Various Ways of Printing Posters

There are so many ways of printing posters, just choose the one that you deem is much easier for you.

Using Photoshop

The steps involved are quite simple to follow and anybody can do it. The first thing to do is to find and then open the Adobe Photoshop application. Then Open from the file menu. Choose your file and then click Open. If ever you want to resize your image, bear in mind that any changes made in the physical size of your image will have a direct effect on its file size. The larger the physical size, the larger the file size and a large file size takes quite a while to process. What you can do is to print at a resolution of 150 dpi.  The reason for this is that, even if you choose a much higher resolution it will only be deemed useless since additional data from a higher resolution is usually ignored by the printer.  Then don’t forget to use RGB color mode.  If you’re already satisfied with the size of your image then you may save your file.

To save your file you have to choose Save As from the file menu in which a dialog box will appear prompting you to type a descriptive name for your file. Be sure to select Photoshop EPS as your format however if ever the Photoshop option is dimmed then you ought to click Cancel and then check if your image has been flattened. Afterwards, choose a directory and then click Save.  To print your saved file, you may just open an on-screen preview and then print away.


Using PowerPoint

The first step is to set the page setup size to 8.5”x11” or A4 or you may choose to use the custom 36”x48” or the 50”x56”. However, the generally used page size is the 36”x48”. The second step is to set your page to either landscape of portrait bearing in mind that the poster is capable of 50” wide printing.

The tables and text should be created in PowerPoint and should never be cut and pasted from other window applications. Then place all of your texts and pictures in a slide which will be printed to become your poster later on. However, you have to use very small font sizes if you want to include every text on the page. You may use the Zoom function to see what you have typed that is of course if you use the small page sizes but if you have chosen to use the custom page size (36”x48”) then you may view it at a 100%. This will display how your poster will come out. And another thing, avoid using dark backgrounds on your posters since it will only make your poster susceptible to scratches and then make fingerprints more obvious.  Then save your work on a 3.5” diskette or Zip 100 or 250 mega disk or CD or you may save it on a USB Flash Drive.


Using Illustrator

There is a need for you to create your poster to actual size. You may make use of Document Set-Up 42xN or 36xN. To view the actual size of your poster you may choose 100%, this way you can verify the resolution as well as the quality of your poster. Then don’t forget to make use of RGB color mode for that vibrant color of your poster. In order not to have any problem with your font, make use of only the cross platform system fonts either Arial or Times New Roman, two of the most reliable fonts.

Likewise, ensure that you bitmap images are scanned to a high enough resolution of 150 dpi. Any resolution much higher than 150 dpi will only result to excessive file size and will just be ignored by the printer.

Refrain from using solid black or dark backgrounds since it make the surface of your poster prone to scratches and make fingerprints more visible. Then Save-As as EPS but be very careful not to insert any special fonts or you may Export your file as a Tiff rasterizing the image to a 150 dpi.

Using Canvas

Just like the rest of the poster printing methods, canvassing requires for you to create your poster to actual size. To do this you have to Layout/Document setup 42xN or 36xN. Then view your file at 100% to verify the resolution plus the quality. Then make use of only system fonts either Arial or Times New Roman.  Make certain that the bitmap images contained in your file are scanned to a resolution of 150 dpi. Then as usual refrain from using dark backgrounds. You may save your file as Tiff rasterized at 150 dpi or you may also save it as an EPS file as long as you don’t have any problems with your fonts.