JPEG usage for store logo

Hello All,

I have a question that is probably very basic, but I'm just startin' out so please be kind.

I want to download a photo to use as the background for my store logo. I will add the lettering in photoshop. The question... I have these two choices:

Format Width Height DPI Megapixels
Small JPEG 1200 x 900 72 1.1

Large JPEG 2304 x 1728 300 4.0

Which is the one that will be best to use? I am really raw at this so I have no clue. It will be used for the classified logo as well as the in world search.

Any other advice/tips are certainly welcome! Thanks,

Sol

Use the small image, definitely. The large one is for print. If you want to know how I knew that, the standard dpi (dots per inch), for on-screen images is considered to be 72. That number, by the way, is actually just a generalization since the actual dpi, or more accurately, ppi (pixels per inch), at which you see the image will always be your monitor's ppi. Modern computer monitors typically range somewhere between 72 and 96 ppi. 300 dpi is the standard for decent quality print.

Something else extremely important you should know is that that "small" image of yours really isn't very small. By real time graphics standards, it's actually quite large. You should shrink it before you upload it to SL. For a list of image sizes that SL can utilize, and advice on how to choose an appropriate size, see the guide, stickied at the top of the forum.

You're also going to need to do something about the proportions, by the way. With your source image being 900x1200, you've got a ratio of height to width ratio 3 to 4, which is not something that's gonna work well for SL. You'll either need to crop the image, or pad it, to bring it to more appropriate proportions. Otherwise, SL's gonna end up resizing it on you at the time of upload, and the results won't be as sharp as they could be. Again, see the texture size guide for more info on what proportions are acceptable.

On a final note, since you mentioned the image is not yours, make sure it's okay for you to use it for your business. Since it sounds like the image is intended for download, there's probably some sort of license info about it on the site where you found it. Check the license. It should say specifically what you're allowed to do. Anything not listed is what you can't do, and that may include making a business sign out of the image.

Thank you for your extremely helpful post.

*Oh, and about the licensing...yes, the pics are from a site that allows downloading (for a small fee) for many different uses; I made sure to check the file usage agreement so as not to make that mistake. Thanks for including that in your post though, very good information for anyone thinking of using this kind of service.

Thanks again Chosen, I very much appreciate your help!

Hello Again Chosen,

I have a question for you...I have read all the materials and information you provided, and I still am not sure of the size my jpeg needs to be. I am not using it to texture a build or anything like that.

I only want to use this image for a logo that will be on my ad in the classifieds.

Can you tell me what is the best size to use for this? I have cropped and edited the pic but when I tried to upload, it must have been too large because it never quite made it - it took way too long.

Thanks in advance for your help

If it's for a logo, it doesn't have to be very big -- try it at, maybe, 256*256 (assuming it's square), or maybe even smaller than that.

The usable sizes are : 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024. For example: 32*64; 128*128; but not 133*257.

Also it's better to upload a targa file (.tga), rather than a jpeg. That way the file isn't compressed twice (once by you, once by SL), so the overall quality of the final image will be a bit better.
Targa allows for transparency, so be careful as to save as 24 bits only (no transparency) if you don't need any transparent or translucid bits.

Hi Rain,

Thanks for the guidance, it totally worked! My logo came out just right, nice and clear too.

Really appreciate the help



Sol

We are new to this also, we would appreciate any help at all....we dont know where to download our jpeg to or how to put things in our store or how to create things...any help would be appreciated, we tried looking at the tutorials but we dont understand half of it.

thank you,
Bedo Jonze