Creating a poster and unsure if my font will be too small once it is printed

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
August 18, 2021
8 replies
974 views

the poster will be 20x30, and I have my dimesnions in InDesign matching that. It's a poster of the US constituition so there is a lot of writing. I exported it as a PNG with high quality and 600 ppi. I'm expecting the words to look far more legible once they are printed onto a larger sheet rather than my small laptop screen. Should I expect the poster to be legible after printed?

I've never made a poster like this before, am doing it as a favor for my friend as she cannot find one in Spanish that is big enough for her classroom. I just don't want the money to be spent on printing it only for it to come out wrong.

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Correct answer rob day

InDesign’s 100% view displays the page and text at the size it will print.

JonathanArias

Legend

thats when the 8H rule comes into play!:

https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2013/09/quick-powerpoint-tip-size-matters/

rob day

Community Expert

Unless the OS in not providing the correct display info ID provides an accurate print preview—there’s no need to export. Here’s the ruler View at 100%:

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

Esport as PDF according to the standard of the printer. Avoid PNG. 600ppi will not get a better result than 300ppi as with export for print it will probably recalculated to 300pp anyway. Recalculating is always better done in Photoshop combinded with sharpening.

If you create a poster, don't forget the bleed as the printer requres it.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Exporting as PNG is an unusual choice, though. It's likely to reduce the quality of small text. Why do you choose this path? And how will the file be printed, finally?

D

defaults2aq0czkx4gl

Inspiring

Of course it's all a little subjective, and will vary from font to font, but body text is generally fine down to about 8pt which is the average size I tend to use for magazine and brochure work. Subheadings can of course be heavier or larger, and headings of couse much larger still depending on space and your design.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

I agree with JMlevy - export it as PDF with live text.

You can always do a test print in Acrobat at 100% off your own printer.

Don't scale it - let it print out on multiple pages.