Building a custom joystick, need some help.

[bartre]

well, I'm building a joystick out of some spare parts that i've got laying around.
I've got a question though, where can i get some art that would look good when printed out?
Should it be 300 dpi if the printer can print that, or would the standard 72 be fine once printed?

[Gatsu]

300 dpi definitely.

google image search is a good starting point for artwork. But if there's something in particular you want, just give me dimensions and maybe I can make something for you.

[bartre]

well, I'm really starting to hate this whole 300 dpi thing.
it seems to always make the pictures that i find extremely blurry.
the panel for this is only going to be about 9" X 12", so i don't think i need something huge, but all the same, how do i know if the picture's going to be good enough?
I've got some ideas, but this whole 300 dpi thing seems to be screwing me up.

[Gatsu]

well. with that size you could probably get away with 150 dpi....but I wouldn't go any less than that for printing.

[bartre]

hmm...
well, i don't really want anthing but the best for this, that's just kinda how i do things, i do exactly what i want if  i'm doing it on my own, or i don't do it at all.
can you give me a good minimum size to go on?

[Gatsu]

well if its only 9x12 like you said...150 dpi would be minimum I'd think. 300dpi is usually best, but not always necessary.

[massive88]

well if its only 9x12 like you said...150 dpi would be minimum I'd think. 300dpi is usually best, but not always necessary.

I did two sticks at that size, one at 200dpi printed at work on a $300 color printer, and the other at 300dpi printed at Kinko's, I couldn't tell the difference.

The thing to remember, is you are really talking about how high a resolution you are putting on it.  If your pictures are blurry at 300dpi, its because you are taking a low rez picture and scaling it up, which is the same issue as printing it at 72dpi.

You have to find high resolution artwork, if you are dealing with low rez pics, you might as well print at 72dpi,' cause there isnt going to be a difference.