B101 MORE on Page, Document and Render Setup Differences



A. File > Page Setup is to output a *screen render* from Bryce directly to a Printer at a default of 72 d.p.i. (you can change this but it seems rather pointless when you can Render to Disk)
It's to be used when you have a finished image viewable on your monitor.
The information is spooled and the conversion math is done by Bryce and sent to the
printer.
Why oh why people would waste ink on this beats me.

* Screen render sucks: 72 dpi is a Mac screen res default, most Win monitors are now effectively 96 dpi or better.
Bryce started as a Mac app so the 72 dpi setting is the default and that's what you'll get.
Use screen renders for previews unless you're experimenting with the spray can a/k/a Ray Spray or want to see how fast you can spend money on ink.

B. File > Document Setup is what determines the Screen/Monitor Render size and proportions.
(Aspect Ratio or Shape of width to height) not the print resolution (everything is a "document" to a computer).
Don't' confuse Render Resolution with Print Resolution – they aren't the same thing.

C. File > Render to Disk is the only option which saves the Output Size and Printer Resolution settings you want.
Use *.bmp, *.psd, *.pict, *.tif for saved document types.
Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever use Jpg for final renders. Never.

If you set Render to Disk and then change to Page Setup you will get whatever you put in the Page Setup which is 72 dpi (print) by default.

** Page Setup, Document Setup and File > Render to Disk are 3 separate entities.**


Document setup does not control the Quality of the final render, Render settings and Render to Disk dialogs do.


Converting a large image from 72 dpi to 150 dpi in a photo editor, after the fact for print, will cause a deterioration of color and edge pixel information (from antialias) - not all that noticeable but enough to see a difference in quality.
Why not render what you want in the first place?

If you want a good quality result I recommend *Render to Disk at double the size you need* (both pixel and print dpi)...Render Large to make small is the adage.
I use from 96 to 120 d.p.i. for web.
A minimum print dpi of 200 will give poster quality results.
300 dpi approaches good photo quality.
You will notice that the dpi value of the render does not change in Photoshop when you approach it this way.
A lot of image editors resample whatever you bring in (especially jpg and gif – a 'customer is dumb approach').

If you increase the dpi after the fact in Photoshop you are actually resampling (rescreening) the image and what you see on your monitor is not what you'll get for a print result.
There's a good chance that you'll end up with a 2 inch by 1&1/2 inch picture barely suitable for a kids wallet ; )
In other words, increasing d.p.i. after the render is done, results in a smaller image for print.
So, here is a good Minimum Render to Disk setup:

Size of Original (in pixels) 2,000 x 1,500 pixels

Output (print) Resolution (dpi) = 200 dpi

Size of (print) Output (in inches)= 10.00 X 7.50

2,000w / 200dpi = 10.00 inch width
1,500h / 200 dpi = 7.5 inch height
Simple ain't it? Just divide Size of Original by d.p.i. for print size.
This will produce a 9 meg bitmap/psd suitable for medium quality print.
Please don't use jpeg for print output. Jpeg sux. Use it for web only.
Did I already mention this?