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jennac85357521
jennac85357521
Participant
April 2, 2019
Answered

Large Format PSB file needs to be vector image

  • April 2, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 7781 views

I have had a lot of trouble finding a solution to my problem

I have a very large file I created for a 40ftx8ft banner for a client. I was able to save it as a "large format" photoshop file. After I flattened it, I was also able to save it as a .png file as well. (once flattened the file size is 4.31GB in photoshop, saved as a .psb- 572 MB, saved as a .png- 101.3 MB) My problem is that I need to be able to send this to a printer as an acceptable file size. I am pretty good at photoshop, but I lack skills in Illustrator. I understand that this would be much easier to work on as a vector graphic but I don't know how to use Illustrator to start from scratch. I have tried to save it as an .ai file but it's too large to create a .pdf and it wont save even if I opt out of a .pdf copy. Every time I try to open the file and do an "image trace' in Illustrator eventually the program will crash and nothing will be accomplished. Every thing I've found online mostly pertains to smaller images and not something of this magnitude. Because of it's size, it won't even let me save as a .tiff in photoshop.

Should I scrap the whole thing, learn to create it with Illustrator from scratch, or is there a way to convert this to a vector image so that it can be a smaller more suitable file to send to a printer?

I have scoured the internet for help but nothing seems to work, HELP!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer jennac85357521

    jennac85357521  wrote

    In Illustrator I've been able to rasterize it and then trace...

    Wait, what? Rasterize it? Isn't the fact that it's already raster the core of the problem? It wouldn't make any sense to rasterize something only for the purpose of tracing it afterwards. Can you clarify?


    I was able to resize the image in photoshop, scale it down and then do an Image trace and that seemed to work, so I think I figured it out. Next time I'll start with Illustrator and save myself the headache. Thank you so much for all your advice and help!!

    3 replies

    J
    jdanek
    Inspiring
    April 2, 2019

    I recommend scaling your Photoshop File down to 10'x2' @ 300ppi RGB > Save As PDF ( JPEG compression set to "8" ).

      Anna Lander
      Anna Lander
      Inspiring
      April 2, 2019

      Yes, PSB or PNG are not good formats for printing, especially so large things.

      Show please a small jpg version of the banner to see if it's recreatable in Illustrator and hep you to choose the minimal set of needed tools. You can find the basic info about the program here: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/get-started.html

      Illustrator Get Started

      Which format the printing team ask you for?

      jennac85357521
      jennac85357521Author
      Participant
      April 2, 2019

      I think they said that they accept PNG files but they suggested that it be a vector image scaled down 15% for easier sharing and uploading. Here is a screen shot of the image I was trying to use. In Illustrator I've been able to rasterize it and then trace, but each time it says it's still to large to do an image trace.

      John Mensinger
      Community Expert
      John MensingerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 2, 2019

      Even at much smaller sizes, Image Trace is not the correct solution for almost anything.

      Did you create the bear-face/map-outline graphic in the center, or did the client supply it? Such graphics are typically done originally in vectors, and unless you yourself created it from scratch in Photoshop, I'd expect it exists in a vector format somewhere.

      Overall, this is a relatively simple composition to construct from scratch in Illustrator at any size; just get the aspect ratio right and it's good to go.

      Sahil.Chawla
      Adobe Employee
      Sahil.Chawla
      Adobe Employee
      April 2, 2019

      Moved to Illustrator​

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