Question 300ppi for a 10' x 8' backdrop???

[JulieS]

This is a very helpful thread. However I'm still unclear on this...if a customer is wanting, for example, the side of a semi trailer wrapped, it's not really possible to design & save at actual size, is it? So if it's designed at, say 10%, does the resolution need to be higher for it to look good at actual size? Apologies if this is a dumb question!

 

[Solventinkjet]

This is a very helpful thread. However I'm still unclear on this...if a customer is wanting, for example, the side of a semi trailer wrapped, it's not really possible to design & save at actual size, is it? So if it's designed at, say 10%, does the resolution need to be higher for it to look good at actual size? Apologies if this is a dumb question!

Yes. So say your job calls for a 10' x 10' banner at 100dpi but for whatever reason your computer or software can't handle that size. One way to handle it would be to design your file at 5' x 5' and up the DPI to 200. So when you bring the file into the RIP and up the size to 100% it will be 10' x 10' and 100dpi.

As far as this thread goes, 300dpi became a standard for some reason that everyone always mentions. When it comes down to it, if you design a file at the 100% scale and your dpi settings are right around 100, regular old people won't notice the difference between 100 and 300dpi. Us sign makers who see everything up close might notice a slight difference especially in lettering but that should be done in vector anyway. The simple rule to remember is if you enlarge an image from it's original design size the DPI will always go down so plan accordingly. Always design at 100% scale and if you can't, up the DPI to compensate for the eventual enlargement. Obviously this excludes vector files.

 

[JulieS]

Thanks, VanderJ!

 

[AKwrapguy]

This is a very helpful thread. However I'm still unclear on this...if a customer is wanting, for example, the side of a semi trailer wrapped, it's not really possible to design & save at actual size, is it? So if it's designed at, say 10%, does the resolution need to be higher for it to look good at actual size? Apologies if this is a dumb question!

Sure it is. We do it all the time. We also design mostly in vector. If a rasterized image is called for we adjust the DPI fit the scaling needed. Our 'minimum' printing DPI is about 100.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Right now I have all my printing done through B2. The maximum file size they accept is 300mb. My customer keeps sending me .jpg's that are sized out to 10' x 8' and exported at 300ppi. The files are a massive 1-1.5GB. I asked B2 and they said any file that's 300ppi and over a couple square feet is 1. not necessary and unnoticeable. and 2. They automatically lower it to 150ppi on larger prints, so its pointless for him to save them like that. I tried telling my customer this but hes a stickler about all of his stuff and says things like "we require all our prints to be 300ppi" and "well the people who did my printing before never had a problem with it."

Idk, I'm not that knowledgeable it printing is 300ppi really unnecessary and unnoticeable at those sizes? and do I just keep altering his artwork? It's just a pain in the *** because to edit those files takes a bit of time and he always sends me them right at the cut off time for B2, and hes always in a rush for them. Not to mention the hard drive space.....

What's the image? Are they sending you a raster cause they don't know how to work in vector?