A

Anonymous

Question

Dpi and image size when printing large scale

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
June 9, 2020
3 replies
1338 views

Hi everyone!

I have been asked by my employer to design some posters that will be printed large scale to go on the side of the building (3135mm width x 2250mm height to be precise).

First of all, I would just like advice on a) whether Photoshop is the best Adobe software for this job and b) what dpi would be best. I have set the image size on photoshop to the dimensions we will be printing at - can I go any smaller or should I stick with the print size?

Second of all, I have been given the company logo to put on the poster. This is quite a small file (147 pixels x 79 pixels). I'm wonderin if anyone can advise me how best to handle this. I ave tried changin the image size and dpi, however it becomes very faded, and the colours tend to blend together.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Katie

How to

This topic has been closed for replies.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

For a poster that's to be viewed from a distance you needn't have a higher resolution as you would say for a magazine illustration. Have a word with you print supplier. If they suggest say 100PPI then create a document around 12,000px wide depth in pro. You may have to ask/tell your employer that the photograph(s) and logo that you've been supplied with are not good enough and they may need to go back to the oroginal deisgner / photographer to get suitable versions.

A

Anonymous

Thank you Derek!

davescm

Community Expert

Photoshop is the best for this if the poster will contain photographic images. If it is entirely graphical shapes then Illustrator is best.

Either way the logo should be re-created, either in Photoshop with vector shapes or in Illustrator.

For your document resolution (ppi) then there is a simple formula based on viewing distance.

ppi required = 6878 / viewing distance in inches

As an example if your posters will be viewed from say 3 metres away then the ppi required would only be 6878/(39x3) = 58 ppi. If they will be viewed closer, let's say 1 metre then the ppi required would be 6878(39x1) = 176 ppi.

Any more just cannot be resolved by normal eyes at those distances.

Dave

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Anonymous

Thanks for the advice Dave!

melissapiccone

Community Expert

Photoshop is not the best for this - Illustrator would be better and bonus if you have a vector version of your logo - all of your problems solved.

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist

A

Anonymous

Thank you. I'll use Illustrator instead. Unfortunately, I've only been given a JPEG and a PNG file

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