A simple answer for a stupid Adobe question.....

[shadowhawk]

When I open a Pic in CS it starts out at 33.3% in size. As I zoom in and enlarge, most of all my pics are great until they reach 100%. My question is: Is 100% the true size of the picture? If I took a picture to be printed would the adobe 100% be what appears on paper. I have not considered this before because I've never wanted to make large prints. Also when looking at the fine details should I be more critical of sharpness at 100% or is it just a fact that the sharpeness will lower as I increase the zoom? and if this is correct it puzzles me, because if i make a photo into wallpaper it is crystal clear, with tack sharpness and my laptop screen is 14.5 in by 9 in which is larger that what is showing in the image size in adobe

[cyclohexane]

This isn't a stupid question. Printing's not really my forte, but...

Most Nikons render JPEG FINE images at 300 pixels per inch (ppi). This translates, somehow, to dots per inch (dpi) when printed, but I can't explain it. At 100%, and 300 ppi, what you print at that exact size will be what you see, but you must make sure the ppi to dpi ratio translates correctly, or something like that. The more I type, the more confused I get, so I'll just tell you what I do for printing.

I render all files @ 300 ppi (ACR seems to default at 240 for my D2H for some reason), put all my touches on it, sharpening last, and then I set our HP Photosmart 3200's print settings to 600 dpi. With the correct paper type set, this will produce what I deem an acceptable print on the Kodak Heavyweight Matte stuff from Costco I've been using. This paper, however, has a unique soft look that I use to give a different feel to my prints. I'm going to give the Kirkland stuff made by Ilford a try next... and hopefully figure out how to actually print "correctly" instead of flying by the seat of my pants.

[Driftwood]

Well.................. I think it works like this:

Assume your image is 3000 pixels by 2000 pixels
Assume your screen resolution is 800x600 pixels

To display the image at 100% you would need approximately 5 screens high by 3.3 screens wide
All the pixels of the image are displayed (it's the same as zoom-actual pixels in photoshop)
To fit the image on to one screen it has to be scaled down - in the case of this example to less than 20% when you account for the rest of the things that use up space on your screen.

I think. :-\

[Mr. Pickles]

100% is 100%. It will show each pixel, across whatever your display is. There is no DPI for your monitor, so the 300dpi or 72 dpi isn't a factor when you are viewing it. Chnging it won't make the picture change size on your monitor.

As the viewing percentage increases, the sharpness does appear to decrease. If you zoom up to 400%, your image will look like crap too. If you view the image on your screen "fit" (like a wallpaper image), then it will appear sharp. You should do any of your sharpening (Unsharp Mask, etc) while viewing at 100%.

If you print your image, technically it will do the same thing. If you take your 8mp image and print a 4x6, it will look really "tack sharp". Print an 8x10, it will be sharp. Print a 13x19 and it might not be sharp.

[shadowhawk]

Well the "duh" factor regarding the monitor, just kicked in; I should have thought of that!

Thanks for all the info, you guys are Great!

[Waleed]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pickles

100% is 100%. It will show each pixel, across whatever your display is. There is no DPI for your monitor, so the 300dpi or 72 dpi isn't a factor when you are viewing it. Chnging it won't make the picture change size on your monitor.

I agree.. I do like the Photoshop feature of showing the actual print size on the monitor, it helps me visualize it: