Printing help...

[ShutterSpeed]

I'm a photographer in Brazil doing my first poster print job.
My client wants posters of herself bellydancing for her bellydancing themed birthday party.
The poster size we're looking is basically 3 feet wide by 4.5 feet tall.

Shooting in raw at full resolution with a D60 (10.2MP)
Processing the images in LR/Photoshop at 300 dpi.

what do I need to know to get a DECENT quality print?

also..

I have a separate project for my work where I'm looking for 3' x 2' images of cities around the world. I'm unsure of the appropriate resolution to be looking for. These don't have to be professional quality print, i expect a tad bit of pixelation, especially since I will be pulling these off stock photography...

any help provided will be appreciated!

 

[Big Mike]

First find the lab where you will have them printed, and ask for their advice.

For poster sized prints, I think you would be OK with a ratio of 100 pixels per inch of print. So at maximum size, you're good for around 39x26 inches.
The lab might ask you to up-sample the image (increase the number of pixels) or they may do that themselves. Or maybe they'll just print with that resolution at the larger size you want.

The thing to keep in mind, is that posters aren't meant to be viewed from a few inches away. They are meant to be viewed from several feet away.