quality vs performance

Hi all, i'm working on the final pass for some assets, the dimensions all fit together fine etc. but i'm now bring down their file sizes and conforming them to 70 dpi as i have seen many put forward that is the optimum setting. That said, on the wiki it states 72 dpi and i have noticed an ever so slight lowering in quality at 70 dpi, it's negligible i suppose, but obviously i want the best quality possible. Does anyone have any tips to help hold onto that last bit of sharpness in the image, or am i being overprotective?

I would suggest increments of 70 since the grid is 70 pixels by default. As for assets I set them up at 140 dpi so when they are zoomed in they look nice. I would only reduce it to 70 for very large items like big maps.

If you are concerned, stick with 70, which is what the grid is based on. In reality, this only makes a difference if you are in the habit of always viewing your tabletop at exactly 100%. All other magnifications are interpolated. (This is true of all computer graphics anywhere). You are unlikely to see any real differences unless you use "pixel style" art, imitating 8bit displays, where there is a hard edge line to simulate what was essentially a technical limitation of the time. Out of curiosity, where did the wiki suggest 72? The Best Practices pages recommends 70. The only mention of 72 dpi is where it talks (erroneously) about the historical use of 72 to 75 dpi (which should be 72-96 dpi). In any case, at 100% zoom, each grid square is 70 pixels across. Art at 70 pixels per inch (or technically, grid unit) should display at original size.

Sniped by Ed. :) He is right of course, that designing for multiples of 70 pixels will give you better quality at higher magnifications. Your intent seemed to be to make the assets as small as aesthetically possible.

Thanks for the replies, appreciate you taking the time. Hi Keith,&nbsp; <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Creating_Marketplace_Assets" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Creating_Marketplace_Assets</a> &nbsp;is where the mention of 72 dpi, i think when i started my workflow i was a little confused how dimensions and density related to each other in regards to what size each of my map tiles would be etc. The more i have read and tested the clearer its become, my final light-bulb moment was a post of yours on the forum where you discussed the ideal file size should be in the 1mb range as any more is a waste for online uses. I think it was just me being over protective, all my files are are now in that range and as i said the drop in quality is only slight, and i have been able to alter my workflow accordingly

Lou Saffire said: Thanks for the replies, appreciate you taking the time. Hi Keith,&nbsp; <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Creating_Marketplace_Assets" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Creating_Marketplace_Assets</a> &nbsp;is where the mention of 72 dpi... Ah, I think that except in some rare cases of meta-reasons (things like layer effects), the dpi can be ignored on that Photoshop dialog box. Unless you are going to print something to paper , only the total number of pixels counts. "DPI" is an illusion for web graphics. 140 pixels will give you double density on a one grid figure on Roll20, whether the Photoshop DPI setting was 72, 5, or 100000. It's all just 140 pixels. An "inch" doesn't exist in an online jpg image.

Lou Saffire said: Thanks for the replies, appreciate you taking the time. Hi Keith,&nbsp; <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Creating_Marketplace_Assets" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Creating_Marketplace_Assets</a> &nbsp;is where the mention of 72 dpi, i think when i started my workflow i was a little confused how dimensions and density related to each other in regards to what size each of my map tiles would be etc. The more i have read and tested the clearer its become, my final light-bulb moment was a post of yours on the forum where you discussed the ideal file size should be in the 1mb range as any more is a waste for online uses. I think it was just me being over protective, all my files are are now in that range and as i said the drop in quality is only slight, and i have been able to alter my workflow accordingly Remember they are still mentally gamers pushing minis on grids... so when they are saying 72dpi, just mentally read that as "72px per 1 Unit Grid" As a content creator, I do 140px per Unit Grid, and also have learned to use at least one side of my large maps to be even so I can easily cut it and make it below the upload limit but also easy to stitch back together.

Minor, minor nitpick. Programatically, the VTT displays at 70 pixels per grid. Because... someone made that choice at the beginning. :) As always, dpi is an illusion.