I don't even know where to find/set the DPi thingy
Currently knocking up various battle maps for sale on DriveThruRPG and I was curious as to what resolution other people design their maps at. As a graduate that did Graphic Design I always used to design at 300dpi, the pdf guidelines on DriveThru say 150dpi and I know from talks with Torstan that he designs some of his maps on DriveThru at 100dpi simply because designing them at a larger scale would take a lot longer (and honestly with the size and detail of some of my poster maps I think my own computer would set on fire). I've been designing at 100dpi but I'm starting to wonder whether this is going to lead to a terrible print (they're designed at 1" square size so they don't need to be upscaled).
Check out: My Mar 2014 Challenge Submission: The Ballad of the Bonny Bards' Booty
Check out: My Finished Maps
Formerly "Yospeck"
I don't even know where to find/set the DPi thingy
If you're using Gimp or Photoshop you set it when you create a new file (or can change it through the "Image" settings [PS]). Default is 72dpi and that's basically the default for screen/web.
Check out: My Mar 2014 Challenge Submission: The Ballad of the Bonny Bards' Booty
Check out: My Finished Maps
Formerly "Yospeck"
I Don't know for GIMP, but in PS, it's in Images/Image size.
300 DPI is the standard resolution for print, though for poster sizes, 150 DPI looks a fine resolution. I would say that's 200 DPI or higher is ok for non poster maps Going under this value would give some low/bad quality prints.
Last edited by - Max -; 01-30-2014 at 10:08 AM.
So... which one makes a better picture? The 300 or the 72?
I'm so lost..
For print, the more DPI you have, the more quality you have. 72 DPI is a standard resolution for web/screen use while 300 DPI or higher is standard resolution for professional print.
Well... all mine are at 72 dpi, then, I suppose, since I never messed with that...
Does that affect why my images look really bad when I make them smaller to fit the forum size limit? (Wait does higher dpi affect the file size too?)
I use a vector drawing program, so drawing units for me is in inches - at the design stage, there is no such thing as pixels, and resolution is meaningless.
Once the entire map is created at whatever dimensions in inches, such as 8.5 x 11, 18 x 24, or 36 x 96 inches, only upon export to a graphic file format does resolution come into play. In whatever format I choose (usually JPG), I export at anything between VT scale 50 pixels per inch up to 300 ppi. If the map was intended for use in a Virtual Tabletop application, I would export at the best resolution for that given application; Roll20 is 70 dpi for example. Because the map is in its designed file format (.XAR) I can freely export multiple resolutions and file formats from the same design. I don't usually need to rescale the map for any reason, but as a vector file, I can do this as well. That is if the design was created at 18 x 24, I could easily rescale this to 36 x 48, prior to export.
300 ppi resolution maps are intended for print, while all smaller resolutions are for either downloadable PDF scale (96 ppi), or other specific VT required ppi resolution.
@Jalyha - dpi definitely affects the file size. Consider that Anna Meyer just sent me her most recent Greyhawk map for printing, its a PDF at 36" x 48", 300 ppi and the file is 460 MB in size. She had sent me an uncompressed JPG and that was over 1.6 GB, but I had problems sending that to the printer.
Last edited by Gamerprinter; 01-30-2014 at 11:01 AM.
Gamer Printshop Publishing, Starfinder RPG modules and supplements, Map Products, Map Symbol Sets and Map Making Tutorial Guide
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I generally export to 100 ppi on these boards, though the maps I have been posting to my G+ page, and any of those maps reposted here, are all 300 ppi, but at scales of only 8.5 x (up to) 22 inches for pictorial tutorials, and up to 11 x 17 for map scale. When I post a 100 ppi file, it can be up to 24 x 36 inches, posted here direct - and almost always as JPG.
Gamer Printshop Publishing, Starfinder RPG modules and supplements, Map Products, Map Symbol Sets and Map Making Tutorial Guide
DrivethruRPG store
Artstation Gallery - Maps and 3D illustrations