how to set the canvas size for CP? and X dpi == X pixels?

[theob42]

hey everyone,

I got my control panel built but now need to create a nice graphic. I have Adobe Photoshop CS3, but ive never used it before. basically. what i need to know is how do i create a canvas the size of my control panel and how do i know that when its printed it will be to scale?
ive search and read lots of info in the forums on this whole DPI thing. but im still not getting it... sorry if it has been asked before.

ok  let me just make my questions simple and to the point.

1. from what ive read 300 dpi is good for control panel artwork. so if i create a canvas that is 300 dpi or even 600 dpi does this affect the ACTUAL size of the canvas when printing? basically, if i create a canvas thats say 4ft my 2ft when i print it out is that the actual size that it will print for me?.

2. if the canvas is 300 dpi and i put something in thats more than 300 dpi will it look better WHEN PRINTED?

3. how does the dpi translate into pixels. meaning if i want to put a jpeg image what dimensions would be considered at least 300dpi?? i.e. 2000x1400

4. what would be some good settings for the canvas size? specifically the resolution and the color mode?(16bit is = 636mb! or 32bit = 1.24 gb)

any pointers and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
thanks everyone.

[BORIStheBLADE]

when you open photoshop go file-> new. a screen pops up there are sections for width and length that have tabs next to them. Go to the tab and set them to inches then plug in your dimensions. If its printed at 100% it should be the exact dimensions you plugged in. Everyone says to go with 300 dpi atleast, I'm sure if you go higher it can onoly be better.

[amiga500]

Remeber to export your file as a CMYK .tiff,
300dpi is enough.

[patrickl]

Remeber to export your file as a CMYK .tiff,
300dpi is enough.

No, don't use CMYK. Printers these days can print better than CMYK.

[theob42]

k thanks guys.

actually I have a more general question as well. should i be using photoshop for my control panel? like to design everything. or should i be using Illustrator?

[waveryder]

Depends on the kind of artwork your doing. If its all lines and fills go for illustrator. If your going to use a lot of other elements, character art, effects etc. id use photoshop. Set your canvas to be the exact dimensions of your panel at 300dpi RGB/8. Use rgb/8 if going to mamemarquees (better output!) Careful though as an image this size will chew through your comps memory!! For the love of god dont save it out as a *jpg. although the image size will be big, compressing your artwork as jpg whilst your working on it will screw it up. Stick to using a PSD till its finished. My £0.02

[theob42]

ok great thanks, thats exactly what i wanted to know.
yeah i want to use some character images and stuff. so actually since your around i have one more quick question.

how good does the resolution have to be on the character images so it would be at least 300dpi?? (they will probably be raster jpeg images) because in actual size i want the characters to be about 1ft big on the panel. basically i want one character per player on the panel and mine is a big 4 player panel..

thanks again!

[patrickl]

Some character art is vectorized already so you could use that in Illustrator as well. For instance the stuff on localarcarde is mostly vector.

BTW you can use vector drawing in Photoshop too.

[waveryder]

how good does the resolution have to be on the character images so it would be at least 300dpi?? (they will probably be raster jpeg images)

Most characters you find on the net are 72dpi raster images you enlarge them and the will look bad!!! You will at least need to smooth them out to make them look ok on your printout.

because in actual size i want the characters to be about 1ft big on the panel. basically i want one character per player on the panel and mine is a big 4 player panel.

Thats about one sheet of A4 per character so your looking for raster characters that are approx 2480x3508 pixels to maintain 300dpi quality. Thats no easy feet. See if you can scan your characters or find vectored characters

Hope that helps

[theob42]

well im ive checked out the vector database but nothing really catches my eye.
im really looking to go for a more superhero themed cab with some marvel characters. but its relaly hard to find such high res images that i can use.

if anybody knows where i can get some nice character poses for thses characters that would be great!!
im looking for. Link, Wolverine, Spiderman, Megaman (classic or megaman X, not that garbage LAN or NT or whatever its called version lol)

oh and a nice silver surfer image for the center, jsut above my blue translucent trackball
thanks again

[patrickl]

Spiderman
Wolverine
Megaman X

[Encryptor]

WTF is up with local arcade lately? One time I go there and I'm able to download fine and the next time it tells me Hotlinking is not allowed. It does it from a posted link or if I go right from www.localarcade.com and find the same thing.

Encryptor

[theob42]

yeah the same thing happened to me. not sure why it happens but try opening a new web broswer and going to the main site., then search for what your looking for.

thats how i got it to work