Poster Prints

Do you have a favorite picture? Maybe it's from a vacation or something your kids drew -- or something that just hits you right in the amygdala every time you look at it. Is it 4 inches by 6 inches in size? Or even 8 inches by 10 inches? Well, we can help you make that up to 52 inches by 78 inches instead. Use it as wallpaper, let satellites see it in your yard, or use it as a cover for your table during Thanksgiving.

Project Ideas

Designs

Note: Most of the things you need to know for designing your print are covered in other project pages:

• 2D Digital Design

• Graphic Design

Because image quality is the primary concern for printing, the difference between a raster image and a vector image is particularly important, so more information is provided in the paragraphs that follow.

When selecting or designing an image to print, you must make sure that the image is appropriately sized. The number of pixels does not tell you the size of the picture directly, but you have to use the resolution of the image to get a rough estimate of its size.

Resolution refers to the size of the pixels (squares of color values) that compose an image. The picture above was created to have 640 pixels in the horizontal direction and 577 pixels in the vertical direction. Resolution may also refer to the density of pixels or dots per inch (DPI). For example, the picture above was created at 96 dpi. To find the native size of the image, we can divide the number of pixels by the DPI.

640 / 96 = 6.67 inches

577 / 96 = 6.01 inches

Note: This website was created to be viewed with a medium-sized screen, but it is formatted to be easily shown on mobile devices as well as desktop computers. You may see a very different size and quality on a large screen versus a smartphone. These images are being used to describe a concept, even if the description of the image is not 100% accurate.

Most images that are intended to be displayed on a screen have a DPI of 72 or 96. If we wanted to enlarge the image for a large poster or banner, then we need to stretch the image by making those pixels larger. Alternatively, we could apply a smoothing algorithm, which tends to blur the image.

If we were to enlarge the image (without smoothing) to be 3 feet wide, then we would have

640 / 36 = 26.67 DPI

The image above and to the left is an example of a small section of the original image. It has been enlarged as though we wanted it to be displayed in a larger size. The pixels are easily noticeable and the quality of the image has dropped significantly. We expected it to look like the simulated image on the right. Vector images do not suffer from the problems that we dive into below.

When you make an image larger, your are effectively lowering the DPI. A high DPI will be a finely detailed image. Image size refers to the physical number of inches that an image occupies. If your images is 6 inches long at 300 DPI, then it has 1800 pixels along that length. If you wanted to double the size of the image to 12 inches in length, then the resolution would drop to 150 DPI because those 1800 pixels would need to be increased in size to span over a longer distance. The number of pixels divided by the resolution will tell you how big your image is before you resize.

On your screen, this means you could zoom into the image quite a bit before it looks blurry or blocky. On a print, this means you can view it from a close range without noticing a drop in quality. Photo-printing companies often restrict the size to which you can enlarge an image because this inherently lowers the DPI.

Printed images tend to need at least 300 DPI if they are to be viewed like a book held in front of you. Banners meant to be viewed from a distance can get away with a lower DPI. You should consider the intended viewing range when deciding if your resolution is high enough.

RIP-ing

Raster Image Processing is a procedure that is used for generating the information that the printer needs in order to recreate the design with drops of ink. The software that we use for this step (as well as layout and queuing) is called VersaWorks Dual. The procedure works as follows:

1. Interpret the elements from the formatting of the image or document. The VersaWorks Dual is capable of reading the format of *.jpg, *.pdf, and *.eps files.

2. Render files with as high quality as possible. The formats that VersaWorks Dual can interpret, especially document formats, essentially contain continuous quality that can scale to any size.

3. Screen files to determine exactly where/when to apply a drop of ink onto the print media. During this step, VersaWorks Dual is capable of calculating exactly how much ink it expects to use.

Cutting

VersaWorks Dual is also capable of cutting along contour lines in properly-formatted *.eps files. There are three key elements that are absolutely necessary to make this work.

1. The contour must be a vector path.

2. The contour must be the only feature of the top layer. Put all other content in lower layers.

3. The contour must be a spot color named "CutContour" for continuous cuts and "PerfCutContour" for perforating cuts.

Note: VersaWorks Dual can interpret the formatting style that you can find in Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw -- both of which are not free. However, it may be possible that another software can be used to format the vector information in the same way. We also have a license to Adobe Illustrator and may be able to help you "upgrade" your design easily.

If you formatted your contours correctly, VersaWorks Dual will show the contour as an animated, red, dashed line. This has been referred to as the "dancing ants" for obvious reasons.

Material

We can print on material that is up to 54 inches wide. The type of material that you print on can have an effect on the way your print will turn out. For example, banner and canvas material have a light texture to them. Adhesive vinyl and photobase paper have a shiny gloss to them, but cardstock paper does not. Some materials are thin and others are thick, so the default distance between the print nozzle and the material can cause a slight bleeding or blurring effect.

We have a few different type of paper media that you can use if you don't have a roll of your own:

• Cardstock Paper -- This material is like a thick version of the cardstock paper that you use with an ordinary printer -- but it's 54 inches wide. The paper is matte white and is useful for prints that are not exposed to tampering or harsh conditions.

• Calendared Vinyl -- You can peel away the backing layer for this material to expose an adhesive surface. The vinyl is glossy white and is useful for semi-permanent display such as wallpaper and decals.

• Banner -- The print media gains strength if it is injected with plastic fibers. The banner is matte white and is useful for durable outdoor signs.

• Canvas -- A textured material can add an artsy look to your print. The canvas is matte ivory and is useful for art displays.

Print Requests

We don't allow direct use of our large printer, but you can place a request for a poster print. Please read the Large Printer Policy if you want us to fulfill a request for a poster print or other large print.