[Telekon]

What's the difference between printing artwork at home via PC printer, and getting artwork print ready for professional printing at a printing shop? Are there any websites, tutorials, or books that teach how to get your artwork print ready for a professional printer?

Thanks.

[Jin]

This book is said to be excellent:

Mastering Digital Printing, Second Edition by Harald Johnson

.........

[cheney]

Here are some brief points:

1) Have a size and aspect ratio in mind before you ever begin your art. Otherwise you will have to do some serious cropping or add a large border to achieve a certain aspect ratio.

2) Know your prefered resolution. You will only know what difference resolution makes after you have seen a few of your prints at different resolutions, but here is a summary of my opinion:

72DPI = Text quality and the default for most word processing applications. Never go lower than this.
100DPI = The absolute minimum for graphics. Pixelation and flaws will probably be visible at this resolution.
200DPI = A tolerable resolution for graphics. Flaws might be visible if studied for details.
300DPI = Ideal resolution for graphics. Details should be sharp and crisp.
600DPI = Extreme precision resolution. Assuming you are using a print process that can accurately print at this resolution details should be crisp even when magnified.

3) Know your color processes. Printers print using CMYK color format, and camera image format RAW captures in CMYK. If your source is CMYK it is advisable to continue using CMYK from start to finish. If you are actually creating graphics on the computer it is advisible to use RGB and follow through until you are ready for print. At that point I would suggest letting a pro change color formats, letting the printer figure it out, or learning about color modes. To make things more complicated there are several formats of RGB, but most people use the oldest ISO type.

4) Assume your image will be a bit darker when printed. Things appear brighter than reality on the monitor, because there is light shooting onto the screen. Prints on the otherhand merely reflect light. It might be wise to brighten or heighten saturation slightly in your image to give your print the same look as its digital version outside of ideal lighting. This takes practice and careful tweaking to know just how little to alter the image to give that extra zing.

5) Know your choice of finishes. High quality prints will probably be onto photo paper. Common print finishes are matte, gloss, lustre, pearl. Not all print shops featuer all these, and some print shops might feature others. Each of these reflect light in a different way.

This is all I can think of at the moment. I know I am probably forgetting something.
_________________
http://prettydiff.com/

[Telekon]

Thanks for that extensive check list. That's quite a bit of helpful information...

[retro]

go to the library and read anything that has color management on the cover, look in the photography section

[B0b]

are you using Offset Print methods or Laser?

[Jin]

PPI is the appropriate term to use in relation to digital art. It's the Resolution number indicating the number of pixels per inch.

DPI is the appropriate term to use in relation to printing. It's the number of dots of ink per inch.

Before beginning your image, understand the relationship between your PPI number and your image dimensions in pixels and how that relationship will affect the image's dimensions when printed. For example:

An image at 3000 x 3000 pixels at 300 ppi is equivalent to 10 x 10 inches at 300 ppi.

The same 3000 x 3000 pixel image at 150 ppi is equivalent to 20 x 20 inches at 150 ppi.

The same 3000 x 3000 pixel image at 75 ppi is equivalent to 40 x 40 inches at 75 ppi.

If your image will be printed at a print shop, before beginning it, talk to the print shop, describe your image, what kinds of paper you might want it printed on, and what size in inches you want it printed. They can then tell you what Resolution, or PPI number to use based your requirements and on their print machine's capabilities.


Jinny Brown
TutorAlley Forums
Tutorials and Painter Info at PixelAlley

[Capt. Fred]

telekon, I got some prints done couple days ago.
No matter what I did to counteract the affects of the printers, lightening up, change the saturation (I usually find laser images come out too dark and too saturated), when I got the first colour proof it looked like ASS. Infact, I wondered if he hadn't actually just mixed up the cmyk in side the printer for a laugh, lost the power of sight, and spilt a few brandies on the machine in the progress.

I guess, different computers, screens, options, so much machinery, almost too many factors to predict the outcome, so just get some proofs done and then say, TOO GREEN, and LIGHTER, and WHAT WERE YOU THINKING. Because whatever you do in preparation, the uncertainty of output is always gonna be there, and precisely what needs to be done to counter the affects of a particular printer is pretty unguessable unless you see it it print. I catch myself thinking my monitor must be 'the right one' for colour, just as everyone seems to swear that thier watch tells the right time, not the other person's - but of course, your monitor, how dark or light the room you work in is with relation to the brightness of the monitor, the alignment of the solar system all the pull of the moon all the seem the have an affect.

diclaimer: just my experience - which is less than that of those posting above.

[B0b]

just to throw this in offset litho and b+w laser uses Lines Per Inch when talking about photos and paintings

[B0b]

[Affected]

and calibrate your monitor, otherwise it won't really matter much what else you do.