help with image size

[xpattiecakes]

I'm making a post card, and I need it to specifically be 4inx6in. BUT when i put those dimensions in the *NEW* and press ok, the image size either comes out to be smaller or HUMONGOUS! I don't just want it to print 4x6 I want it to look 4x6 when i make the postcard on photoshop.
im using photoshop CS by the way.

THANKS! much appreciated.

[Lesa]

It sounds like the problem may be the resolution you're specifying in the New document dialog box. When you create a document at a high enough resolution for good print quality, the onscreen version will not match the physical size of the document, it'll look honkin' big, even though it'll print at the right size.

Create a new document that's 4 x 6 inches and enter 300 dpi for resolution, which is considered the standard for a good quality print. When viewing the document at 100%, it will indeed look huge. Personally, I tend to shrink the document size by pressing Command – (PC: Control –) to zoom out until it's roughly the size it will print.

Think of it like this: when printing a piece of art, the printer needs the pixels super compacted together, so to speak, in order to produce a high quality print. Looking at the same art onscreen where the monitor can only display a certain level of quality (way lower than print quality), the pixels aren't so dense and squished together, so the document appears larger.

Does that help or make it worse? :)

[xpattiecakes]

That does make sense.

BUT, the pictures that I'm using to put on the postcard are standard size when you view them in photoshop. So when i cut the part of the photo that I want and put it in the postcard, it looks TINY. thats the problem that im having. i guess i didn't specify.

thanks though.

should i just set the picture i need's dpi to 300 as well?