What image Res and PPI do you use?

[dicky_mac]

1. Image resolution and ppi seems to have a direct affect on the speed of Painter therefore I would like to know what image resolution and ppi Jinney and you other fine artists prefer to work with?

2. If the image is too low in ppi I find it difficult to get good smoothing or fine detail, If on the other hand the ppi is too high then Painter slows. Resolution also seems to be a factor! Is there an optimum?

3. I want to produce 30"+ pictures, so what image dimensions should I be working on in Painter to achieve this?

Many Thanks
Richard

[syd]

In my experience when printing the higher resolution is best. 180 dpi up to 300 is where I usually work in. I usually do not have problems working in those ranges with Painter if the picture is 9x12 or 12x12 but if I increase I find Painter slows down to a point of total frustration. I have 2 gigs of memory and it still moves like maple syrup.

Jeremy Sutton uses 180 dpi and says his prints turn out just fine. For a 30 inch picture, you might try it at that dpi.

[dicky_mac]

Hi Syd and thanks for you advice!

I have just finished Sutton's DVD and it's true, he does mention 150.

I'll give it a go and let you know..... O a poet

All the best
Richard

[syd]

I hope it goes well for you. Let me know.

[Barry T]

Really like to know how you make out with this. I have the same want - 30" x 40" prints with at least 300dpi. Better 600 or even more.

I have a new dual core MacBook pro and just added the 3rd gig of ram thinking to could help. Really didn't do all that much. Too slow to be useful.

I'm experimenting with various combinations of creating at 72 dpi 30x40, 300 dpi 16x20, then changing the image size to 300dpi 30x40 just before printing.

My Epson 9800 really doesn't like to print at anything less than 1200 dpi according to an Epson techy I know.

Photoshop seems to be able to work not too badly with this size of file and most print houses that print large canvas use at least 300 dpi. Maybe there is some combo of using Painter X at a lower res for creating the art, then finishing to off with Photoshop??? I really like the program so I hope there is a way of doing this.

[kdparnell]

I have had items printed on canvas enlarged to 16x20x150, with no ill effects. Mr. Sutton does indeed use 150 PPI at the size he intends to print it. This was also mentioned in his "Painter Creativity" book.

kdparnell

[syd]

I am painting a landscape and I have it at 180ppi, now if I bring in layers which are at 300ppi when the picture is completed and I drop the layers onto the canvas, will the layers be of the same ppi as the canvas or will they be at 300ppi?