For design - we work similarly

For conceptual art/illsutration we work at 3000 pixels and work up to 9000 pixels but keep the DPI at 72, which can be altered towards final requirement

Eg. magazine - change image to 300 DPI (which tends to bloat a image resolution to somethign silly like 15-30000 pixels, which we responsibly reduce to around 3-4000 pixels for A4, blah blah

the reasoning is thus: DPI is jsut how high rest you need your image to be . Since we're all concerned with print. changing the DPI can be done at the end. As long as the resolution worked in is sufficiently high enough i.e 3000 pixels or more

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koshime.com

thanks Koshime. gives me a bit better understanding of the whole thing. as a designer I'm just used to always working at 300 dpi. this may make my illustrations run smoother.

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"Live life like a fantasy. Reality is only in your mind!" - Fabledgoat

Pixel resolution doesn't make any difference whatsoever on memory usage, performance, or file size. You can happily set the final output resolution at the start with no detrimental effect. The pixel resolution is just a reference that says "when you print this, make the pixels so big". Setting a file's pixel resolution at 300ppi uses the same memory and file size as it does at 72ppi.

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Very true, DPI has no effect on the digital image. The reason why so many people think it does is that in most s/w packages, the DPI is artificially linked into the image dimensions because the s/w assumes you want to keep a specific print size. Making sure the image size is maintained, by checking or unchecking the relevant box, de-couples DPI from dimension. If only s/w packages had implemented this the other way round, and assumed people were painting for digital output rather than print, there wouldn't be this massive misunderstanding of what DPI actually is.

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Cheers
Simon

Painterly Arts

edart:

I'm running Autocad on  1.6ghz duel core, 2gb and a radion 7600 with 256mb yet it can get very slow at times.

as for painting well Photoshop CS2 works really smooth even in ridiculous resolutions, but Painter is painful when it lags at resolutions above 1024 x 768

But I guess the lag may be due to running Vista home premium which is notoriously slow!

 having vista intitles you to down-grade to xp, which really does the difference. Vista is a *** child miscrosoft made up because mac got a new OS out. It's going to be dead in a couple of years or less ^^;

as far as picking a computer, make sure the programs are compatible with your OS because vista\xp on mac really isn't recommendable unless you just want to use paint or word... and well, I know video game industry tends to be all out pc, while graphic designer prefer mac, as well as metrosexual and emos and people that like starbuck xD mac is THE fashion statement... but if you take this less seriously, pc's nice for being more affordable...and I personnally don't trust laptops yet...they tend to...die on you as well as still cost more then a regular computer.

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-Let us take over the world with largely exagerated facial expressions!-

well to be honest frei, i've had a laptop at work for 4 years now, its never broken, always run perfectly & i used to use it for photoshop, until i got my mac, and strangely i'm not a graphic designer, metrosexual or emo!

I have a desktop pc at home that i've had to have a new motherboard in, and a new soundcard, and it's rarely used as we all have laptops, and after having 8 or 9 desktops over the years that needed formatting or parts replaced i will never buy a desktop again. The only thing i've done to my laptops is add ram. I find them much more reliable. 

 

 

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Kazky beat me to responding since I had to retype mine countless times to take out things I shouldn't say.

though I prefer my mac, I currently use both as a Graphic Designer, I've researched the differences and compared both, and though both have their advantages and disadvantages I still prefer my mac and won't buy a pc. my mac right now has been running for 5 years, never been reformatted, has never crashed and runs all of my design related, illustration related and home related programs without a problem.

oh, and yah though I'm a Graphic Designer, I'm not a metrosexual, not an emo and don't take my mac to Starbucks. You really should go into Starbucks though,  as I see just as many pc's as there are macs in the Starbucks I go in. Usually more pc's. So yah, I'm rather insulted by your statement as to who uses a mac. Funny, because I'm a rather hard person to insult. so kudos to you., and....hmmm...yah, I'm just gonna stop there.

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"Live life like a fantasy. Reality is only in your mind!" - Fabledgoat

@Fabble meh...I'll talk to you on msn because I don't like pc vs mac wars... I think they're silly, so is taking this on a personal lvl.

 

and for general interest; metrosexual\emo-look= "in crowd" and not "homosexual" or "kids in need of attention".

@Kazky well thanks for reassuring me xD I've always been doubtful of laptops because I kept hearing everyone I know talking about how their laptops crashing and dying all the time xD I've had mine for a year now, but never sold my other computer for fear of my laptop failing...which it did xD I gess I'm just not lucky.

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-Let us take over the world with largely exagerated facial expressions!-

yeah i guess it's the experience you have that influences what you buy, honestly though, i've not had one bit of trouble with my laptops, i love them! Don't give up on them though! 

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I can't... I got addicted to being able to carry my computer arround xD but thank goodness for my old Ortence, she's a life savor right now, I was scared I'd get behind in my work.

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-Let us take over the world with largely exagerated facial expressions!-

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A lot of great information and advice here, thanks!

When I can afford a new computer I think I quite possibly will migrate to a Mac as everything I've read or heared through the grape vine has been good old praise! Though I admit I've never even touched a Mac let alone use one.

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well you won't regret it ed, it takes a little getting used to, but once you do its plain sailing. or drawing, 

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yeah ed, mac's are pretty sweet. You should def try one out if you've never used one. you may be pleasantly surprised.