I'm currently designing images in four different dimensions (ldpi,mdpi,hdpi and xhdpi) for an Android application. i know that the different drawable folders are used dependig on the dpi of the devices' screen.
But what is the optimal dpi in photoshop to save the pngs?
Should images for ldpi saved with 120dpi, mdpi with 160dpi and so on?
Refer this,
http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
According to that,
What I would do is design on a 300dpi cavas. That way there's no loss of quality.
// check this Link
You might be confused about what PPI (pixels per inch) to set your deliverables at. Just leave them at the standard 72 PPI, and scale the images accordingly.
Picture's resolution is not important for screen, it's important only for printing.
Related
I see a lot of post on this topic, however I haven't seen an explanation on what image size to take as a reference, let me explain.
I want to add a background image and make it suitable for each phone screen size so from mdpi to xxhdpi (if I'm not talking nonsense)
What size should my base image be?
I used a 600x1200 image and a 1080x1920 then converts using this site
https://romannurik.github.io/AndroidAssetStudio/
Unfortunately I noticed that on my two phones the image was distorted, I'm starting to think my base image size was wrong
So my question
What image size should I take to then create multiple densities ?
Sorry if it's redundant !!!
I'm starting to learn how to adapt and it's not that easy
If you want to create a background picture, your reference size is mdpi with 320x480px. You can then calculate the size according to the factor
hdpi: 1.5 (480x720)
xhdpi: 2.0 (640x960)
xxhdpi: 3.0 (960x1440)
xxxhdpi: 4.0 (1280x1920)
Note however, that nowadays devices have all kinds of other aspect ratios (mostly longer). So you have to design your background in a way, that the outer area does not contain important content. Then use ScaleType CENTER_CROP and your image should not be distorted (https://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/ImageView.ScaleType)
I think the site is for (mainly launcher) icons.
If your target device's display has 1080x1920 size with xxhdpi (3x) density, just put an image of the size in the res/drawables/xxhdpi folder. No other densities are needed to be prepared. They will be re-scaled from the xxhdpi image if needed.
If you still want to prepare for those densities, first prepare the highest density. If you want to use xxxhdpi (4x), you should start with xxxhdpi sized image. Then scale it down to xxhdpi (3x), xhdpi (2x), hdpi (1.5x) and mdpi (1x).
xxxhdpi (4x): 100%
xxhdpi (3x): 75%
xhdpi (2x): 50%
hdpi (1.5x): 37.5%
mdpi (1x): 25%
Support different pixel densities: Provide alternative bitmaps
I apologize for the simple question, but I am a bit confused.
I am creating my first Android app. Functinally I am done. I am now working on the UI. According to this, I am required to provide multiple icons to support different screens and I understand this part.
So I created a vector image, and was about to export it to generate a number of icons to support multiple resolutions. However, I could not find the require DPI. According to this, I am supposed to support different DPIs, but the article does not explain how to do that.
Can you please advise me on how to select the proper DPI? Does it even matter? I thought it does, but maybe my understanding is wrong.
Thanks.
EDIT:
Just to clarify my question. When I am exporting an image from a vector to a raster image, I have to select its dimension (so in my case, 400px X 200px), and its dpi. So what should I choose for DPI? Is that the same DPI that will create different icon sizes? I am confused. Thanks again.
For what concerns dpi, I use to follow the screen dpi:
640 dpi for xxxhdpi screens
480 dpi for xxhdpi screens
320 dpi for xhdpi screens
240 dpi for hdpi screens
160 dpi for mdpi screens
120 dpi for ldpi screens
This way I'm sure the icons are appropriate to the screen resolution.
I'm also sure that I can skip some (if not all) the lower qualities, once I have the highest resolution graphics, because they will scale down nearly perfectly.
But, since I'm a perfectionist, nearly disturbs me.
So, I do provide all the resolutions graphics.
For what concerns dimensions use this cheatsheet: http://petrnohejl.github.io/Android-Cheatsheet-For-Graphic-Designers/#dimensions
You can make this experiment:
for an xhdpi screen, prepare a 800px X 400px image at 72 dpi (and no other images for other resolutions) and see how does it scale down in a lower resolution physical device, say an ldpi screen (it will look really bad)...
Then prepare a 800px X 400px image at 480 dpi (and no other images for other resolutions) and, after scaling (will look very good, on the same ldpi screen), compare the result to the previous one.
The difference will be evident on a physical device, much less on an emulator.
It's a way of doing things when you want to save some bytes on lower resolution pictures: just prepare the highest resolutions ones and let Android scale them down (it will scale down the ones it doesn't find in their folders).
I am writing my conclusion for the greater good. After further reading and investigation. It appears that DPI is not important when I am creating an image for a screen. So when I choose 400px X 200px, and assuming this will be for mdpi, then I should choose 800px X 400px for xdpi (and so on and so forth). The dpi should be ignored in all cases (does not matter if I chloose dpi of 90 or 600, as long as this is not for printing). On the other hand, if I am to print the image, then dpi is important.
EDIT
This is a great article about the topic. Please read it, it explains things very well.
