Need help with A0 poster with text....

[zoossh]

I'm doing a A0 (34" x 44" or 84cm x 120cm) poster with mostly text and some pictures. Was trying with adobe photoshop and elements, and find it very difficult to do it. also very slow. tried going to word documents but max dimension is 50+cm.

Is there any freeware that is better in doing that instead? or anything that is worthwhile to consider for purchase?

[maxlam]

I originally did A1 posters in an actual A1 canvas and it took me ages. Subsequently, I worked with an A3 canvas and print @ A1 with minimal loss of quality. You might want to consider working on an A2 canvas instead ?

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by maxlam I originally did A1 posters in an actual A1 canvas and it took me ages. Subsequently, I worked with an A3 canvas and print @ A1 with minimal loss of quality. You might want to consider working on an A2 canvas instead ?

you mean set a canvas of A2 at 300 DPI, then blow up the pixels count or decrease the DPI to fit the size?

[maxlam]

Originally Posted by zoossh you mean set a canvas of A2 at 300 DPI, then blow up the pixels count or decrease the DPI to fit the size?

Yup, at print ... assuming that you have an A0 printer.

Alternatively, you can also use Fireworks which handles in vector graphics so that you have no quality loss, a bit chim for me to use tho.

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by maxlam Yup, at print ... assuming that you have an A0 printer. Alternatively, you can also use Fireworks which handles in vector graphics so that you have no quality loss, a bit chim for me to use tho.

no need too chim. actually hoping to get something easier. just doing it for work. and would saved as jpeg to send for printing at shops.

[maxlam]

If you're sending to an external printer, you don't need to capture acual size. Just do your designs in Word (vector graphics too - surprise !) and position boxes where you want your pictures to be, give them the editted picture files (high res), they should be able to put everything together for you. Would be helpful if you have an A4 (Word doc) complete design so that they know exactly what you want.

[maxlam]

... but again, they'll charge you for the extra service. If you just want WYSIWYG printing, they'll request the file in jpeg ...

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by maxlam ... but again, they'll charge you for the extra service. If you just want WYSIWYG printing, they'll request the file in jpeg ...

no need, most pictures are in gray scale. they are scientific pieces, not photographic, hence not impt for color profiling. however, some of the pictures still need to retain details (gd enough for layman public), although not at the extent required for photography.

[theRBK]

do the poster in A0 but use 150dpi... that is good enough for a print of such a size and makes editing much faster... that is assuming you tried doing in 300dpi so far...

[ortega]

use a vector illustration application to layout your poster

vectors are not resolution dependant and can be scaled to whatever size you want without any loss of sharpness (the files are small too)

import your images into the vector application at 1/4 the resolution or 72dpi at full scale minimum. leave the rest to the poster printing people

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by ortega use a vector illustration application to layout your poster vectors are not resolution dependant and can be scaled to whatever size you want without any loss of sharpness (the files are small too) import your images into the vector application at 1/4 the resolution or 72dpi at full scale minimum. leave the rest to the poster printing people

is vector illustration application something else out of adobe software?

[expro]

Try this: http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape

[creampuff]

Many suggestions put forward but unfortunately many are off the mark, except for ortega's.

1) Use a vector based program - InDesign, Illustrator, Freehand. Take your pick.
Reason - you want your text to be sharp and crisp. Also your text can be scaled up to whatever size you need.

2) When setting up the document size, you can work at A2 or A3 (better/faster) and allow for a bleed area of at least 5 mm (so you don't get white edges when trimmed to size). The print service provider will be able to scale up when the file is sent to rip.

3) Import your graphics in tiff, not jpeg, 300dpi is ideal but if you're gonna print at A0, expect some pixelization.

4) When you save, you can either save in the native file format of the vector program (very big and there are inherent risks as you need to ensure the links to the graphic files are maintained and fonts used are included. You could also convert and save as a Postcript file (eps format) but the file size is likely to be very big.

Best solution is to save as high resolution pdf for press quality. Graphics, text and layout flattened and converted. Less chance of font issues or graphic issues (rgb to cmyk conversion). File can be previewed and printed easily.

5) Don't ever use MS Word. Very poor layout, font and graphics handling. Whoever suggested this ought to go and read up more. Don't ever save as jpeg if you want the best quality.

[theRBK]

the thing is the TS has photoshop but did not mention illustrator so advice using photoshop might be useful... without expenditure and unfamiliarity in other software...

text and line drawings in photoshop is also in vectors so if stick to these to illustrate the file, the file size can be minimized as well although granted any rastor images on the design will be a size hog... ... but a trade off for simplicity of using a familiar and available program

for print, ask the printer what format they want to use... I haved been asked previously to give eps, tif, pdf... but while working, might be best to save in the native format for faster saves...

good quality jpg image should not be a problem... and if the image is bought online off a stock agency (even the big 2), it might be in jpg anyway, but again, no worries here...

by the way, A0 size at 150dpi is the same size as A2 at 300dpi...so comes round to the same thing basically...

[xaviertte]

try adobe illustrator or indesign?

[azonic]

i do graphic design and i use indesign or illustrator for layouts and such. photoshop works better as a imaging editor.

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by xaviertte try adobe illustrator or indesign?

which one is easier to use with a faster learning curve?

[expro]

Try inkscape it's free: http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape

[azonic]

Originally Posted by zoossh which one is easier to use with a faster learning curve?

depends on wat software u familiar wif. if u use freehand b4 indesign is quite easy to learn.

[ortega]

vector applications include

Adobe illustrator
Macromedia Freehand
Corel Draw!

InDesign is a layout application and not a vector illustration application, but if you know it well, it will also do the job.