What Size Images

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Hey guys. I’m kind of new to this programming thing, let alone programming apps, and I have a question.

I want to make an app for Kindle Fire HDX (7 inches). I know the pixel dimensions are 1920x1200, but anytime I put a background (or any image) into the simulator using that size (and ‘viewing as’ Kindle Fire HD 7 inch) the background is wayyyy too big).

I’ve read the section on dynamic scaling/images, but I’m still not sure:

What size do I tell my graphics artist to make the image? Do I measure the size of whatever the simulator shows and use scaling for “tall modes”? Or do I just use the 1920x1200 pixel size?

I just want to know what size images I should be making. (And this is assuming one device where I know the dimensions, so I don’t need to accommodate for different device sizes.)

Thanks in advance for the help!

-Tariq

#2

This won’t fully answer your question, but you should be aware that there is a difference between the Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Fire HDX. Namely, the HD has a resolution of only 1280x800. So if you display the image at full resolution then yes it should be bigger than your content area. If you want the image to stay within the bounds of the screen regardless of the resolution you can always do the following:

local background = display.newImageRect( "images/background.jpg", display.contentWidth, display.contentHeight )  

Since the aspect ratio is the same between 1920x1200 and 1280x800 there should be no distortion in the image if you do it this way.

#3

You might benefit from reading these two tutorials **in order**

https://coronalabs.com/blog/2012/12/04/the-ultimate-config-lua-file/

https://coronalabs.com/blog/2013/09/10/modernizing-the-config-lua/

The 2nd one is a cleaner way to do things, but there are important concepts in the first one that are assumed that you understand when reading the 2nd one.

Rob

#4

This won’t fully answer your question, but you should be aware that there is a difference between the Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Fire HDX. Namely, the HD has a resolution of only 1280x800. So if you display the image at full resolution then yes it should be bigger than your content area. If you want the image to stay within the bounds of the screen regardless of the resolution you can always do the following:

local background = display.newImageRect( "images/background.jpg", display.contentWidth, display.contentHeight )  

Since the aspect ratio is the same between 1920x1200 and 1280x800 there should be no distortion in the image if you do it this way.

#5

You might benefit from reading these two tutorials **in order**

https://coronalabs.com/blog/2012/12/04/the-ultimate-config-lua-file/

https://coronalabs.com/blog/2013/09/10/modernizing-the-config-lua/

The 2nd one is a cleaner way to do things, but there are important concepts in the first one that are assumed that you understand when reading the 2nd one.

Rob