I created a design for a vinyl sign using clipart (fruits and vegetables) that I got out of my company's clipart book. The sign also contains text, logo, and oblong circle border. The people that create the vinyl signs for my company requested that the size of the file be 4x6 and sent to them as a TIFF with 300 resolution. I created the file in Photoshop and met their specifications, however I guess when they opened it, enlarged the file, and printed it the clipart turned out awful! They told me that it looked ok on their computer screen but was poor quality when they printed it. They want me to fix it and I'm trying to figure out if it would be best if I recreated the design in Illustrator. I don't know HARDLY anything about Illustrator. All I know is that you can create vector images (that would resize better) in it. However, does Illustrator automatically make images vector or do you have to trace your images? Any advise on Illustrator or if anyone has any other advise about changing my Photoshop file settings to get my file to print well on vinyl would be Awesome!!! Thanks!
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File used on Vinyl question
- Thread starter lmarshall
- Start date
It sounds like the people you're dealing with have no idea what they're talking about. The final size should be the actual final size at 300dpi. If you were given a size of 4x6, and it was to be enlarged, then the dpi they should have given you should have been proportionally larger. If it was being enlarged 200%, for example, the the dpi should have been 600dpi. My first suggestion would be to tell them that and to provide you with the correct specifications this time.
Working in Illustrator has the advantage of being resolution independent. However, you can also place raster artwork into Illustrator which will not be vector, so it will give you the same issues. There are apps out there, such as Streamline and Silouette, which try and convert raster to vector, but they always require some correction afterwards. Normally, you just trace it manually in Illustrator.
Working in Illustrator has the advantage of being resolution independent. However, you can also place raster artwork into Illustrator which will not be vector, so it will give you the same issues. There are apps out there, such as Streamline and Silouette, which try and convert raster to vector, but they always require some correction afterwards. Normally, you just trace it manually in Illustrator.
Not necessarily.
When you created the image in Photoshop, you were looking at it on your monitor at a 72 ppi resolution, and Photoshop will reduce an image to fit onto the screen.
After you finished creating the image, did you resize what you saw on your monitor to 100%? If not, you did not see what the printed version would look like, you only saw what a resized to fit your monitor version looked like.
With your image open, hit 'Z' for the Zoom tool, and click the "actual pixels" button on the top in the menu bar, or double click the magnifying glass icon for the zoom tool in the toolbox. THEN look at your image and see the quality.
You don't need to make a vector illustration unless the image (and clip art) will be resized from the 4x6, 300 ppi it was originally created as.
When you created the image in Photoshop, you were looking at it on your monitor at a 72 ppi resolution, and Photoshop will reduce an image to fit onto the screen.
After you finished creating the image, did you resize what you saw on your monitor to 100%? If not, you did not see what the printed version would look like, you only saw what a resized to fit your monitor version looked like.
With your image open, hit 'Z' for the Zoom tool, and click the "actual pixels" button on the top in the menu bar, or double click the magnifying glass icon for the zoom tool in the toolbox. THEN look at your image and see the quality.
You don't need to make a vector illustration unless the image (and clip art) will be resized from the 4x6, 300 ppi it was originally created as.
4 X 6 what - cm, inch, feet ??? Is it a large sign to be viewed at a distance ? Printing on vinyl is usually done with wide format inkjets or similar. Unlike conventional litho, this type of printing looks okay with files of much lower resolution than 300dpi. From my experience 150dpi would be okay.
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