[emil]

right, here's the problem:
I have to design some posters, 700mm wide, 1000mm tall.
my problem is that, coming from a web-background, I know that such big projects, require huge resolution pictures, only that people I'm working for would rather have me design with whatever I might find on the web, than actually paying for the images I need.
So to sum up, I have two questions to ask:

a) what is the best resolution for this kind of project (I need to use the pics as backgrounds)
b) assuming I find a pic at a good resolution for an A3 poster, would it be safe to enlarge the pictures to 1 x 0.7 metters and still get good quality posters?

Thanks, much appreciated
Emil

[Jen]

300dpi resolution

I am not sure about enlarge picture to larger. I think you can enlarge picture, make sure it is not blur or lose quality.

Get stock photos:
http://www.istockphoto.com/
http://www.photos.com/en/search/index?

[emil]

Thanks, that's the point, they would rather not pay for a pic.
I think my English is playing tricks on me,
What I wanted to know was how large a pic should be for that kind of a project (width, and height) but somehow confused that with resolution... Yeah, yeah, I know it's a lame excuse.

Cheers )

[Jen]

I don't think your client need to pay for stock photo, you pay.

To enlarge the picture, use cymk, use image size, 300 dpi. Save as .tiff. Very little to lose of quality, not too great. It'll work . Try and let me know!

[emil]

It's not my client, it's my employer And frankly he does not pay me that good to buy a photo out of my pocket
Unfortunately, I work as a designer a company that has very little to do with design.
They just want me to do this kind of stuff, and when I tell them I need pictures, they just
say, "look I found this beautiful one on the internet", and they send me a 100x100px gif.
Anyway, you get the point

Thanks again for your support.

[oli]

mate, you can download some high res stock photos for free, try : http://sxc.hu http://www.morguefile.com/ List of others here : http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2...great_free.htm

[emil]

thanks oli, I already know those websites.
My problem is that I am not sure that those images will look nice in print...
As I have said before, I have never designed for that size, and that's what scares me.
For instance I know that a 2400 pixels wide image is ok for an A4 print... Now I'm thinking is there a way to make that one larger so that it would be ok for a B2 print?
well, I know these questions may seem totally foolish to most of you, but please bare with me

[briljant oranje]

you can't enlarge a photo without losing image quality, unless of course it's vectorized.
if you need an image to fill 700x1000, then the original image you use will have to be that size or larger (obviously you can scale down).

it'll be very difficult to find the kind of image you need for a specific project on the web, let alone one thats big enough and high enough res. for print.

generally images on the web are only 72dpi anyway.

[emil]

I was afraid this was the answer... I was hoping, though
Thanks. Heh, then they'll just have to make the effort to buy me the photos.

Thank you guys.

[centro]

Originally Posted by Jen

I don't think your client need to pay for stock photo, you pay.

To enlarge the picture, use cymk, use image size, 300 dpi. Save as .tiff. Very little to lose of quality, not too great. It'll work . Try and let me know!

Ignore this advice emilpaun, this is not the answer to your problem.
You have a couple of options:


1. Find a good stock image at the highest resolution and tell the client how much it will cost. If they want to use the image, go ahead and buy it and charge it to the client. Make sure this is in writing and make sure your client agrees before purchasing the image.

If your client wants you to use images from the web let them know in writing that image quality is likely to be very bad and you are not responsible for the quality of images from the web. Also beware of copyright issues.


2. Another option is to ask your client if they have a photo they would like to use or if photography can be aranged. If a photo is available get your local printer/repro-house to drum scan it large enough to use on the poster. Again, charge this to the client on the invoice.

[emil]

Thanks centro.
It's not a client that is asking me to do this, it's the marketing director, and the project manager, neither of whom have any knowledge of graphic software, or the limitations imposed by print jobs, and believe you me that I have tried to explain them.

I just got off the phone with the marketing director and she feels that paying 1.000 uSD for a picture to use for three months is too much... We'll see what she feels as the deadline approaches )

Thanks again

[Jen]

If you're not sure that those images will look nice in print, why not try to print for testing? You should explain to your employer about the high quality photos. If he doesn't want to pay you to buy a photo then your photo print will lose quality. He'll understand, but if he refuses then there's nothing you can do

Quote: "If your client wants you to use images from the web let them know in writing that image quality is likely to be very bad"

True

[emil]

Thanks, I have tried to reason with them, they're still thinking about it.
We'll see what happens. If they don't understand, I'll make sure everybody knows I warned them.
And I hope to find a job with a design firm pretty soon