Sizing questions

TJamesV

New Member
I'm trying to print for the first time, and I'm confused on what pixel by pixel I need on my workspace to have a good quality picture for a 4' X 8' board. Is there a formula that I need to use when printing to know I have enough space? Sorry I haven't went to school for any of this and I've just been fiddling with graphic design off and on for some years.
 
If you want a high quality print, use a resolution of 300dpi. The rule of thumb generally is 300dpi for anything you're going to print that will be seen up close (business cards, photos, magazines, etc).
 
So it doesn't matter how big the px by px is just as long as it's vector and can be scaled to infinite. But has to be 300dpi
 
Ah, I misunderstood your question. At 300ppi (pixels per inch), 1 inch = 300pixels.

So you just multiply your dimensions in inches by 300, then you can convert it to feet.

(4' by 8') = (48 inches by 96 inches) = (14400px by 28800)

Alternatively, just create the file using actual dimensions in feet and inches and at 300ppi and you should be set.
 
If you're printing something at those sizes though, you can probably get away with printing it at a lower resolution. If it's being printed by an actual print shop I'd check with them. So long as the artwork is vector and follows the same ratio, they should be able to scale up or down as needed.
 
Ok. And should it be exported as pdf for print? My only downfall is I'm using Inkscape because I don't have access to Illustartor at the moment and Inkscape doesn't have CMYK colors.
 
Ah, I misunderstood your question. At 300ppi (pixels per inch), 1 inch = 300pixels.

So you just multiply your dimensions in inches by 300, then you can convert it to feet.

(4' by 8') = (48 inches by 96 inches) = (14400px by 28800)

Alternatively, just create the file using actual dimensions in feet and inches and at 300ppi and you should be set.
Ok, cool thank you for your replies!
 
Paul, do you know how to set bleed in Inkscape by any chance?
I would just add 3mm to each edge, though at that size you might not even need to bother with a bleed. If it doesn't do CMYK colours then I doubt it will support bleed since they're not used for digital work. As for exporting to CMYK, your artwork will be converted before it's printed. The main drawback is the colours won't accurately match so you'll basically be guessing how it's going to come out when printed. I'm happy to convert your PDF to CMYK if needs be.
 
Ok thanks! Yes maybe you can help me with that. I can finish up one day soon hopefully and convert to see what happens. Do I need to flatten image then export to PDF?
 
No need to flatten it, the PDF will be "flattened" (or as close to anyway) when you export it. Just make sure any text you have is outlined so it's not editable. Otherwise you may find it comes out looking weird.
 
If you're creating it in Inkscape then you don't need to worry about resolution - as it should all be vector.

Here's a formula I work with regularly for large format - but it only really applies to raster elements (like photos etc)

When working with large format - it's a viewing distance that will determine the DPI/PPI (interchanged them there but doesn't matter for the below)

The formula is (working in inches)

If you were to view from 4 feet away

1/((distance x 0.000291) / 2) = ppi

Seen as you're viewing from 4 feet away (48 inches)

1/((48 x 0.000291) / 2) = 143 ppi for final size

(You can copy the formula into google to get the equation results.)


In your example it's 8 feet height (96 inches).

You can start a new document at 1/10 that size, that's 9.6 inches.

Your actual document size is now 9.6inches x 4 inches.

The resolution of all your raster images that you're using should be placed @ 1430 ppi minimum; at that scale.

This is because all your doing is reducing the design size by 1/10th - and your minimum res for final output is 143 - therefore you should use raster images that are effective ppi of 1430 - when this is increased by a factor of 10 then it will be 143 ppi on final output.


But this is all based on being 4 feet away at viewing distance.
 
Ok thanks! Yes maybe you can help me with that. I can finish up one day soon hopefully and convert to see what happens. Do I need to flatten image then export to PDF?

No need to flatten it, the PDF will be "flattened" (or as close to anyway) when you export it. Just make sure any text you have is outlined so it's not editable. Otherwise you may find it comes out looking weird.

In a modern day printing workflow flattening is an archaic workflow.

That being said - a lot of large format printers are using older software/rips and hardware - so probably no harm in flattening.

Flattening will depend on the PDF settings applied.

A PDF of settings being PDF 1.4 will flatten - anything above PDF 1.5 will be live transparency.

I've never used Inkscape so not familar with the output settings for PDF.
 
If you're creating it in Inkscape then you don't need to worry about resolution - as it should all be vector.

Here's a formula I work with regularly for large format - but it only really applies to raster elements (like photos etc)

When working with large format - it's a viewing distance that will determine the DPI/PPI (interchanged them there but doesn't matter for the below)

The formula is (working in inches)

If you were to view from 4 feet away

1/((distance x 0.000291) / 2) = ppi

Seen as you're viewing from 4 feet away (48 inches)

1/((48 x 0.000291) / 2) = 143 ppi for final size

(You can copy the formula into google to get the equation results.)


In your example it's 8 feet height (96 inches).

You can start a new document at 1/10 that size, that's 9.6 inches.

Your actual document size is now 9.6inches x 4 inches.

The resolution of all your raster images that you're using should be placed @ 1430 ppi minimum; at that scale.

This is because all your doing is reducing the design size by 1/10th - and your minimum res for final output is 143 - therefore you should use raster images that are effective ppi of 1430 - when this is increased by a factor of 10 then it will be 143 ppi on final output.


But this is all based on being 4 feet away at viewing distance.
I really appreciate all of your help and knowledge. I've been stressing on all of this trying to get somewhere and no answers. So this helps out a bunch!
 
In a modern day printing workflow flattening is an archaic workflow.

That being said - a lot of large format printers are using older software/rips and hardware - so probably no harm in flattening.

Flattening will depend on the PDF settings applied.

A PDF of settings being PDF 1.4 will flatten - anything above PDF 1.5 will be live transparency.

I've never used Inkscape so not familar with the output settings for PDF.
Well if you enjoyed that you'll love reading this
https://books.google.ie/books?id=dR...QQ6AEwBnoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=0.000291&f=false

It's all very rivetting.
Thanks for the resources. I'm still kind of confused on it all because I haven't gone to school for any of this but I'll keep reading and working on it.
 
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