Cafe Press

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Mon Aug 26, 2002 11:51 am

Okay, I have a question for all those of you out there with "stores" using Cafe Press to make you swag.

What resolution do my graphics have to be so they will look nice and non-pixelly when printed out on Cafe Press stuff? My computer is pretty fricken slow when handling graphics of a very high resolution.

Would 1000x1000 look okay on a T-shirt or mouse pad? 2000x2000?

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Mon Aug 26, 2002 12:32 pm

it doesn't really matter how many pixels wide it is..
it's more based on the dpi (dots-per-inch) of your image

Most of my stuff is about 300 dpi

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Mon Aug 26, 2002 12:42 pm

Okay now I need someon to explain to me what exactly DPI is and how it differs from resolution.

I feel so lame.

Chascraw4d · Post by **Chascraw4d** » Mon Aug 26, 2002 1:14 pm

DPI is dots per inch.

Say a given item on CafePress will have an image that's 3"x2"

At 300 DPI that would be a 900x600 image.

Cafepress recommends a minimum of 200 DPI for images, which works out pretty well on the items I've seen so far. If you're at 300 DPI or higher you shouldn't have to worry about pixelation. (600 DPI is apparently the standard for printed comics, but most of the items CafePress prints on will 'bleed' very slightly due to the nature of the material.)

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Mon Aug 26, 2002 2:01 pm

Okee dokee... so then I believe that 8.5" x 11" is the biggest a Cafe Press T-shirt image can be so at 300 dpi as long as I'm 2550x3300 my resolution will be high enough for the biggest Cafe Press item.

I hate working with images that big though. Takes so damn long for my computer to do anything with them.

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Mon Aug 26, 2002 5:44 pm

Well, got the first store all set up nicely. Thanks gang!

Now to get a better computer so it won't suck so much having to work with such large images.

Ashess · Post by **Ashess** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 1:27 am

I think 300dpi is enough usually.

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 10:41 am

Has anyone here ever used CafePress for posters? Will 300dpi be enough for a poster?

Crap, at 300dpi a small poster image will have a resolution of 4800x6000 and a large poster will have a resolution of 6900x10500.

That's really pushing the envelope of what my poor old P-II 333 256meg is capable of working with. It'll be close.

If 300dpi won't cut it for a poster and I have to go 600dpi I'll definetly be totally screwed.

I wish I had a faster machine with more memory.

Always I say "Next year I upgrade my computer" but I never do. Well this year I upgraded from a P-166 to my current machine which my brother was tossing out after he upgraded to a top-o-the-line computer.

Chascraw4d · Post by **Chascraw4d** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 12:50 pm

I still need to think something up for a poster. Actually, I really need to think somthing up for my entire stock. All I have are a couple of items I just threw together to have something, and a license plate frame because I wanted one for my car.

300 DPI should look good on the posters. I suspect the higher DPI for printed comics is more to preserve fine lines and detail work than it is to reduce pixelation. You could probably get good results at 200 DPI, but I wouldn't drop below that any.

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 1:31 pm

What's particularily amusing is, I basically use the same image on T-shits as I did on small coffee mugs. So while the image was 300 DPI on a T-shit, it's like a gajillion DPI on the wee mugs.

Talk about overkill. But it saves me from having to upload and make more images.

I think I might do an entire cast group picture for the poster. I wonder if we can display the posters on the store horizontally? A horizontal poster would be easier for a cast poster.

John D Moore · Post by **John D Moore** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 1:42 pm

Horizontal works. I've made two horizontal posters.

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 1:55 pm

What DPI did you do your posters at and how did they look?

Wiebe · Post by **Wiebe** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 8:11 pm

You said "shit"...

Ghastly · Post by **Ghastly** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 9:45 pm

*sigh*

ZOMBIE USER 10963 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 10963** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 10:03 pm

"shit"...