For printing a good rule of thumb is 300 dots per inch, abbreviated dpi.
An
A3 piece of paper is 297x420mm or about 11.75 x 16.5 inches.
11.75 x 300 = 3,525. 16.5 x 300 = 4,950.
So, for an A3 print, I would go with a minimum of
3,525 x 4,950 pixels for printing.
An
A4 piece of paper is 210x297mm or about 8.25 x 11.75 inches.
We already know 11.75 x 300 - 3,525. 8.25 x 300 = 2,475.
So, for an A4 print, I would go with a minimum of
2,475 x 3,525 pixels for printing.
For a
12" x 12" print, 12 x 300 = 3,600. So,
3,600 x 3,600 pixels.
For a
letter-sized print, 8.5 x 300 = 2,550. 11 x 300 = 3,300. So,
2,550 x 3,330 pixels.
Now, I'm also going to share a pro tip with you.
When you create digital art and then decide to print it out later, you need to know that you're shifting the color environment. On your screen, the art work is back lit and the light shines through it. So for the darks to seem dark, they have to be really dark or the light shows through too much.
On a piece of paper, the light is reflected back off the color or the white of the paper instead of the light shining through. So those rich darks you saw on screen show up much much too dark on the print out and you'll be wondering what happened and why your beautiful art looks so dark and muddy.
(Some of your colors will shift a bit, too ... the colors in your print won't exactly match what you see on your screen.)
What works best for me is to add a Levels Adjustment Layer in Photoshop (I'm not sure what tool you're using), and I shift the midtone slider from 1.0 to 1.2. So ... Window > Adjustments > Levels and then move the little gray triangle underneath the window from 1.0 to 1.2. (If you're using a different tool, you want to adjust the midtones on the histogram, however that works in your software.)
In this screen capture, the top image shows what a layout looks like onscreen, with the midtones set to 1.0.
The bottom image shows what it will look like before you print, with the midtones set to 1.2.
The darks will now look a little bit washed out on your screen, but you'll like your print results a lot, lot better. Depending on the image, you might want to try 1.25 or 1.3. So you might want to try a smaller test print before doing a big A3 sized one.
Good luck! Have fun! We'd love to see a photo of your art on your wall!
. Luckily, I'm familiar with PCs and, much later, laptops through my job. That helps a bit.
(Not really! The blue-purple is just for fun!)
I really appreciate this information!! It saves me time and money! And I'm swearing quite a lot at the moment, which is very unlike me! My dachshunds always look quite bewildered when I do. The picture with your girlfriend is very cheerful and printed really well. I've created a few black and white sketches of my dachshunds and hope that your trick will work for them. Thanks again ♥
