A picture is worth 1000dpi

Author: Amanda

To some people the most confusing part about ordering a sign is the exchange of artwork, pictures or files. I think it’s the jargon, you start mentioning dpi, pixilation and eps files and even a smart person can have trouble following if they don’t know the native tongue. (Even I get confused by the designers at times, which is why I’m writing this blog, so perhaps maybe we can both learn.) Let’s start with pictures, let’s say you have a family photo you want to put on a birthday banner. The first thing we’re going to ask is if you can send us an electronic picture with at least 125dpi. DPI means Dots Per Inch and is a measure of the resolution of the picture, it lets you know if making the picture bigger will turn it into lego blocks of pixilation or keep it’s realistic looks.

To check your pictures DPI, simply look up the picture under whichever file you have it saved under. Select the image and (for those using a PC) right click to see a drop down menu of options, normally at the bottom you’ll see ‘Properties’, click on that. In Properties there should be a tab for Details and under Details it will say the size of the picture and it’s DPI. The more DPI your picture has the larger it can become without getting pixilated. We once made a 4′ x 6′ banner out of one photograph, that photo had a DPI of 240.

Now that you know how well your pictures can enlarge, let’s say you go a step further and wanted to design your own banner and then send us the artwork. The best files for us to work with are .eps, .pdf, and .jpeg. These are simply file formats, and depending on what program you’re using (Word, Adobe, Photoshop, etc.) when you go to ‘save as’ you can select which format you would like. On our website across the top black border, the last option on the right side is ‘Send Us Files’, this leads you to our YouSendIt account which you can use to send us your artwork.

If you have any further questions don’t hesitate to ask! That’s why this blog is here in the first place, as much as I would like to think it’s because of my adoring fans.