Are you planning to design a large banner or billboard? There are certain things that you need to bear in mind about billboard printing before you commence to do so. You not only need to think about making a design that appeals to customers but also about how that design will appear on the vinyl after it has been produced. If you are designing a billboard for the first time, there are some guidelines you need to know and follow.
The resolution and dimension must be accurate
If you are accustomed to digital designing, then you are aware that it allows you some flexibility with the space. But in billboard designing, you have a constrained amount of room to work with. Moreover, you have to oblige your client with all they want, and accordingly, accommodate everything within the allotted space.
Although this could appear to be a disadvantage, it actually benefits a designer. The size limitations ensure that the material will print exactly in the manner you intended it to. Also, see to it that the file you will be working with has the correct dimensions and resolution before you begin to chalk out the design.
High-resolution photos are a must
The photos you will be using should be of high resolution. It means that the image must have a minimum resolution of 300 PPI. If you use a lesser resolution, the final version of the billboard print image will get distorted or come out blurry.
Know what a printing bleed area is
Your document’s edge has a bleed area that gives the billboard printer some room to adjust for any design inconsistencies or movement. The bleed ensures that after the printed sheet is cut, there will be no unprinted edges left.
It’s necessary to have a specific bleed area and make sure to expand the design further than the actual billboard dimension. If you do so, you will know that edge of the billboard will not possess any white lines.
Use CMYK as the default color profile
When we create a file, we usually use RGB (Red Green Blue) format. But for print work, you must know that CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) works well. Here’s why.
Printing uses more colors than in the digital world. It absorbs more light to produce a new color for every additional pigment. But when you mix all the CYMK colors, they will give you darker shades.
But with RGB, you experience just the opposite. When the three pigments are blended, you get white instead of a dark shade. Due to the brighter color range that RGB provides compared to CMYK, when you print using this color format, the hues appear murky and gloomy. Unquestionably not what you viewed on your screen!
Ensure that the design is in the appropriate format
Make sure to save the design in a format that can be opened when you want to print them. For designing billboards, you can take the help of Adobe products like Illustrator or Photoshop. Also, you must refrain from sending Word or PowerPoint documents. The printer sometimes cannot process such file types. And remember that the file size matters too. It should not be larger than 100MB.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to go about the designing and process of billboard printing, you can start with your project.
