We live in a digital area, and it is not difficult to take the digital designs into real-world posters. However, it is not as easy too as you may think of. If you are thinking of printing a poster for your ad or promotional campaigns, it is important to know several things to get it done perfectly. Here in this article, we will give you some tips to master poster printing. You do not have to worry about the guy at the printing shop who laughs at your ignorance by knowing these.
How to print a poster?
The standard now is to work in CMYK than RGB
If you are trying to produce your designs to take these to the printing shop, ensure that you work on CMYK color combinations than RGB standards. While using Photoshop, you have the options to toggle between these color modes. CMYK color mode will help you have a more accurate print representation of how your design was made. If you have an RGB work, which you need to convert to CMYK, just before sending the file to printing, you can use the Gamut warning tool of Photoshop to highlight the colors which you may have trouble converting to CMYK.
Use vector designs whenever possible
When your need is for poster printing, especially large format prints, vectors are the best choice. You may try to design as much on vector-based programs like Adobe Illustrator. This will help you to reduce or increase the file to any size without losing the crispiness. Adobe Illustrator will also give you the crispest print results in real-time.
Always work on 300DPI
Print files are usually in big format. One major delay in poster printing projects is the work being sent back by the digital printers as the resolution Is not high enough for print. The files destined for print must be set at a minimum of 300 DPI or dots per inch. The more dots make up the image, the higher the image’s resolution for print will be. More tightly printed dots per inch means, better the print reproduction of the design will be. On the other hand, if the resolution is very low, you will end up with a pixelated and blurred poster. In Photoshop, 300DPI is used as the standard resolution for printable documents.
Make an apt choice of paper
While planning to print, the most popular printing size of paper is A2, 594 mm x 420 mm in size. You can also consider A3 (420mm x 297mm) and A4 (297mm x 210mm) for print. The quality of paper and its weight can also be discussed with the printer for optimum output. However, 170 gsm gloss or silk art FSC or even 150gsm are ideal choices to make.
Some other important considerations while designing printable materials are:
- Always supply the files in PDF format
- Choose litho printing for best output
- Choose reliable poster printing providers online or offline.
Try to compare as many printers as possible to identify the top-rated and best quality cost-effective printers to contract for your poster printing job.