PSD Document Size for Android Design mdpi
I have a PSD design for iPhone, I need to adapt to Android app design.
I have read five different official documentation articles, several blog posts, Stack Overflow answers, PSD template files you name.
Now I know my challenge is to design in baseline mdpi density and then use the 3: 4: 6: 8 ratio rule to extract bitmap images for each density.
However, the only thing that each of the clever people who wrote everything I read seemed to be oblivious to what exact pixel values I should be using to create the mentioned mdpi design.
Every example I've read starts with "For example, if you have a 100x100 icon in mdpi ...". Well I don't know how many pixels my icons are in mdpi.
This documentation states that "normal screens are at least 470dp x 320dp". I thought the word "normal" refers to screen size, not density. And what is "at least"? What if I make drawings "at least" sized and then someone has a bigger screen? There is also a table at the end from which I can gather that the mdpi screens are either 320x480 or 1280x800. So it all cleared up.
I'm not an Android developer, and I don't aim to be that way. I am just one sad, disgruntled designer who would like to know the exact numbers I would have to put in the Image Size dialog box in Photoshop to turn my iPhone Retina design (640x960 pixels, good ol style) into a representative mdpi size in Android, Please someone provide me with these numbers. Thank.
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With an iPhone 640x960 at 326 dpi, you're trying to hit 160dpi (mdpi).
So that means you need to multiply your dimensions by 160/326 or 0.49. This will give a 314x471 template.
Also check http://code.google.com/p/android-ui-utils/ which will contain some device screen templates that you can import into Photoshop or another editor. From there, if you are using, say, a template with a phone that is HDPI, you can scale accordingly.
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First, some links that might clarify the stretching Android design concepts:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/more-resources.html#Dimension http://blog.edwinevans.me/?p=131
"I thought the word 'normal' was applied to screen dimensions, not density."
I have a phone with a 4-inch screen and a 480x800 resolution. That's about 240 dpi. Another phone has a 4 "screen, 320x480 res, but only 160dpi (mdpi).
Think about it when trying to print a 16MP photo on an old printer at 150 dpi at full resolution. You will receive a HUGE printout.
To avoid this resolution issue, sp / dp are used in android, so screens with very different resolutions look very similar.
You can set Photoshop to present your designs to you at your desired target DPI.
I was hoping this would help confuse you a little.
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