Are you thinking about AI images for your printing project? Writing and editing a book or printing project primarily involves coming up with a concept and formulating the text, with authors spending most of their time and effort crafting the perfect story or explanation of an idea that their readers will enjoy. But when the writing is complete, a fiction writer typically won’t need much more than a perfect cover image to catch the attention of a reader, while authors of nonfiction books or children’s books face an even greater pressure to come up with suitable images for both the book’s contents and eye-catching cover art.
With the recent advances in and the broad availability of artificial intelligence (AI) images, you might be wondering if AI images are a suitable choice to use in your printing projects or books. The short answer is yes, when you understand the strengths and weaknesses of using AI images, along with careful and intentional management of the image choices.
Sourcing AI Images
Before AI burst onto the digital scene, authors could source their imagery through a variety of sources. Photographs and images can be found on both free and paid sites, and authors could pay an expert graphic artist or photographer to create imagery to fit a specific look, feel, or concept. But now with the availability of AI generation programs, anyone with the right AI prompt, time, and a basic understanding of how AI works can generate and manipulate AI images that they can use on a budget.
Creating Usable AI Images
To take advantage of this groundbreaking and fascinating new technology, knowing a few basics will help you maximize the output you create using AI programming and will also help ensure that the AI images you do create will look good in your printing project.
PPI and Resolution
Photographic printing resolution is described as DPI, short for dots per inch, and most photos used in printing projects are recommended to have a DPI of 300 or higher to ensure crisp, clear images will end up in your book or printing project. But AI images are measured with pixels per inch, called PPI, and this describes the number of dots printed per square inch. Images made with AI with at least 300 PPI, like photos measured with 300 DPI, will reproduce beautifully.
Size and AI Image Generation
The first aspect of understanding how to create a high PPI image is to know the total number of pixels within the image. The following formula can help you calculate an image’s resolution:
PPI (resolution) = total pixels in the image/print size (in inches)
Calculating how many pixels you need for an image to be at 300 PPI is the next step to creating usable, non-pixelated AI images. These calculations work for any size square image.
1 Choose an image size, measured in inches, like 5” x 5 “, to print at 300 PPI
2 Find how many pixels are needed in the image: 5 (dimension) x 300 (ideal PPI) = 1500 pixels per side of the image
3 Use the result to determine how many pixels the image must have to be at the target resolution of 300 PPI. To do this, multiply the result by itself: 1500 x 1500 pixels
For non-square images, use these modified steps:
1 Image size: 8.5” x 11”
2 Complete the formula with both sides: 8.5 x 300 = 2550 and 11 x 300 = 3300
3 Image must be 2550 x 3300 PPI
Common Sizes and Resolutions
Many AI programs will default their image creations to a few specific sizes, increasing the likelihood that you will need to manipulate the size or seek a change to an image to reach the 300 PPI minimum. The default sizes are 512 x 512 px and 1024 x 1024 px. Some AI programs default to larger sizes, like 2048 x 2048px or 4096 x 4096px, so choose the program that automatically creates an image that you can use if you want to avoid extra steps during the creation process.
Customizing Your AI Images
Advances in AI programming mean many programs allow you to fully customize your AI images. It is possible to choose the pixel count or PPI ratios during the development stage with many AI programs, so your images will be ready for print right away.
Upscale Your AI Images
If you already have an AI image you want to use, but its ratios do not meet the minimum standards for printing, you might want to upscale the original image instead of starting over with a new, correct ratio image. Some AI programs specialize in upscaling, making them a great option for when you already know your image is otherwise perfect for your book or project.
Professional AI Images Generation
Similar to using a professional graphic designer, you can enlist the aid of an AI service to take over the task of generating the exact image you have in mind. They can assume the responsibility of pixelation and ratios, along with developing an image that matches your expectations. This is a smart option for authors with little experience or interest in learning AI protocols, who need a large number of images, or who are looking for a specific consistency throughout multiple images. These services can also produce images at the highest levels, like in 4K (3840 x 2160 px or higher) or even as high as 6000 x 6000 px.
AI Image Creation Tools to Try
- To create an image with a larger default pixel size, consider using MidJourney or Stable Diffusion.
- To increase the size, pixelation and PPI ratio of a smaller AI-created image, try Let’s Enhance or Topaz Gigapixel.
Choosing the Best Size for Your Project
Knowing what size of image and ratio to create when you begin the AI development process can help you get to the finish line faster. Choosing the right ratio and size to use without having to manipulate the image with specialized tools can save time and allow you to create ready-to-use images the first time. For a recommended 300 PPI, aim for these standards for AI generated images.
- Cover art or large prints should be 4096 x 4096 px in overall size with an approximate 13.6 x 13.6 inch print size.
- Covers or large illustrations should be 3840 x 2160 px in overall size with an approximate 12.8 x 7.2 inch print size.
- Medium illustrations should be 2048 x 2048 px in overall size with an approximate 6.8 x 6.8 inch print size.
- Horizontal illustrations should be 1792 x 1024 px in overall size with an approximate 6 x 3.4 inch print size.
- Small illustrations should be 1024 x 1024 px in overall size with an approximate 3.4 x 3.4 inch print size.
- Icons or small images should be 512 x 512 px in overall size with an approximate 1.7 X 1.7 inch print size.
Other Challenges with Using AI-Generated Images
Even though you may have conceptualized and developed images using AI technology, that doesn’t mean that your work with them is done once the image has been created.
- Copyright: It is incumbent on the image user to ensure that nothing in the image is copyrighted. AI images are not guaranteed to be copyright-free.
- AI Hallucinations are a common hurdle creators face with this type of image development. Ensuring your image looks the way you want it to is up to you, the creator and user.
- Color: Be sure to swap your colors out of the RGB color format, the standard color framework for AI generated artwork, into CMYK to be ready for print. The CMYK format is the print standard, and your images will print in beautiful, consistent color when they are in this print-ready format.
Printing Your AI Images in Your Next Project
Collecting the images you need for your next book or project and even transforming an image into the perfect cover art for a book is an exciting final step in self-publishing. Once you have everything ready to print, working with an experienced printer like Dazzle Printing is the perfect way to bring together your hard work on a book or book cover with the images you imagined and then created, just for you and your readers, to help your story or project come alive.
