Coin Door Insert Image

[SirPeale]

I'm looking to use Wal-Mart's digital photo printing services to print out some new coin reject inserts.

I've attached one of the images I'd like to use.  AFAIK, it's to scale.

Wal-Mart told me their machine outputs @ 900 DPI.  However, I'm sure that their software will try to scale the image to fit their scale.  This image is 801x1902, and I think that it'll rescale based on resolution of 640x480 (and up, 800x600, 1024x768 and up are the same scale)

How can I make sure I get an image (printed on 3x5 stock) that's going to be the correct size?  I tried doing this with just one slot, and they blew it up to 3x5 (it should be less than 1x1) and turned it green!

[helios]

Do you have photoshop? If so, try creating a 3x5 in. image @ 900 dpi, and then create the coin door insert on a 1024x768 doc. Drag the finished coin door onto the 3x5, and save.

If Wal-Mart resizes down to 1024x768, and then streches to 3x5, this should work fine. Just a suggestion...

[SirPeale]

Do you have photoshop? If so, try creating a 3x5 in. image @ ?? dpi, and the drag the coin insert image onto the 3x5. Resize the coin image to scale (on the 3x5) and then it should print out fine.

Does Wal-Mart allow you to change the dpi that it prints at, or does it have a preset one? You need to know so that you can set the dpi on the 3x5 image correctly. Hopefully that will work--just a suggestion.

No Photoshop, just an old copy of Paint Shop Pro.  Hey, it works (so far) for everything I want it to do!

The only thing I can't do is delegate size of image.  I can do it by pixel, but not by inches.

AFAIK, it's a preset DPI.

[helios]

3x5 inches in pixels @ 900dpi is 2700x4500.

Try that out and see if it works.

[SirPeale]

3x5 inches in pixels @ 900dpi is 2700x4500.

Try that out and see if it works.

I know the coversion.  But if I copy/paste the coin image into this new 2700x4500 image, it's teeny tiny in comparison.

Besides, you can print 640x480 3x5 prints at Wal-Mart with no problems.  It's when you blow them to 8x10 that they start getting grainy.

[helios]

Ahhhh--- I'm seeing where your predicament is. If the image isn't large enough for the hi-res, then it's gonna show up small. The graphic looks fairly simple, have you though about just making it vector? That would solve all your problems.

[SirPeale]

If I had a vector program, I might.  * SIGH * it sucks being poor.

[helios]

You might wanna try d/l the demo of say, Flash MX, and then you have a fully functional vector prog for 30 days. I would reccomend Illustrator, but I don't know the what kind of restrictions the demo puts on you. With a demo anyways you have long enough to learn the prog and make what you need to....

[SirPeale]

I might give it a shot, but there's still got to be a way to do this correctly.

I was thinking perhaps if I take a regular photo, resize it to 640x480, I could just cut -n- paste the images in there.  It would have the correct pallete, correct dimensions, and since I'd have to cut them out anyway, supposedly no problems.  In theory.