Print Questions

[Arby Works]

Yeah, there's probably been lots of these... *ahem*

*What kind of paper is the ideal paper for printing covers?

*Ideal resolution?

*Ideal program?

*And ideal specs? (like 600 dpi, letterbox, etc.)

Thanks in advance. This would help because I would like to replace several game covers I have due to destruction of covers thanks to... Animals... -_-'

[Spiderpig24]

For printing a box you can use the printing tutorial I made a while back here: http://www.vgboxart.com/forums/showt...x-Art&p=413490

You may also need the cover dimensions thread by Scorpion Soldier, here: http://www.vgboxart.com/forums/showt...ver-Dimensions

[gamecaseworld]

Here are my opinions ;-P

*What kind of paper is the ideal paper for printing covers? -- Matte, not photo and not that thin crappy paper for zerox machines. You need high quality good matte finish paper, usually legal sized for our prints.

*Ideal resolution? Depends on what your printer can handle. You should always run multiple proofs and compare them. Because of my ink saturation levels I do not print over 300dpi and don't need to.

There are different types of printers and results vary greatly based on what you're printing on. I use a borderless pro Canon photo printer and have good results. For comparison I've run prints through Kinkos and the saturation, color, paper etc. were inferior in every way -- however, in a pinch or for someone who isn't overly particular it would work. :-)

*Ideal program? I use Photoshop but there are some really great free programs coming out that my associates use that rock as well. Photososhop has three ways to do everything and often is a little arcane and dedicated to those who commit part of their lives learning it. Photoshop is a multi-tool really, since it contains a lot of features that aren't necessarily needed for someone wanting to illustrate and create box art. I do like the custom brushes and ability to load gradients and all kinds of custom goodies from places like brusheezy

*And ideal specs? (like 600 dpi, letterbox, etc.) Letterbox? Specs to me means download a proper template like from the cover project. A template will have you DPI and the proper dimensions already. If not that then pull out the ruler, measure what an actual game case is proportioned and set it up in Photoshop etc. :-) You'll find DPI under image size.

*CRUCIAL: Have fun and play - experiment and don't be afraid to push buttons and rebelliously make your work however your inner avante guard gamer suggests. Have artistic license. :-)

I really like this thread, thanks for asking great questions.