Project size (screen size) and resolution

General Discussion on DemoPad or related products
Post Reply
wwat
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:12 pm

Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by wwat » Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:14 pm

I must admit to being a little unsure about the 'project size' or what seems to me the screen size figures.

The new iPod Touch 5th Gen with retina display has a screen size of 640 x 1136 (and resolution of 326 ppi) but the project size in Demopad of 320 x 568 seems to perfectly fit the iPod so I'm not sure how it works.

Also, if I were to create the perfectly sized graphic for a background with the maximum resolution for this iPod, say in a program like Corel Draw what would that size and resolution be?

Thanks, Wayne

User avatar
DemoPad
Site Admin
Posts: 769
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:46 am
Contact:

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by DemoPad » Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:21 pm

Yep - there are effectively 3 resolutions to use in designer:

iPad (768x1024)
iPhone (320 x 480)
iPhone 5 (320 x 568)

This keeps all projects in 'low resolution' mode, and allows you to develop a project for, say an iPad 1 & use it on a 1, or the latest iPad, without having to make any changes.

The iPhone 4 onwards, and the latest full size iPads all have retina displays, which doubles the number of pixels. Images used in the software are not altered before uploading to a device, so if you use a background image for an iPad which is 768x1024 and upload it to an iPad 2, it will be displayed as full quality, whereas if you upload it to an iPad 3, the iPad will scale up the image to display it - but they will both be drawn at the same physical size. Equally, if you used a background image of 1536 x 2048 and uploaded it to an iPad 3, it will be displayed at full quality, whereas if you upload it to an iPad 2, the iPad 2 will scale it to 'half' size in order to display it.

The iPhone5 is the only odd one out, as the aspect ratio is different, but you should still use the 'half' resolution of 320x568 in the designer software.

That is why there is a 'retina 50%' option in the software - for if you want to use images at full retina resolution, you need to scale them down to 50% in the designer, so that when they are uploaded they are drawn at that size, but with double the pixels, hence showing the full quality.

NOTE: The original purpose of the 'resize project' option was to give you a scrollable canvas area - so you'll find if you try to change it to any resolution other than those listed above, you'll just be able to scroll around a larger canvas.

wwat
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:12 pm

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by wwat » Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:31 pm

Hi,

Thanks for the explanation though I still struggle with the concepts. Lets stick with the iPad for a moment (Retina - 4th Generation) which has the following specs. 2048-by-1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi) per Apple website.

When I create a Demopad background image (landscape) in Photoshop would it be best to create it with exactly those specs? (Hopefully you are familiar with Photoshop) So when creating a new file I'm are presented with the resolution options: Width (pixels), Height(pixels) and Resolution (pixels/inch)
I've been selecting 2048, 1536, 264 respectively for my project, are they the ideal settings for the iPad (4th Gen)?

Thanks, Wayne.

User avatar
DemoPad
Site Admin
Posts: 769
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:46 am
Contact:

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by DemoPad » Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:43 pm

Yes - for creating background images, buttons etc for use on an iPad, then use the specs you would expect from Apple - 2048x1536 pixels (the ppi setting only applies for example to your printer, as to how large it looks when printed, it is the pixel dimensions which is important for the app). However, in DemoPad Designer, only use the following resolution settings:

Any iPad (768x1024)
Any iPhone (320 x 480)
iPhone 5 (320 x 568)

If you use ANY other resolution, you will instead get a scrollable area within the app.

If you are wanting to use high resolution images on an iPad 4 for example, then the images themselves should be 2x the resolution compared to an iPad 1, but these would normally look massive in Designer (which uses a 768x1024 canvas), however you use the 50% retina option when adding the image to designer, so that it looks right in relation to the total screen size (this doesn't matter with background images, as Designer scales them anyway).

When this is uploaded to the device, the actual image file is not altered, and the iPad 4 knows to render it at its full resolution, not at 50% - because it can. This approach lets you upload the same project to an iPad 1 & it will still work, the iPad 1 just scales the image files to 50%.

Idealhomes
Posts: 144
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 3:35 pm
Location: New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by Idealhomes » Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:42 am

Is there any way to get the "workable" area inside the Designer Software for the iPhone 5 the same size as Project Resize area. I am finding that I still cannot use the whole area inside the designer, the "page background" fills the screen but I am still not able to add buttons to at least a 1/8 of the screen (right hand side in the designer), making centering rather a pain in the rear.

Am I again doing something wrong :roll: :lol:
"Setting the Standard in Quality and Commitment"

User avatar
DemoPad
Site Admin
Posts: 769
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:46 am
Contact:

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by DemoPad » Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:21 am

Please email support@demopad.com with a screenshot of your issue - you should be able to use the full screen area where the background image is displayed.

jpb
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2016 10:20 am

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by jpb » Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:21 pm

I am just getting into this and am getting ready to place my order for a Centro 8-m.

Just playing right now and I tried to upload the example provided in the software for an iPhone 1 room. My phone is an iPhone 6 plus and I can't get the project to fill the screen properly. I played with the resizing option but no go. Any advise?

User avatar
DemoPad
Site Admin
Posts: 769
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:46 am
Contact:

Re: Project size (screen size) and resolution

Post by DemoPad » Wed Jan 04, 2017 6:33 pm


Post Reply