Resizing Images for Printables on Etsy

[jennifer329]

Hello! I recently purchased printables on Etsy, and was sent the following:

"You will find five JPEGs to choose from. Choose the JPEG that matches the size you want to print your artwork in:

Filename: XXXX_2x3 is for printing any of these sizes - 4 x 6 inches / 6 x 9 inches / 8 x 12 inches / 10 x 15 inches / 12 x 18 inches / 16 x 24 inches / 20 x 30 inches / 24 x 36 inches 10 x 15 cm / 20 x 30 cm / 30 x 45 cm / 50 x 75 cm / 60 x 90 cm

(I checked the dimensions myself, and the JPEG delivered was 7275  px by  10875 px.)

Filename: XXXX_3x4 for printing in these sizes - 6 x 8 inches / 9 x 12 inches / 12 x 16 inches / 18 x 24 inches 30 x 40 cm

(I checked the dimensions myself, and the JPEG delivered was 5475 px by 7275px .)

Filename: XXXX_4x5 for printing any of these sizes - 4 x 5 inches / 8 x 10 inches / 16 x 20 inches 40 x 50 cm

(I checked the dimensions myself, and the JPEG delivered was 4875 px  by  6075 px.)

Filename: XXXX_11x14 for printing in this size - 11 x 14 inches

(I checked the dimensions myself, and the JPEG delivered was 3375  px by  4275 px.)

Filename: XXXX_ASIZES for printing any of these sizes - A5 / A4 / A3 / A2 / A1

(I checked the dimensions myself, and the JPEG delivered was 7091 px by  10008 px.)"

So my question is, how is this possible? I'm sure this is a very basic Illustrator principle, but I'm new to this and I can't figure it out. How can they have so many sizes with only 5 JPEG deliveries? I tried to create a printable myself that was 7275  px by  10875 px, 300 dpi for a high-quality print and got a message that it was unable to export at that resolution. What am I doing wrong? Thank you in advance!

[Ton Frederiks]

The large pixel size you mentioned (7275  px by  10875 px) when printed at 300 ppi is good to print a 60 X 90 cm print.

Illustrator exports at 72 ppi, so if you export a 7275  px by  10875 px artboard, that is what you get.

If you try to export that artboard at 300ppi, Illustrator will calculate a new (huge) pixelsize: 30313 X 45313 px which would print at 256 cm x 383 cm

[jennifer329]

Thanks for the reply! I'm still a little confused as to how the seller was able to deliver a JPEG that was 7275 px by 10875 px and 300 PPI if Illustrator exports at 72 PPI?

[Jacob Bugge]

Jennifer,

"So my question is, how is this possible?"

Indeed. The pixel sizes correspond to the largest inch document sizes at exactly 300 DPI with an addition of 75 pixels in both width and height corresponding to a bleed of 1/8"; and just about the same for the A sizes (exactly the same if it had been 7091 x 9996 px so there is a little surplus).

And the largest cm sizes documents are a wee bit smaller (for 3x4 you can go higher than stated, to 45 x 60 cm) so the DPI will be a wee bit higher.

So you will have 300 DPI with a bleed of 1/8" at the largest size, and more than 300 DPI for smaller sizes (also at 1/8" bleed (or even more)).

[jennifer329]

I kind of understand what you mean, but I'm struggling to apply that to my project!

I wanted to sell my own artwork on Etsy and provide the same sizes. So when I begin an artboard, does it matter what dimensions I start with, or can they all be converted to the proper size later on? And then, how do I go about resizing the images to the aforementioned dimensions so that I have 5 files at 300 DPI, without losing quality in the process?

I'm sorry for asking 600 questions in one question. If you don't have the time to reply, I understand and appreciate the help regardless!

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

To make it easy for yourself, create artboards at the final pixel dimensions you need.

Forget about the ppi. You can add that later in Photoshop without changing the number of pixels.

The ppi number only specifies how many pixels should be printed in an inch and determines the print quality.

More pixels in an inch, smaller prints better quality.

Less pixels in an inch, larger prints, less quality.

[Ton Frederiks]

Here is an example, the same number of pixels will place/print at a different size, depending on the resolution setting.

[jennifer329]

Okay, so the easiest way for me to do this would be to create 5 artboards:

• 7275  px by  10875 px
• 5475 px by 7275px
• 4875 px  by  6075 px
• 3375  px by  4275 px
• 7091 px by  10008 px

And then when I go to export the image as a JPEG I can ignore the ppi and change that in Photoshop afterwards?

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, if they need that many pixel dimensions, create artboards at these sizes.

The pixel dimensions are designed to print at 300ppi at the max size they specify.

In Photoshop uncheck the Resample option and set the ppi.

[jennifer329]

Sweet! Thanks so much for your help!!

[Ton Frederiks]

Glad I could help.

[Ton Frederiks]

You may have a look at this Photoshop tutorial, 2 Set the resolution

It explains quite well the relation between print size, pixels an resolution.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/image-resizing-basics.html

[Jacob Bugge]

For my part you are welcome, Jennifer.

And what Ton said, as always.

I only just saw this thread again.

[Test Screen Name]

A key thing you might have missed is that this isn’t about pixel sizes and resolution (except that the resolution has to be enough for the biggest size). This is about different aspect ratios. Each of the final results is either selectively cropped or scaled to fit the aspect ratio. Be sure your design is flexible enough for this. If you aren’t sure what I mean by aspect ratio, please ask before doing the work -

[jennifer329]

My understanding is that the aspect ratio is the set ratio of the design, but I could be wrong. And how do I know is the design is flexible enough for that? Thanks for the reply!

[Test Screen Name]

Yes, it is the ratio of the design. For example in a 6 x 4 design the ratio is 6:4 or 1.5 to 1. While in A4 the ratio is 297 to 210, or about  1.41 to 1. Clearly the same design won't make both those aspect ratios unless you stretch out of shape, or chop off a bit. It's entirely up to you as a designer to make a design that works at both sizes; or to make two different designs. And there are not two but five aspect ratios. Spend some time planning out to avoid painful discoveries later. This is quite a production line, as well as a design challenge.