Changing resolution in PSCS

[andyapc]

If I have a layout that was created at 200 resolution, can I just go into Image>Image Size and just change it to 300 resolution? I mean, it's as easy as that?

I found a layout I did at 200 resolution and I want to resize it down a tiny bit and place it onto a new, larger canvas that is at 300 resolution. I'm going to have it printed.

At first, I couldn't understand why, every time I moved this layout onto my new canvas, it would be automatically resized much smaller than what I wanted. Then I realized that my layout was at 200 resolution and my new canvas was at 300 so I figured that PSCS must automatically resize the layout down proportionately. Is this right?

So, can I just change the resolution of a layout and not worry about anything else? Does anything else have to be changed? Does it matter if I'm increasing or decreasing the resolution, or increasing/decreasing the layout size?

[andyapc]

Help! :o

[Amanda]

Don't think about resolution - think about actual pixels.

If your layout was 12x12 and 200ppi then it is 2400x2400 pixels. If you insert it onto a new canvas that is 300ppi (3600x3600) then of course 2400x2400 is smaller than 3600x3600. And you can't put in more pixels without things looking a bit distorted.

If you try to stretch your 2400x2400 layout to 3600x3600 pixels - where are the other pixels going to come from???? The computer *tries* to fill them in - but it isn't always pretty.

I've heard that increased your layout only 10% at a time reduces the chances of it looking pixelated but haven't tried it myself. :)

HTH

[Meryl]

I took a fair bit of convincing on the 200dpi issue - if all you are concerned about is it printing right, it will print beautifully at 200dpi - I do mine all the time and cannot tell the difference between those at 200 & those at 300. Hope this helps?
Wrt increasing the size 10% at a time - I have done it with tiny little scanned heritage type, black & white photos & it has worked beautifully, but never on a whole LO.

[andyapc]

OK - so I guess if I increase a layout's resolution from 200 to 300 BUT I resize it down, there should be no distortion since I'm not adding in any pixels, right? (And even if I don't increase the resolution and just resize down, it wouldn't really matter, as 200 should print just as fine as 300, right?)

If I go from 8x8 at 300 to 8.25x8.25 at 300, I'm going from 2400x2400 pixels to 2475x2475. Would those extra 75x75 pixels that the computer has to "fill in" make a big difference when printing?

If I resize up, then I should definitely increase the resolution first and then increase the size but do so only in 10% increments to decrease any chance of pixelation, right? How do I do this? For example, how would I go from an 8x8 at 200 resolution to a 10x10 at 300 resolution? Image>Image Size, change the resolution, click OK, then go back into Image>Image Size and increase the size by 10%? (what would that dimension be? I'm math challenged), click OK, then keep going?

(From now on, I might just start scrapping at 10x10 and then always size down to avoid this whole issue :D )

[Emma]

You're right on all counts, but I personally would NEVER make an 8x8 200ppi into a 10x10 300ppi

Why bother making it 300ppi at all? Is it for a publisher? Do you scrap at 8x8? Definitely increase your size to 10x10. I do 10x10 or 12 at 200ppi.

To get things to look better resized: use the Bicubic Smoother to make it larger, do it in increments, and then use a Noise reduction filter like Filter>Noise>Median or Neat Image, etc if necessary. Don't be too ambitious how large you want to make it either.

And when significantly reducing size, you'll also run into some problems, though not as much as when enlarging. Use Bicubic Sharpen if necessary on one of the incremental steps. When removing a lot of pixels, things can be somewhat distorted, but it's not a big issue generally.

[Meryl]

I didn't think to say - I've been fortunate to have had several magazine requests lately and following Margies comment once, I simply change the dpi from 200 to 300, save it & send it - they don't seem any the wiser!