Art Specs for Large Graphics
Creating Artwork for Large Format Printing: EPS Files
Artwork specifications for larger formats like vehicle wraps, billboards, wall murals, banners, window graphics and other types of larger graphics are quite different than the requirements for putting on a website, or even in a print advertisement.
In this video, we explore the benefits of using "vector" file formats such as EPS files, enabling you to enlarge your file indefinitely without losing any resolution. Click below to see the video and read the article.
OK, let’s talk about digital art best practices.
First, all art is not created equal.
A piece of art, or a logo that looks great on your computer screen will almost certainly not look great once it is blown up into a much larger size for a banner, or a vehicle, or a billboard.
In most cases, you cannot simply right click on an image you find on the internet and expect it to look great when you blow it up to 50-100 times its actual size.
In all likelihood, it will be what is known as “pixilated”. That’s because most images on the internet are low resolution “Flattened” images. By “flattened”, what I mean is that the image is made up with a finite number of pixels. When you enlarge the image, you are essentially enlarging the size and scale of each individual pixel.
In the case of a low resolution image (or a high res image if you zoom in enough) you will begin to see the “stairs stepping” of the individual pixels. Curves begin to look like a jagged series of cleverly placed boxes, instead of the nice smooth curve it looked like at a smaller size.
So, what’s the solution?
Ideally, your file needs t be “Converted to Curves”, or “Vectored”. Typically, if the file is an EPS file extension, there is a good chance it is a vectored file.
In a vectored file, there is NOT a finite number of pixels. At all required points in the image, there are markers representing a spatial relationship between two points. When you enlarge your image, your art program adds in additional pixels as needed to maintain the relationship between the two points.
In this way you can zoom in indefinitely on a curve and it will always look crisp and sharp, because the program knows to keep a smooth curve between two points.
Obviously, this is very easy to do with any copy on your sign, or on your logos. It’s more difficult with photographic images, but that’s for another video blog.
We hope this helps you in creating artwork for your next project. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to shoot us an email or leave a remark at our facebook page. We look forward to getting some great artwork from you soon!