School Ppi

I have a question pertaining to dpi and ppi.?

I need someone to answer this question accurately, well-explained, and before Sunday morning if possible. I am 15 years old and I have an assignment for art class in which I am to create a magazine cover using Photoshop. The image size has to be 8 inches wide by 10.5 inches being the height. The resolution has to be 300 dpi. Since it is the weekend and their is no school, I cannot use Photoshop because the computers at school have it but I don't. I am going to use GIMP because it is free but GIMP uses ppi instead of dpi. I would like to know what the ppi(pixels per inch) would have to be so that the image is the same as an image which is 8" by 10.5" with a resolution of 300 dpi(dots per inch). Please be specific and explain it so that I can understand it. You can e-mail me an answer at emmanueltewinkle@yahoo.com. I will give the best answer to whoever explains themselves the best. Thanks:)

I haven't used GIMP, so I will do my best. When you are talking PPI (pixels per inch) you are referring to the number of pixels in an image. DPI (dots per inch) is used in printing. Depending on the printer and the number of colors used, the number of dots per inch can vary. A three color printer may give you 900 dpi, and a four color printer may give you 1200. But those numbers will vary depending on manufacturer.

So...what should you do? I would make an 8x10.5 image with a high DPI using GIMP. You can always scale it down in Photoshop when you get to school. You can't so easily scale up (and have good quality). Try using at least 1200 dpi, maybe even 2400.

Hope that helps.

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