So how will one design a billboard in Photoshop?,
say i want to do a 6 meters by 3 meters for example, do i create a document that size in PS?
And what about the photos,How do i stretch them or enlarge without losing quality?
as far as I know billboards are printed low res and/or with larger halftone patterns.
So my suggestion would be to create a doc as big and high res as you can without stretching the images too much and that your computer can handle. then let the print shop take care of the rest.
A document that is 6m x 3m isn't really that big at 20 ppi. Billboards can go as low resolution as 10ppi depending on the distance that it'll be looked at. Ask the printing company for recommendations. Most of the time it will result in a very easy to handle image. Remember that size and ppi are only metadata. Pixel count is the truth.
SMASSH STUDIO
Posts: 1,019
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Yeah you need to figure out a couple of things to
1 how far will the viewing distance be?
2 what is the capacity of the printer who will be handling it?
I say the second because I have seen some billboards or what people are calling billboards that are 6 feet x 12 feet long and I have seen some that are like 54" x 6'
You DON't do it in Photoshop!
You do your bits and pieces in photoshop but you assemble your final in either Adobe Illustrator, in-design or Corel Draw.
Carl Blum Photography wrote: You DON't do it in Photoshop!
You do your bits and pieces in photoshop but you assemble your final in either Adobe Illustrator, in-design or Corel Draw.
Why?
That is not the retoucher or the photographer's job. The retoucher should deliver TIFF files.
Whether they print PDF or not is not the retoucher's business. We work raster and for that, photoshop is the tool.
PS: At some point during the chain, the image will obviously end up in a PDF for print.
Daniel Ecoff
Posts: 400
SHERMAN OAKS, California, US
I have done many Billboards, MANY. The rule of thumb has been 2:1 ratio on Pixels to Screen (old school printing specs). When I say Screen, I mean Line Screen, NOT your monitor.
So a print ad using a 155LS would require a file around 300dpi @size. If you contact the printer or get the specs (yes, there is NO Standard) then a Billboard (usually 14x48') that prints @20dpi should be no less than 40dpi for your build or flattened file.
48'x12= 576"
576"x20dpi=11520 pixels on the Long Side. x2 =23040 pixels. I know I know, this seems ridiculous to most of you. But this is the math.
However, most of the companies that print these Ads only require a Mechancial done usually in InDesign to be 1/2 to 1/4 size, depending on the company and process.
So generally you are looking at a flattened file of 11520pixels (1/2 size) long or 5760pixels (1/4 size).
Most finishers will build this file @1/2 size, flatten and rez up 200% if needed. When doing this, dont sharpen or put noise on until after the Interpolation.
Some Design shops will just make sure the flattened file is around 150mb to cover most outdoor applications. This is the lazy way. Then they just rez up or down based on the Mechanical.
SMASSH STUDIO
Posts: 1,019
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
FLEXmanta wrote:
Why?
That is not the retoucher or the photographer's job. The retoucher should deliver TIFF files.
Whether they print PDF or not is not the retoucher's business. We work raster and for that, photoshop is the tool.
PS: At some point during the chain, the image will obviously end up in a PDF for print.
what he said you shouldnt be doing all that unless you are doing something for yourself and even then USUALLY the printing company will handle all of that for you! You would just supply a good TIFF and then boom:)
Daniel Ecoff
Posts: 400
SHERMAN OAKS, California, US
SMASSH STUDIO wrote:
what he said you shouldnt be doing all that unless you are doing something for yourself and even then USUALLY the printing company will handle all of that for you! You would just supply a good TIFF and then boom:)
THIS IS WRONG. ... Your client should provide you a with Mechanical specs so your file is built according. Ratio, dimensions, color space and/or profile, and most importantly SIZE !!!!!! If you just build a file arbitrarily, most likely you will be the target of "WHY".
THIS IS WRONG. ... Your client should provide you a with Mechanical specs so your file is built according. Ratio, dimensions, color space and/or profile, and most importantly SIZE !!!!!! If you just build a file arbitrarily, most likely you will be the target of "WHY".
Carl Blum Photography wrote: You DON't do it in Photoshop!
You do your bits and pieces in photoshop but you assemble your final in either Adobe Illustrator, in-design or Corel Draw.
FLEXmanta wrote: Why?
That is not the retoucher or the photographer's job. The retoucher should deliver TIFF files.
Whether they print PDF or not is not the retoucher's business. We work raster and for that, photoshop is the tool.
PS: At some point during the chain, the image will obviously end up in a PDF for print.
You don't design a billboard in Photoshop. You don't hire a retoucher to design a billboard, you hire a graphic designer.
Text is best done as vector as it can scale pretty much infinitely.
Daniel Ecoff
Posts: 400
SHERMAN OAKS, California, US
Designit - Edward Olson wrote:
You don't design a billboard in Photoshop. You don't hire a retoucher to design a billboard, you hire a graphic designer.
Text is best done as vector as it can scale pretty much infinitely.
Billboard Art is designed and built in Photoshop all the time. Type is resolution independent in Photoshop just like in Illustrator. Just keep it vector. The Mechanical is done in In-Design.
Michael Bots
Posts: 4,099
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
FLEXmanta wrote: A document that is 6m x 3m isn't really that big at 20 ppi. Billboards can go as low resolution as 10ppi depending on the distance that it'll be looked at. Ask the printing company for recommendations. Most of the time it will result in a very easy to handle image. Remember that size and ppi are only metadata. Pixel count is the truth.
I was once in a business that did graphic overlays on trucks. The printer they had (Mitsubishi) was a 20 foot wide "inkjet" with 5 gallon pails of "ink/paint" and a print head that looked like multiple paint spray guns. 3 dots per inch resolution at the time, but they were looking at the available upgrade kit to double that. Much higher resolutions are available today.
Just ask the printer company what they prefer for source files and set your output accordingly. PDF or TIFF are likely. The printers will vary by company so you should know the output device specifications.
The hard part is finding someone who can output/deliver product of that large a size at a reasonable cost. Shipping large output is costly. Rolled the shortest package length is still 3 meters.
Designit - Edward Olson wrote: You don't design a billboard in Photoshop. You don't hire a retoucher to design a billboard, you hire a graphic designer.
Text is best done as vector as it can scale pretty much infinitely.
Daniel Ecoff wrote: Billboard Art is designed and built in Photoshop all the time. Type is resolution independent in Photoshop just like in Illustrator. Just keep it vector. The Mechanical is done in In-Design.
Yes, you create the graphical elements in Photoshop. But you use the right tool for the right job. And Photoshop is not the right tool for the job of doing graphic design.
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