Setting Actual Sizes For A New File

[Nikelo11th]

Hello there.
Whenever I start a new, "Photoshop" file, i get asked what width and height I want. If i set the width to 5cm and the height to 5cm, then i should get a square page to work on. The problem is that the resolution mucks it all up. At the start, it says what resolution you want below the widths and heights boxes. What resolution do i need to set it to, to make the heights and widths excactly as i have set them. I mean when i set the dimensions to 5cmx5cm and the resolution to 1, the box will be really small and not actually 5cmx5cm. What is the resolution to make the heights and widths excactly as you have set.

This might be a trivial matter but i have been pondering over it for a long time. Please help me, I NEED IT...
THANKS... NIKELO-THE-11th

 

[blueark]

The width & height are the physical dimensions of a printed image (unless the units are set to pixels), and the resolution dictates how much detail can fit into that space. So, for example, if you set the resolution to 300 dots per inch, it will print at 5cm x 5cm at roughly commercial print quality.

However, on screen, Photoshop images at 100% enlargement are not the same physical size. Instead, it assigns each dot in your image to one pixel on your screen. So, if you've got a resolution of 1 dot per inch, it will be a pretty big dot when printed (1" square in fact), but on screen, it will be reduced to the size on 1 pixel. Because there are only about 2 dots at that resolution in 5cm, on screen it will only be about 2 pixels square.

If you set it to 300 dots per inch, each printed dot will be 1/300th of an inch, which will allow you to print more detail in the same space. In Photoshop, as most monitors fall way short of 300 dots per inch, each dot will display bigger than their printed counterpart. Therefore, your image will appear bigger.

Keep in mind that this only applies to images that will be printed. For web graphics, and other screen based images, work in pixels rather than physical measurements like centimeters or inches.

 

[dimoj]

Hi Nikelo

Just to put things simply:

If your artwork is just for viewing on a computer: set the resolution to 72dpi and then play around with the width and height until you get a viewing size (at 100% zoom) that suits you.

If your artwork is for print: set the resolution to 300dpi and the height and width to what the physical print size needs to be (ie 5cm x 5cm in your example) and don't worry about what size it appears on your monitor, it doesn't represent the printed size.

Tip: If you click on the third panel from the left in the status bar at the bottom of photoshop it will show you a preview of how big your document is on a printed sheet!