pixel dimensions

[Righteous Bucks]

Ok, so i have a question and i've been out of the design loop for a while but my exp with sizing a file by pixel dimensions has always been you can constrain the proportions and keep them linked so that it looks normal.

here's the problem: my files have to be 2400x3200 or vice versa, not a pixel more or less

is there anyway to do this w/o getting distortion? i was thinking maybe there's some sort of software manipulation tool for this to make it look normal but fit the specs.

any advice is appreciated, dealing with some jackasses at a print shop who won't accept the file w/o it being THOSE dimensions.

[Basscase]

Can you just crop to the specified size?

You're leaving out a bit of info. What it to be used for? What kind of file (photo, advertisement etc)? What are the original dimensions?

I'm assuming the art is already created.

[TheDarkEnergist]

dealing with some jackasses at a print shop who won't accept the file w/o it being THOSE dimensions.

They're not jackasses, they're trying to have people submit properly sized files so they don't come out wrong and have geniuses come back into the shop and freak out.

Create a new file in those exact dimensions, drag and drop artwork, and start re-arranging things.

[Righteous Bucks]

Can you just crop to the specified size?

You're leaving out a bit of info. What it to be used for? What kind of file (photo, advertisement etc)? What are the original dimensions?

I'm assuming the art is already created.

hey bass,

Yeah art is created already but in all sorts off diff dimensions; mainly for sticker production in full color. Cropping is a possibility but obviously that takes out some of the image.....

I've got a number of files i want to use with varying dimensions that won't mathematically crop or resize perfectly to 2400 x 3200.

[Basscase]

The short answer to your question is no...you can't change the dimensions to something it doesn't naturally convert to without it looking distorted.

However, some ideas would be to add a border around the image that would create the desired dimensions, you could crop to desired dimensions (and yes probably lose some of the image), or if it's all text or has a simple plain color background you could just extend the background out to give you the desired dimensions.

$.02

[zideman]

This is the beauty of doing this every day. haha. Take whatever you created, PSD/AI/ETC file and take those layered elements in to a new document of the same file type that is created to be 2400x3200 or whatever its supposed to be. From there just re-layout the elements to mimic the originals aesthetic as closely as you can. From the beginning of going to print you should have asked the printer for specs or a template and file types they take. Never assume. Every printer is different and they always find a way to be "difficult." Preemptively striking is the only way to avoid these kinds of headaches.

good luck.

[Basscase]

This is the beauty of doing this every day. haha. Take whatever you created, PSD/AI/ETC file and take those layered elements in to a new document of the same file type that is created to be 2400x3200 or whatever its supposed to be. From there just re-layout the elements to mimic the originals aesthetic as closely as you can. From the beginning of going to print you should have asked the printer for specs or a template and file types they take. Never assume. Every printer is different and they always find a way to be "difficult." Preemptively striking is the only way to avoid these kinds of headaches.

good luck.

That's assuming he has the original layers/unflattened file.

[zideman]

Yeah, true..... "my files have to be" I read this as he was the one who created the artwork. If he's not he should go to whomever did and get them to do it. haha.

[hipster.]

I get asked this every now and then about video and it always makes me go

How can your image NOT be distorted by changing the aspect ratio of the original? That's why when you watch old school "widescreen" non-conformed DVD's there's black bars instead of resizing.

That's the rub of working the original in the wrong aspect ration and having to re-size. You deal with the clipping/cropping of the image, and that's that.