Making posters...questions on print

[wuzzle]

Suddenly I'm not just the web person but the print person as well.

I have to make a poster - I'm assuming regular poster size (whatever that is). What should the DPI be? And the size in inches should equal the size of the final poster?

Yeah, dumb questions, but again...not a print person.

 

[askIllustrator]

Saddly, going from web to print is like running backwards through a cornfield. Heres a start. You cannot add resolution to an image. Sure the dialoge allows you to change the number from 72 to 300dpi but that doesnt mean thats whats happening. You can ONLY go down in resolution without losing quality. Resizing the image wont work either. A 300 dpi image at 3x5 that is blow up to 6x10 will only print at 150 dpi. For a good clean poster, start at a resolution of at least 266dpi and most posters are 22x28 viewable, meaning you need a one inch margin all the way around where no important art or information can be bringing your total size to 24x30

 

[wuzzle]

Oooh ok. So if my poster is going to be 24x30 I'm going to use a resolution of at least 266. They haven't let me know the size of the poster yet, but I have a feeling it's going to be a bit smaller than that. If so, would I use the same resolution?

 

[askIllustrator]

If its not too painful on your computer i would reccomend building it at the size i meantioned. You can always reduce the size and resolution later to fit your needs. You cannot however add resolution or size when you need more. Make 'Plan B's' a major part of your workflow.