Adding Images to Display Banners
Adding full color images to large vinyl banners will create banner designs with more impact and a more professional appearance. Putting a full color photograph on your display banner is usually the easiest and best way to do this.
When you intend to add a photo or graphic image to a large banner design, try to keep a number of things in mind. For the image to look clear and crisp an image really should have the correct resolution. For most large display projects such as popup displays, vinyl banners, window graphics and graphic backdrops, a resolution of about 100 ppi (pixels per inch) at full size is sufficient.
In other words if you have an original image that is 8″ x 10″ with a resplution of 300 ppi - a standard resolution used for offset printing - then you can comfortably blow it up to about 24″ x 30″. That will give you a finished resolution of 100 ppi. In many cases you can use as low as 50 ppi and still be quite satisfied with the output, because these images are usually created for viewing from a distance of 10 feet or more away.
Second, it is often necessary to brighten up the colors of your graphics. You can usually do this by increasing the contrast. In Photoshop the easiest way to do this is by “pinching” the levels controls. Open the levels control window and pull the control for the shadows towards the middle (to the right). Then pull the highlights control to the left. This will brighten your light colors and darken your dark colors while clearing up some of the “mudiness” of the mid tones.
”Sharpening” your images will also make them look brighter. Your images will normally appear much crisper and sharper when you “punch them up” with a bit of sharpening. But don’t sharpen them too much.
Last but not least, it is best to work in CMYK mode rather than RGB. Vinyl banners are just about always printed on CMYK printing machines with solvent inks. Rather than counting on the printing device to make the conversion (RGB is the default color system used on the computer) convert your images yourself so you know what you are going to get. RGB can be somewhat misleading since it can display more colors than can be printed by CMYK.
What that means is that there are colors you can see on a computer monitor that cannot be reproduced with CMYK inks especially not with solvent inks on a material like vinyl. You really should know this before you get the printing done. If it is necessary to reproduce a specific color and if you have time a proof can be produced on the actual vinyl banner material to show you how it will look when printed.
Another important point to keep in mind is that the choice of ink will impact the durability of the job. It is usually advised to use true solvent inks for outdoor projects because they are ideal for full color printing that will be used in bright sunlight or other harsh weather conditions such as rain or snow.
Unlike water-based inks, solvent inks do not fade as quickly when exposed to UV rays, and stand up to wind and rain much better. Non solvent inks will usuallyfade much more quickly in bright sunlight. Even for indoor projects it is often better to use solvent-based inks because they produce a much more durable final result. This is especially important for situations that require graphics which will be rolled and unrolled many times, and be handled a lot.
For more tips on trade show graphics and displays contact the large format printing experts at TradeShow-Display-Experts.com
- Richard Hendershot
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