Well, I'm working on the UI for my Android app. And regarding the variety of screen sizes and resolutions, I'm following the known recipe:
MDPI 160DPI 1X (1px)
HDPI 240 DPI 1.5X
XHDPI 320 DPI 2X
Considering this scale, it means manually resize all my icons and buttons on Photoshop, and then load them into the respective folders (mdpi,hdpi and xdpi).
Do you do this in the same way? There is some sort of "auto scaling mode" or something on Android?
All the best,
If you don't want to generate all the icons for all dpi fragmentation, there's a trick. Just generate the icons for xxhdpi or xhdpi and add them into the respective folder. Android itself will resize them in order to fit another fragmentatios but remember that the scale is always done from bigger sizes to smaller, not in the other way.
Hope that helps
I Need to create a Designs for a Andriod Application.
I can see everyone are speaking about this "ldpi,mdpi,hdpi & xhdpi....etc.," My biggest doubt is in WHAT RESOLUTIONS, I should create the designs in Photoshop?? As there are lots of screen sizes available now. WHAT DEFAULT SCREEN SIZES I SHOULD DESIGN WITH FOR EACH "ldpi,mdpi,hdpi & xhdpi ?" Like for Xhdpi - What Screen resolution Should I do ?
a. 720x1280 - 320 dpi
b. 2048x1536 - 320 dpi
c. 2560x1536 - 320 dpi
d. 2560x1600 - 320 dpi
Again the same resolutions for ldpi,mdpi and hdpi ? What Screen Resolutions for the respective DPI's
Which Screen Resolutions for
a. 120 dpi ?
b. 160 dpi ?
c. 240 dpi ?
PLEASE CLARIFY ME GUYS.
THANKS A TON IN ADVANCE
See this calculator.
ldpi is 120 dpi
mdpi is 160 dpi
hdpi is 240 dpi
xhdpi is 320 dpi
xxhdpi is 480 dpi
xxxhdpi is 640 dpi
(Thanks to Tobor for adding those last two and correcting my typo, I accidentally overwrote his edit)
Also, I don't know why Maneti's initial advice was downvoted. When in doubt, use this tool (or the one in your android sdk) to generate your icons, then import those icons you generated into Photoshop. That's actually the most pragmatic and easiest solution (that doesn't require any thinking on your part and yet that solution works all the time for densities).
As to the size of an image (as defined by the Android guidelines/terminology), only worry about the size of that image if it's a image that could potentially take the entire width, or the entire height, of the screen (like a large background image for instance).
So in most cases, most developers end up not needing the size qualifier for their drawables (because it won't make a difference unless it's a large background image).
For 120, 160, 240 dpi, respectively, I'm condidering 240*320, 320*480 and 480*800 (or 854) screen sizes.
For xhdpi (320) I'm considering 1280*720 (or 800).
But this is only a reference
Take in account that your design should scale
So, the graphical elements should stretch or be repositioned well.
After all, the screen size is not so important, if you project your objects positions and sizes well.
Use dp for objects and sp for font sizes, use the proper dpi resolutions for graphics and you shold be fine.
You can't follow any existing resolution. Generalize.
You could start with with XXHDPI and then export your assets from there. I found that 1080px x 1920px and 72ppi is a comfortable size to design in Photoshop and allows you to export to other resolutions by downscaling (you should avoid scaling assets up). You can then you use this Photoshop script I wrote or Cut&Slice me to export assets from that document to the other resolutions (XHDPI, HDPI, MDPI, and LDPI).
I would also recommend using a Sprite Sheet PSD for your assets to keep things clean and organized.
Hope this helps.
first I think you meant ppi not dpi.
second since the graphics are intended to be used on screen only the size in pixels matters. The ppi could be what ever you want.
ppi (pixels per inch)/dpi (dots per inch) is used to measure the resolution of the output in the real world.
So why people use ppi if it doesn't matter?
Some people like to use the ppi when sizing the files for proportions. This way you can change the ppi number and get the proportions right.
let's assume you start with xxhdpi with a ppi of 480.
Then if you change to 320 you will get xhdpi
240 > hdpi
160 > mdpi
120 > ldpi
but you can use percentages as well.
Let's say I have an ImageButton in my app. The size of the .png for ImageButton is 50x50px and it was originally designed for xhdpi. Let's say I now want to adjust this .png image for other screen densities. Is there some kind of formula that helps you calculate what would be the best size of the image to suit a certain density? I really doubt trying random width and heights is the way to go.
I did some research and found this image:
My basic understanding of maths tells me that I should originally design it for mdpi and then just multiply or divide it to get hdpi/xhdpi/ldpi, is that the right way to go?
What you found here http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html and the formula is 100% correct, the standard is to use 96*96 for xhdpi 72*72 for hdpi 48*48 for mdpi and 32*32 for ldpi but since you didn't follow standard size you can still follow this formula.
Take standard sizes as example on this formula
48*1 = 48 which is mdpi
48*.75 = 32 which is ldpi
48*1.5 = 72 which is hdpi
48*2 = 96 which is xhdpi
I use this tool for re-sizing images. You just need to provide the xhdpi and the tool will scale down the images to different densities. https://code.google.com/p/9patch-resizer/