Won A Design Contest Need Help Getting My Design Ready For Printing

[Lukelbs]

I won a shirt design contest and they suggested I send in a vector image but I don't have a copy of Illustrator and I designed it in Photoshop.

So they said bitmap images were fine but they have to be 300 DPI and be at least the same size it's going to be on the shirt. My problem is getting my design at 300 DPI so I looked up online how to adjust this and go to "Image Size" change the "Pixels/Inch" to 300 and saved it as a JPG but when I right click on my image and look at the properties my image is still sitting at 96 DPI under horizontal and vertical resolution. I tried to uncheck "Scale Image" and it's still not working.

Basically I'm very new at getting my designs ready for print and could use some advice. Thanks!

 

[MrToM]

Its a simple case of some basic maths....just easy multiplication.

'Resolution' can be used in two ways:

1. To re-sample the image.
2. To assign a 'resolution' for printing.

The first may or may not be needed, depending on the original document size....IN PIXELS.
The second doesn't affect the image whatsoever and is just 'metadata' information for the printer to read.

You'll need to look at your ORIGINAL document dimensions IN PIXELS to determine if 300ppi is enough...

Size of PRINT = width and height in PIXELS / ppi

So for example:
Doc size = 3000px x 1500px (W x H)

3000 / 300 = 10" (Wide)
1500 / 300 = 5" (Height)

Printing this document at 300ppi will produce a print 10" wide by 5" high. (This would probably be too small for a T-Shirt.)

If your PRINT size is around 10" x 5" then your document size is enough....but if you need a bigger or smaller PRINT size then you'll have to re-sample it.

Re-sampling ADDS or REMOVES pixels to or from the document.
ADDING pixels is to be avoided at all costs but sometimes it cannot be helped.
REMOVING pixels is not as bad, although either method will reduce what is perceived as 'quality' of the image.

If the document does not contain enough pixels then you'll have to re-sample the document so it does.....you can use the 'resolution' setting in the 'Image Size' dialog to calculate the amount of pixels you need for you.....to do this you check the 'Resample' checkbox.

Entering the PPI AND PRINT size will change the document dimensions for you and display them at the top of that dialog....note that they will be 'greyed out' indicating that you cannot edit them directly and that they are calculated from the other two values....PRINT size and PPI.

If you just want assign a 'resolution' to a document for printing then un-check the 'Resample' checkbox.
You can now enter ANY PPI value without changing the document size.

The PRINT size at whatever PPI you enter will be displayed in the dialog.

Again, the PRINT size is dependant on the amount of PIXELS in the image and the PPI.....change one of them and the PRINT size will change accordingly.

DPI is a printer setting and not found in PS (Although Adobe do confusingly use the term DPI.)

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[Lukelbs]

Its a simple case of some basic maths....just easy multiplication. 'Resolution' can be used in two ways: 1. To re-sample the image. 2. To assign a 'resolution' for printing. The first may or may not be needed, depending on the original document size....IN PIXELS. The second doesn't affect the image whatsoever and is just 'metadata' information for the printer to read. You'll need to look at your ORIGINAL document dimensions IN PIXELS to determine if 300ppi is enough... Size of PRINT = width and height in PIXELS / ppi So for example: Doc size = 3000px x 1500px (W x H) 3000 / 300 = 10" (Wide) 1500 / 300 = 5" (Height) Printing this document at 300ppi will produce a print 10" wide by 5" high. (This would probably be too small for a T-Shirt.) If your PRINT size is around 10" x 5" then your document size is enough....but if you need a bigger or smaller PRINT size then you'll have to re-sample it. Re-sampling ADDS or REMOVES pixels to or from the document. ADDING pixels is to be avoided at all costs but sometimes it cannot be helped. REMOVING pixels is not as bad, although either method will reduce what is perceived as 'quality' of the image. If the document does not contain enough pixels then you'll have to re-sample the document so it does.....you can use the 'resolution' setting in the 'Image Size' dialog to calculate the amount of pixels you need for you.....to do this you check the 'Resample' checkbox. Entering the PPI AND PRINT size will change the document dimensions for you and display them at the top of that dialog....note that they will be 'greyed out' indicating that you cannot edit them directly and that they are calculated from the other two values....PRINT size and PPI. If you just want assign a 'resolution' to a document for printing then un-check the 'Resample' checkbox. You can now enter ANY PPI value without changing the document size. The PRINT size at whatever PPI you enter will be displayed in the dialog. Again, the PRINT size is dependant on the amount of PIXELS in the image and the PPI.....change one of them and the PRINT size will change accordingly. DPI is a printer setting and not found in PS (Although Adobe do confusingly use the term DPI.) Regards. MrToM.

Thanks for the reply that was a great post Mr.Tom. I'm still having issues adjusting the DPI/PPI though whenever I go to image's properties it tells me it's still at 96 DPI/PPI even though I adjusted the resolution to 300. I was able to get one of my files at 300 but I can't seem to get the same results with the others for some reason. Maybe you covered this in your post and it went over my head.

 

[MrToM]

Post a screenshot of the 'Image Size' dialog window with the values you are using.

Also state the document dimensions and displayed resolution before any changes.

How are you finding the 'resolution' of the image after using the 'Image Size' dialog....in PS?

Without knowing what you are doing, where and with what its impossible to say what is happening.....you could be entering anything.

Try to give as much info as possible and screenshots are invaluable for troubleshooting.

Regards.
MrToM.