Hi,
Starting at the end of your list.
so why not just use a default size or the size of the original image
You need to forget normal image editor stuff about default sizes and resolution, QU is a great deal more intelligent that that.
All the Help for QU is really about "How to" and explains the various features
I always have problems when I use Qimage with the dpi. Nowhere do I see explained what the 360x360 means on top of the page, only by reading through the forums do I see that it is the maximum resolution with the settings I have chosen - and have also learned I can change it to 720x720 by making some minor menus in the printer driver - Epson 7880.
You need to read the Qimage web site where it is all explained and I'll put some links below for you.
Briefly: QU reads the driver to obtain the printer's Native Resolution and the 720ppi is Epson's value at the highest quality setting, "Finest Detail" in your case.
To prevent the driver from "messing about" with and interpolating the pixels, QU interpolates to that resolution prior to sending data to the printer. QU interpolation algorithms are the best and a fundamental part of the reason why QU prints are of superior quality.
Note I have been talking about PPI, the image resolution, not dpi which usually refers to the printer dot pattern density and is not the same thing.
Apparently I have to customize the output resolutions for the look/media I am working with -no problem
Not sure what you mean here - YOU don't have to do anything to change a resolution, QU does all interpolation for you based on your driver settings. As I said, forget what you have to do to print using a certain well know editor! Just use the original image without any re-sizing in another program that is very important for best quality.
I suggest you look at the web site:
http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/quality.htmhttp://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/tech-prt.htmThese articles:
http://ddisoftware.com/tech/articles/july-2011-restless-natives/http://ddisoftware.com/tech/articles/march-2010-smart-photo-printing/why have a separate line for poster resolution?
The term "poster" is generic for any large print and because viewing distances are normally greater, the best quality is not required. It also means QU processing time is reduced too.
Finally:
And why isn't there an actual ppi number in the editor?
There is and print ppi in the Print Queue Tab, see screen shot attached. With the final print resolution (720ppi), you don't need to know any more than that.
Any ppi and related size tagged to an image is meaningless; an image has a size measured in pixels so how can it have and "inches" while still a digital file?
I hope that is of some help to you.
Terry