional copy at a lower resolution for web display to save bandwidth and minimize filesize. start big then go small. do not start small then increase size.

[ArtZealot]

i start with 1400x900 , get the idea down with some big fast strokes.. when I have the idea 'done' and values laid out.. I increase to 3000 + and go from there..

I never knew dpi mattered ? always used 72 .. haha maybe I should start using 300 then :]

I usually start, and work up in resolution the same way. Also, DPI doesn't matter if you are controlling your canvas via pixels. If you had a 500x500 pixel canvas, no matter what the DPI is, it's going to be 500x500 pixels.

[Arshes Nei]

If for web and print I work about 4x the size the final will be.

[skullsquid]

I work with 300 dpi as a standard for no particular good reason, but may I clarify that printers do not print at 300 dpi, 150 is usually the case, especially home printers.

[Grief]

I work with 300 dpi as a standard for no particular good reason, but may I clarify that printers do not print at 300 dpi, 150 is usually the case, especially home printers.

even more clarification is in order then as i am guilty of winging out the term "printing" very liberally without specifying any types of printer.

Up to a point, printers with higher DPI produce clearer and more detailed output. A printer does not necessarily have a single DPI measurement; it is dependent on print mode, which is usually influenced by driver settings. The range of DPI supported by a printer is most dependent on the print head technology it uses. A dot matrix printer, for example, applies ink via tiny rods striking an ink ribbon, and has a relatively low resolution, typically in the range of 60 to 90 DPI. An inkjet printer sprays ink through tiny nozzles, and is typically capable of 300-600 DPI.[1] A laser printer applies toner through a controlled electrostatic charge, and may be in the range of 600 to 1800 DPI.

every epson and hp printer ive used in the last 5~ years has been 300+dpi, (but then again i use fairly beefy machines courtesy of the art department). thanks for pointing out that home machines will operate lower.

this next part is more on-topic dealing with a very basic statement on how you should accomodate your settings to print for an optimal output.

The DPI measurement of a printer often needs to be considerably higher than the pixels per inch (PPI) measurement of a video display in order to produce similar-quality output. This is due to the limited range of colours for each dot typically available on a printer

[h2rra]

The only thing that matters is pixels. The dpi option just changes the amount of pixels (when creating new image and using cm or inches as measurements or resizing an image and checking the resampling option). 1200/800 pixel image at 72 dpi isn't more detailed than 1200/800 pixel at 300dpi. Had to repeat what ArtZealot said because many people get this wrong.

I usually start at 1200/800 and resize up to 3600/2400.

[Justice Von Brandt]

I start off at 300 res

[Grief]

The only thing that matters is pixels. The dpi option just changes the amount of pixels (when creating new image and using cm or inches as measurements or resizing an image and checking the resampling option). 1200/800 pixel image at 72 dpi isn't more detailed than 1200/800 pixel at 300dpi. Had to repeat what ArtZealot said because many people get this wrong.

yeah the common misconception though is that pixel dimensions is the same as document dimensions.

here's a quick rundown for those who may need a visual.
i can retain the same pixel dimensions and adjust the amout of resolution, while only having the document size change.


conversely i can retain the dpi and adjust the document size to whatever specifications i need which will accordingly change the pixel dimensions.

[Rist]

Basically if you want your image to be able to print sometime in the future, even if it was not at present, then you really do NEED to think about DPI. For instance, what about portfolio?

So if you want your image to be printed at A3 or equivalent, at PRESENT or FUTURE (who knows what might come up?), then starting the sketch at 100DPI, and then 200DPI at value/colour stage, and then finally at 300DPI for smaller details and hard edges.

The reason for the above is to keep your computer running smoothly (or workable), but being able to have a high resolution image IN CASE you NEED to print the document out.

Obviously this only counts for those beautiful images that you have created, that took 10+ hours to make; or those people that need to record their progress for University/college/school.

Generally if you plan to NEVER print, even if you find that someone wants to buy it, or a family member wants a copy, you can ignore DPI and work at 3k, 4k, ~6k. I think a lot of pros work at 6k, but that is also because they have beefy machines and their work could be designed for print.

Plus you can always trim the page once printed if the image was high resolution in the first place.

[tomwaits4noman]

300 dpi and 1000 x 1000

As I am building my web site at the moment and plan and displaying images at 500 x 500 I tend to work on twice the size of what I intend the final image to be,


be warned at 300 dpi files can reach 50mb very quickly so it might be a good idea to save an unflattened version of a file you working on (say a background) then flatten or use the apply image option and then import the layer into a new file and work onto of that to keep file sizes down.

Standard web size is 72 dpi

low resolution print is 180 dpi

high quality print 300 dpi

[Black Spot]

Er... I work with vectors and only have to choose when I export.