layers/resolution question

JD
Posted By
John_Doe_II
May 9, 2005
Views
305
Replies
11
Status
Closed
There is probably nothing to be done, but I figured I would ask anyway cause I can be stupid at times…

The issue is, I have two Photoshop files that have the same physical dimensions, 3.5 inches wide by 2 inches high. One was created at 72 dpi. The other was created at 600 dpi. I want to use the 72 dpi image as a background layer for the 600 dpi image. If I just copy the 72 dpi image over to the 600 dpi file as a layer, it is shrunk a lot and when I try to scale it up to the physical size of the 600 dpi, it becomes vary coarse and pixilated and looks like garbage.

If I print off the 72 dpi image, it looks fine. I can then print over it with the 600 dpi, it looks great and that is what I want, I just want both images to be layers of the same image file.

Is there anything that can be done or is it just not do-able?

Thanks.
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JJ
Jim_J
May 9, 2005
Why not just change the resolution of the 600 dpi image to 72… save as a copy sort of thing… THEN put the two together with the "background" as your bottom layer?

Cheers
CW
Colin_Walls
May 9, 2005
What do you want to do with the image? Is it for screen/Web use or for printing? The answer to this is essential to figure out the solution to your query.
JD
John_Doe_II
May 9, 2005
Jim: I can’t because the high res image looks like crud when moved to 72 dpi.

Colin: The set of images are for print. The printer supports up to 600 dpi.

The high res image looks really good at that resolution and degrades quickly at lower dpi settings. The opposite is true of the low dpi image. It looks great and the low setting but when I try to ‘blow’ it up, it degrades very quickly.

Thoughts?
NS
Nancy_S
May 9, 2005
John Doe ll

Most folks consider 150 ppi the absolute minimum for printing on a home setup with a inkjet. This meaning the resolution of the image. I’m a bit amazed that your file at 72ppi printed well.

This link is very informative

<http://www.scantips.com>
JJ
Jim_J
May 10, 2005
Are you using the Save for the web option?

Cheers
CW
Colin_Walls
May 10, 2005
John Doe II

Forget about th eprinter supporting 600DPI. This is not relevant and not directly related to your image having 600PPI or whatever.

Here is what I suggest:

Do this to both images:
Use Image Resize. Check the Resample option box. Set the PPI value to 200. Now put them together and let us know how that worked out.
CW
Colin_Walls
May 10, 2005
If you want more info about PPI, DPI etc. take a look at this doc: <http://www.ideasdtp.com/PDFs/UnderstandingResolution.pdf>
JD
John_Doe_II
May 10, 2005
I am printing off this thread and tacking it to my wall! I don’t know how long I have been ‘playing’ with Photoshop (5.0, 5.5, Elements, etc.) and did not realize that you could do that. You guys are the best!

The end result is that the combined file prints exactly the way I wanted the individual images to, as a combined image.

Thanks much!

Now, where can I get a good explanation of what those different sampling options mean? I took the default, Bicubic and it seemed to work fine, but there are four others. I could just do trial and error but I also like to try and understand things like that…
RF
Robert_F_Carruth
May 10, 2005
John,

A brief but informative description can be found by doing a search for bicubic in PE3’s Help. PE1 is not as good. Don’t know about PE2.

Bob
CW
Colin_Walls
May 10, 2005
Good to hear a success story.

I guess that, if you have 5 resampling options, you must have PSE 3. Bicubic is what’s used most of the time. I understand that the new "smooth" option is good for more drastic upsamples.
NS
Nancy_S
May 10, 2005
Bicubic Smoother is best used for upsampling and Bicubic Sharper when reducing the file size.

edit—judicious sharpening is required after resizing images (using Unsharp Mask, for example)

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