Surrender

What I'm trying to figure out is how I can render an image and keep the entire image on my screen so I know the progress of the image. I can render an image at 3000x1250 at 72 dpi, but when it gets near the end, I cannot see if the image is still rendering or if my program has snagged somewhere and is just sitting there spinning its wheels but not doing anything. At 1470x919 at 72 dpi, I can watch the entire image render but the end result is an actual 5x3 inch picture--very small. I guess I'm just trying to find a happy medium where I can make sure my program isn't crashing yet I can still get a beautiful-sized picture that I can print out without losing integrity.

Preparing to Print
So, you’ve brought an image into the computer via film scan or digital capture, optimized it to perfection, and now you’re ready to print. This is where resolution really starts to become a problem for many photographers. It seems to be a common misconception that resolution that describes pixel density is permanent. It isn’t. Think of pixels as individual units that can be squeezed close together or spread far apart, depending on your needs. When you are working on an image file in the computer, you are working with the pixels, and it doesn’t make any difference what the output resolution is. Pixels are pixels.
When it comes time to print, you need to specify how closely you want the pixels packed together. There are, of course, standards for this. For most photo inkjet printers, the optimal quality will be achieved by using a file set to 360 dpi output quality. The normal standard is 300 dpi, and you can still get very good results even down to 240 dpi.
To set output resolution in Photoshop, I recommend a two-step approach. To access the image size option, select Image > Image Size from the menu. The first step is to uncheck the Resample checkbox and set the document resolution to the desired setting. I recommend 360 dpi for the best quality. By setting the output resolution with the resample option disabled, the output size will automatically change to show you the largest possible output size at the resolution you’ve set, without any interpolation.
The second step is to set the actual output size you want. You may have a 4000 dpi scan of a 35mm slide that will allow you to produce about an 11”x14” print without interpolation. If you only want a print to fit on an 8.5”x11” sheet, you’ll need to reduce the size of the image, throwing away pixels. To do this, simply check the Resample checkbox again, and set the desired height or width. Be sure the Constrain Proportions checkbox is checked so that the image won’t be distorted. Then, when you adjust either the height or width, the other will be adjusted automatically to fit.
Once you have the document resolution and output size, simply click OK and the image will be resampled. Keep in mind that if you changed the size of the image, pixels will be added or removed by Photoshop. While this can be done to a reasonably large degree without losing too much quality, the quality will suffer to at least some degree. For that reason, I strongly recommend that you save the original image before resizing it. If you want to save the resized image, select File > Save As, and save it as a separate file.