Megan — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 17:46:23 +0000

Hi, I'm sorry but I've refrained from answering this question since I haven't done a huge amount of "real" print work before (one project, very large scale). I was hoping that someone who had more experience in this area would be able to answer the question.

Since you will be dealing with a printing company (which is what "real" print job would naturally mean!), the best thing to do would be to phone them up and ask about the details. That includes image size, dpi and file format - in my (limited) experience, printers tend to prefer some file formats over others (tiff is good). There may also be other things to be aware of like colour information etc. CMYK vs. RGB colour could be an issue and I'm really sorry but I don't know much about that either. CMYK is generally used for print work in order to get colours right.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I feel really bad about it, really

Mark Hensler — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 17:17:08 +0000

phone card? Then I'm guessing your doing the printing elsewhere. Call them and ask the demensions of the cards, and the DPI.

necrotic — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 13:20:35 +0000

Then you should just be able to set the DPI when you create a new image and go.

zollet — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 08:20:12 +0000

I'm creating designs for pre-paid phonecards, so it's not paper size or anything like that.

Mark Hensler — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 07:48:27 +0000

In photoshop, you'd create a new image and select the demensions of the paper your going to print on. (Actually, you'd probably set it to the printable area on the selected page size.) Then select the DPI.

Where are you getting your material from? (scanner, digital media)

If your getting your material from a digital media, you may have to do a little fudging with the image. I believe it's called re-sampling an image.

I've not done much printed work either, so I can't be much more help.

zollet — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 06:56:18 +0000

You've misunderstood me. I meant, is there anything I need to do (i.e. have pictures at least X*Y in size or change anything in Photoshop, etc)?

Mark Hensler — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 03:19:19 +0000

I don't consider 360 dpi isn't really that special. You can get paper for 720 dpi, and that should work for better quality papers and such.

If they want to print high quality pictures, you need to get photo paper. My dad just ordered some...
hp new and improved premium plus photo paper, glossy - 8.5x11 - 20 sheets - $17.99
hp everyday photo paper, matte - 8.5x11 - 100 sheets - $14.99

I don't think that it's work the price difference between glossy and matte, but my dad ordered it anyway. The matte looks just as good, IMO.