Photoshop resizing & printing

2 questions;

First, I have some pixel art I want to resize to a much larger (printable) size in photoshop, but photoshop likes to automatically blur sharp edges... is there a way to turn that off so I can resize the pixel art and retain the sharp, pixelated look?

Second, I want to print this like poster size. I plan on going to kinkos or something to print it. What do I need to know about setting up the file? Ex: what's a good resolution (I hear 300 dpi), do I need to make the file CMYK instead of RGB? What format is best for printing and getting it to look as close as possible to the way it does on screen? Any other tips? Thanks.

>>5

you're absolutely right. on screen colors are not only terribly inaccurate, bt also vary between individual monitors.

a pantone matching system book or jim krause's color index book is the print reference to use when you want your output colors to be accurate. they contain printed examples of the currently possible colors with 4 color process (print) along with their cmyk formulae. the color index book is the cheaper option at around $25 american. i stole my pms book from the university, so i really can't tell you what they cost. they're probably quite overpriced.

if you're really serious (or perhaps even lazy)about output accuracy, you can get yourself a nice flat-crt monitor, like those old sony trinitrons or mitsubishis. these can be calibrated to be quite optically similar to print output. lately these have been going for reasonable prices due to a lack of demand for them. getting them well calibrated is a costly process, however.

>>7

if you value color accuracy, do it right from step one, rather than try to fix it at the end. for print, start your document in cmyk color always.