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AnotherMe
Inspiring
October 13, 2017
Answered

Scaling up scans for poster size illustrations?

  • October 13, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 3114 views

Hello everyone,

Do any experienced illustrators have instructions on how I can scale up my 8.5x 11 size scans to a poster size canvas in Adobe Illustrator?

These posters sizes can include:

  • 22 x 28
  • 24 x 36
  • 30 x 40

Is it a mistake to think I can do the drawing at 8.5 x 11 and scale it up? The only reason I would do so, is that my scanner is that size.

Should I do the drawing in the actual poster size I will print out from?

Thanks for you help.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Mike_Gondek10189183

Your results spend upon

  • how many pixels your scanner was set to scan
  • the type of artwork (detailed hair or simple clouds

Can you post s screesnhot, so we can see he type of detail you are expecting to reproduce and we can better advise.

There is software out there that boasts through processing to increase the quality of low res images to high res images. But they were all sugar pills last time I tested them, and no better than Photoshop bicubic interpolation. What you see on tv of images getting enhanced in sic fi and police shoes is just tv when they show super amazing results, is just not possible.

This is more of a photoshop question, and the best you can do is shown in the link below, but requires you know photoshop well to make decisions as the exact numbers he used are not for every photo

Improve Photo Quality In Photoshop [[ Simple ]] - Photoshop Tutorial - YouTube

4 replies

Mike_Gondek10189183
Community Expert
Mike_Gondek10189183Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
October 13, 2017

Your results spend upon

  • how many pixels your scanner was set to scan
  • the type of artwork (detailed hair or simple clouds

Can you post s screesnhot, so we can see he type of detail you are expecting to reproduce and we can better advise.

There is software out there that boasts through processing to increase the quality of low res images to high res images. But they were all sugar pills last time I tested them, and no better than Photoshop bicubic interpolation. What you see on tv of images getting enhanced in sic fi and police shoes is just tv when they show super amazing results, is just not possible.

This is more of a photoshop question, and the best you can do is shown in the link below, but requires you know photoshop well to make decisions as the exact numbers he used are not for every photo

Improve Photo Quality In Photoshop [[ Simple ]] - Photoshop Tutorial - YouTube

Jacob Bugge
Community Expert
Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 13, 2017

AnotherMe,

Are we talking about a hand made drawing that is scanned and used as a raster image, or vector artwork made with the help of Illy?

In the former case, first  and foremost it is a question of final resolution (is it adequate)?

In the latter case, why scan the artwork? You can create it at the final size unless that is larger than the Workspace which is 16,384 points, just over 227.5 inches, in which case you can create it at a suitable scale (1:2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, whichever) and scale up in connexion with printing.

Doug A Roberts
Community Expert
Doug A RobertsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 13, 2017

those are all slightly different aspect ratio sizes though. as long as you're accounting for that when you design these things.

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 13, 2017

Are you actually doing any of the drawing in Illustrator or are you talking about scanned images being placed in Illustrator as part of a poster layout? If you are just doing page layout and no actual drawing in Illustrator then you might want to use InDesign which is a page layout program.

As far as size is concerned if you are using scans of raster art then resolution will be important. Generally, large posters of the size you’ve indicated will use a resolution of between 100 and 150 ppi at full size. That means that if you were to do your layout at fifty percent size then the resolution at half size should be 200 to 300 ppi. So if you do your art at a smaller size you must scan at an appropriate resoluition for the final size. Resolution would only be important for raster images (scans or Photoshop imports). Drawing done in Illustrator is vector art which can be scaled up or down with no loss of quality as vector art is not dependent on resolution.

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