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what size/pixels should i be using when creating a cd cover in PS?


J

jewhefner

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what size/pixels should i be using when creating a cd cover in PS?

when somebody asks me to send them the cd cover file for printing what do i send? jpeg?

i measured a cd cover and i got 4.75x 4.75 but when i open up a psd file that size its way too small!!

any help.

Also i have created a few at 800x 800 pixels...... is this good?, if not is their any way i can resize it to send out to print on cd?
 
If you want a photo realistic CD cover the resolution should be set to over 240 pixels, 300 pixels being the standard.

Create a new file preset set to Custom.
Set Height and Width to 4.75 and the resolution to 300.

when somebody asks me to send them the cd cover file for printing what do i send? jpeg?
Click to expand...
Ask them what they want?

For a friend with a inkjet printer JPG is fine.
For a friend with a inkjet printer and Photoshop a TIFF or PSD would probably be better.
If it's a commercial printer, they will have a specific requirement and they should tell you what they want and need.
 
excuse me, but I'd like to add my 2 penneth worth (2 cents worth, you American guys) :D

Part of my work is printing. I have spent A LONG time prepping images and files for print, and there are a few golden rules that make your output better, and make the printer happy.

1) printers HATE files in the wrong colour space, the wrong format and the wrong resolution.

2) see if you can talk to the people doing the printing, and ask them how they want the file prepared and sent to them (they love telling designers how to set stuff up, as it saves them (me) work.

3) it is an excellent idea to provide the printer with a hard copy proof. even in these days of PDF files (I hate them), sometimes unexpected things happen within the RIP software, so it's always good for the printer to have something on hand that shows him exactly what it is that you want.

4) Photoshop is probably not the best way to go about a print project like this. At least, not by itself. I would probably do all my image editing in photoshop, and then place the image into InDesign or Illustrator and create all the text and bar codes etc. in there. The text will be much sharper this way.

5) CMYK - it HAS to be CMYK. Do all your work in photoshop in RGB, but convert and save a copy as a CMYK file and use that for placing into InDesign/Illustrator.

6) Resolution - Steve up there states that photorealistic images are normally 240/300dpi. Sorry, but I disagree - Back in the day (the early 90's), "photorelaistic" was deemed to be >400dpi. This is the point at which your eyes cannot see the individual pixels in the image. I often create images that are to be printed at a high quality at 450dpi. I have also seen in the past images at 600 and 1200dpi.

6) The file you give to the printer. Once your artwork is set up, with all the bleeds, borders, gutters and printers' marks that are required, there's a 90% chance you'll be asked to provide a PDF file. Assuming that you've laid the images out in InDesign, you'll need to export as a PDF, or from Illustrator you can "save as" a PDF. My preference is to save an illustrator EPS file, and then render the PDF in acrobat professional. If you have images in the file, you'll need to be very careful of the settings - PDF's like to compress images a lot. they also tend to use the JPG compression format, which in my opinion SUCKS. I would suggest that you use the "pdf/a-1b:2005(cmyk)" settings for PDF's, but I change the compression for colour images so that it keeps them to 450dpi. This often makes for a large file, but print quality is kept.

Sorry if all that seems a bit intimidating! Talk to the printers - any print company worth using will advise you on how they want stuff set up. they may even have templates for you to use. Anybody who creates artwork for printing should certainly invest some time in learning at least some of the processes and problems that can crop up during printing. That way, you will rarely be disappointed with the output that you receive.

If there's anything specific relating to your print job, just send me a PM or an email, I'll try to help you out :cheesygrin:
 
Wow Chet thanks.
icon14.gif
 
No worries, man. (you don't think i went a bit overboard with the explanation?)

I remember the first job I ever sent to a printer came out the wrong colour. Luckily, the printer I used was very helpful, and enjoyed teaching me how to go about getting really good quality prints. Since then, part of my job has become large format digital printing, so I understand a lot of the pitfalls that people can come across when getting print jobs done, and know a few tricks for getting nice quality prints.

remember, It doesn't matter how good you are as an artist or designer, if you don't have at least some understanding of print, you'll generally be disappointed with the outcome.

the main thing to remember is, if you don't know, or aren't sure, just ask the printer :) Mostly, they'll be only too pleased to impart bits of knowledge and show how clever they are. erm.. ;)
 
that's because of the new, higher resolution.

for example, say you had a document 800x800 pixels, and dropped a 400x400 pixel image into it, it would fill 50% of the document. If the document is 4000x4000 pixels, it would only fill 10% of the document. the same goes for the brushes.
 
chet webley said:
No worries, man. (you don't think i went a bit overboard with the explanation?)
Click to expand...

No not at all.
Even if jewhefner didn't need all of it, other folks read this stuff and maybe it'll help them.

jewhefner, If you're setting up you're new file with the dimentions I posted it will be 1425 X 1425 px.
If you're using 600 X 600 as Chet suggestied it's 2850 X 2850px, you can see the problem.

If you're dropping 200 X 200 or 300 X 300 images in they will take up a small corner of the space.

If you're using small images you're already starting with a low quality images.
Enlarging the images isn't an option because the quality will be unexceptable.

You need to start with high quality images to get good results.
The brushes can be resized with the [ and ] keys.
 
chet webley said:
that's because of the new, higher resolution.

for example, say you had a document 800x800 pixels, and dropped a 400x400 pixel image into it, it would fill 50% of the document. If the document is 4000x4000 pixels, it would only fill 10% of the document. the same goes for the brushes.
Click to expand...


hmmm..... that sucks! so that means all my brushes and pics are useless?!, their too small!.

When i create the blank file the zoom is in about 14 percent, it doesn't make sense to use brushes/pics so small on that big of a canvas.

how do you design on something so big???

im confused...
 

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