Your Essential Guide to Poster Printing


 

Whether you’re designing a poster for a business or your own personal project, you want it to look flawless. If you have it printed through a commercial printing company, there are a few tips you can follow to make sure that what you have created on your computer will translate perfectly to a printed poster.

Understand your Color Options
If you’re using a poster printing shop, you will want to use CMYK color instead of RGB color. If you’re using Photoshop, you can convert the color from RGB to CMYK by way of the image menu. As many design software uses a wider range of colors than what can be printed on paper by printing shops, converting to CMYK will preserve your color choices and allow them to translate more effectively to your poster print.

Make Sure Your Image is the Correct Size and Resolution
If you don’t use the correct size and resolution for your image file, it will end up looking blurry or pixelated when printed. Your printing company should tell you the best size and resolution for your image to ensure that it looks perfect when printed. Your final image resolution should be at least 300dpi for your best printing options. Most posters are printed A2, A3, or A4 sizes. A2 is best for medium sized posters, and its dimensions are 16.54 × 23.39 inches. A3 is called a tablet or ledger size, and its dimensions are 11 x 17 inches. The dimensions for A4 size are 8.27 × 11.69 inches.

Submit Your File in the Correct Format
Your printing company will probably give you guidelines as to the correct format to use when submitting your image file for printing. The best bet to ensure a high quality printed poster is to convert your image to a PDF or tiff file.

If you’re interested in high quality, low cost poster printing in San Diego, visit us at Replica Digital Print & Copy. We offer a wide range of services, including poster printing, digital printing, and color copies. Call us today at (858) 366-4767.