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Exporting a psd or pdf file for printing


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Can anyone please tell me how you export a file for a banner from affinity photo with a size of 72.5 X 36.5 at 300 DPI so it is a large file.  I love the sofware however it is taking hours to export.  Is this correct or am I doing something incorrect.  I do need the file to be editable.

 

Thanks for your help

 

2on2out

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This is at the recommendation of the printer I am using even if I take it down to 150 dpi it still takes forever ( I mean 3-4 Hours)  to export as a pdf unflattened or a psd file editable...I am using the file export and chose psd editable.  Affinity is not a file they can open.  

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AD can/does take an inordinate amount of time for such an export. That's true.

 

But again, what will be the average viewing distance? It is important for large format printing.

 

Oops. I see you mention APhoto. Same applies to it, though.

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The PDF type should be asked of the print establishment. That said, I almost always use a simpler PDF format like you show (not one the the X standards). It keeps transparency live and text as text (but I don't know how Photo does with these things).

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Sure thing re the Excel file. I'm just heading out right now and using my phone at the moment. So if I don't upload it here in a few hours, feel free to send me a private message to remind me. That way I will have an email to prod me to do it!

 

Take care, Mike

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I am attaching the Excel spreadsheet in a ZIP file.

 

A note or two...and a disclaimer.

 

Quote

Disclaimer: Please note that I tried to ensure the standard viewing distance formulas were properly used. But use this spreadsheet with the knowledge that I may have made a mistake even though I have used this one and its predecessors for years and I myself have never had issues with the values it reports.

 

The sheet is password protected from errant deletions. The password is on the sheet in an obvious location. Er, the password is password...simple, huh!

 

There are some blue entry fields. Those are the only places entry needs made.

 

If the Target Resolution filed is not zero, the Minimum Viewing Distance in FEET field means nothing. In other words, that field is overridden because the Target Resolution field takes precedence.

 

The info at the bottom for Dimensions for Minimum Effective PPI are informational & approximate. I often need to include bitmaps in large format work and those PPI dimensions give me an idea of how they relate to either the Target Resolution or the Min/Max Effective PPI for Images at Scale fields.

 

I can answer any other questions as they arise.

 

Take care, Mike

PPI_formula-v2.zip

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  • 4 weeks later...

Even if it's good to think about viewing distance and usefull resolution, the problem is still there. I'm designing posters for theatre pieces and they should work from distance, but also from very close, indoors. So I have to work in bigger resolutions and it really is a nightmare at the moment. Very often it takes ages to redraw on screen, exporting is very very slow and progress is not reflected. I hope that will improve over time.

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1 hour ago, thadeusz said:

Even if it's good to think about viewing distance and usefull resolution, the problem is still there. I'm designing posters for theatre pieces and they should work from distance, but also from very close, indoors. So I have to work in bigger resolutions and it really is a nightmare at the moment. Very often it takes ages to redraw on screen, exporting is very very slow and progress is not reflected. I hope that will improve over time.

 

Typically, the resolution doesn't need to be more than 150 dpi for a movie poster.

 

The viewability of a movie poster from distance is about the scale of the items. The resolution is a separate matter.

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Depends. If you want, for instance, bitmap elements printed perfectly and people should look at them from very close, you need resolutions more towards 400dpi. But maybe that's a special use case. I just like it, when you can  go very close and find little thing printed perfectly and it's looking not like a soft reprint. But of course - for normal posters on the street it's obviously not neccesary to go that high res. Also - since I don't trust PDF export for print from Affinity programms right now, I very often merge a background image, including text, with other elements in Indesign and export from there. For text and lines et cetera I also want higher resolution, as I don't want to produce 80's style game graphics.

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Even for the hospital signage I do (which are produced in matches of 7 every month), 150 on a large format printer is all any print establishment I have used wants. More than that and it will be resampled downward. Images (or bitmap effects) will not be soft.

 

The general rule of thumb always applies: check with your print provider.

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