cover issues

[dpnevels]

hey, I am writing a book and this is what the settings are saying: For best print quality, we recommend using images with at least 300 dots per inch (DPI). The current image has 98 DPI. Optimal print quality would be achieved with an image of 4.77 inches wide by 7.16 inches high that has at least 300 DPI.

[Dave Humphries]

Hello and welcome to the CiC forums,

If looking for an image (for those inch sizes); look for one that is about 1440 x 2160 pixels (or larger).

The math:
4.8 x 300 = 1440
7.2 x 300 = 2160

However, that might be rather short-sighted - consider that you might want the cover image blown up to poster size for release material, so I'd look for a larger original resolution if I were you.

+++++

The dpi figure alone (of whatever image you are considering) is useless without also knowing its overall pixel dimensions.
For example, if your image is 98 dpi, but 3 times the size I just calculated; 4320 x 6480, it should be large enough to reproduce at 300 dpi without quality loss.

But I'm no expert in this area, just working from the basics, if any other member has better advice, feel free to chip in.

Cheers, Dave

[pnodrog]

Just worry about pixel dimensions. So as per above provided your image is 1440x2160 pixels or larger it will have sufficient quality. Converting from one DPI to another is easily done with lots of different software.

Why printers do not just specify the minimum pixel dimensions required is an utter mystery.

[loosecanon]

The problem is when the graphic artist is doing the layout of a book. Best image quality is not always obtained by leaving the dtp software to resize large files. So if you resize to the size images are to be printed at and do so with suitable dpi it may give better results; and will please the graphic artist as when they bring the image into the document it will come in at about the right size and so speed up their work.

[dennybeall]

You've gone to a lot of trouble and effort to create a book. Why would you not want to be the one that provides the cover art in the best possible form???
Use the best software to create the art or better still hire it done.

[pnodrog]

Just worry about pixel dimensions. So as per above provided your image is 1440x2160 pixels or larger it will have sufficient quality. Converting from one DPI to another is easily done with lots of different software.

Why printers do not just specify the minimum pixel dimensions required is an utter mystery.

I suppose from their perspective as they deal with so many different size books just stipulating 300 dpi or more is the best universal answer.

[dpnevels]

You've gone to a lot of trouble and effort to create a book. Why would you not want to be the one that provides the cover art in the best possible form???
Use the best software to create the art or better still hire it done.

[dpnevels]

You have any ideas on how I can fix it or get it fuxed

[Texas Dave]

That's 4.77" x 7.16" of cover space. That is the cropped area of your image and I would not be surprised if your image has to be scale even more to get the crop you want.

As far as resizing an image, it all kind of depends on the nature of the image. I get supplied small lo res jpegs quite often from clients and have to salvage them in order to get them to print "decent".

Some images with sharp contrast don't blow up as well as some that have a softer feel to begin with. Sounds like you need some production work. I'd find a good retoucher to see if your image can be used. Once it's resized you may or may not want to use it.

[dasmith232]

Can you provide any additional information about the original image? You mentioned above that it's 98dpi. But 98dpi is a ratio. If it's 98dpi for 24 inches, then you have plenty of dots to re-span 7 inches at 300dpi. I think if you describe how many pixels you have then it becomes much easier to know if you have enough image data to work with.

Knowing how to fix it will be determined by the nature of the problem. It's possible that you've got enough data and nothing needs to be fixed, or it could be that you need to reshoot the image or acquire a new one.

[jcuknz]

I hope in all your preparation work you save them as separate files from the original ... I have a file name/number which is the file with as many pixels as the camera provides and then when I re-size for web use I simply add a capital 'W' to the file name which then immediately tells me it is destined for web use .... but if I wanted a better quality file for a larger purpose, in your case a cover shot, you have the file without W to prepare it for that purpose.
I hope that in this I am telling my grandmother how to blow eggs .... BUT
I find it helpful to retain the camera number in the file name as this helps me return to the original file held in my back-up drive ...sadly to the annoyance of my local club competition organizer who didn't or chose to ignore what I was doing