Fine art reproduction that’s done with inkjet printers is often called giclee printing. I find it a bit amusing that our industry acts as if this defines some standard or specification. In fact it is purely a marketing term that implies some common characteristics.

Width sizes for indoor stands include 24″, [...]]]> Retractable stands come in all shapes, sizes, and quality levels. There are dirt cheap, flimsy stands that barely hold together to high end, expensive, slick stands that are over-built and over-priced. The trick is to find the proper balance. After using a half dozen different sources, we’ve found that balance.

Width sizes for indoor stands include 24″, 36″, 48″, 60″. The graphics can be anywhere from 69″ to 92″ high. We include a travel bag with each stand and can ship to anywhere in the US so you don’t have to travel with your new stand.

These stands are as simple as it gets to setup and break down. The indoor stands telescoping pole hooks into the top bar and fits into the base easily.

The outdoor stands are intentionally small to keep the windage to a minimum and keep them on their feet.

Econo retractable banner stand. Graphic size: 33"W x 80"H

Retractable stand extention pole (not available for Econo stand)

Retractable banner stand made from Tradeshow Film and textured matte laminate.

Retractable banner stand made from SuperSmooth banner material.

Water base snap frame. Graphic size: 23.5"W x 32.5"H, 22.5"W x 32.25"H viewable

Outdoor water base snap frame closeup

Zephyr outdoor banner stand. Graphic sizes: 24" to 36" width, 60" to 72" heights.

Recently we did some reusable A frame sandwich boards that the customer loved. They liked them so much they ordered 3 more in addition to the 10 they originally ordered. These are one example of several that are available in different sizes that all share the ability to easily change out the [...]]]>

A frame sandwich board

Recently we did some reusable A frame sandwich boards that the customer loved. They liked them so much they ordered 3 more in addition to the 10 they originally ordered. These are one example of several that are available in different sizes that all share the ability to easily change out the graphics when you’re ready for a new message.

No tools are needed, the stand is well built from durable plastic, stable, and stackable. The stand in the picture is in the middle of the available sizes. The prints can be done on durable PVC, or inexpensive corrugated plastic. Both solutions will hold up outdoors in the sun and rain.

Setup the artwork as a 22″w x 28″h document. Expect 1/2″ at the top and bottom to “bleed” into the stand and not be visible.

Aluminum snap frame stand

A variation on this stand is an all aluminum option with edges that snap into place to hold the graphic. This stand sits taller and isn’t quite as stable as the version above. But it is a cleaner, more stylish choice. It works indoors or out, but may be best suited to indoor or low wind locations.

Here is the PDF template for art preparation.

It seems like this has to be one of the most misunderstood topics for large format printing. I just had a phone call from a new customer that asked what resolution I use when printing. Since I [...]]]> Digital image resolution and print resolution have nothing in common!

There, I said it – whew. I feel better now, thanks.

It seems like this has to be one of the most misunderstood topics for large format printing. I just had a phone call from a new customer that asked what resolution I use when printing. Since I already knew what machine and material I’d use for his vehicle wraps, the answer was 720 dots per inch (dpi). But I had to say, “why do you ask”….because I thought I already knew the answer and hoped to save him some grief from having to struggle with too large of a file size. He said “I need to know if my customer’s file has enough resolution for your printer”. Just as I suspected.

Many designers are taught that an image’s resolution in pixels per inch (ppi) is a function of the printing resolution. This is driven by the offset printing world where the rule of thumb has been to multiply the printing resolution by 2 to get the optimal resolution for digital images. It used to be that common offset print resolution was 150 lines per inch. So 150 x 2 = 300 ppi in the digital image. Because of differences in the printing technology between inkjet and offset, together with the differences in how the respective images are viewed, this rule does not apply in digital inkjet printing.

text made from pixels

First let’s look at the 2 totally separate types of resolution we’re talking about here. One is pixels per inch. Odds are you’ve seen an image that didn’t have enough pixels, it looks “jaggy” as the pixels become large enough to be noticeable. We certainly do need enough pixels to avoid this jaggy look and have nice, sharp images. But pixels are not everything, as we’ll see in a moment. For now, isolate that we are talking about the number of pixels in a digital image….NOT how it will print.

Print resolution is usually expressed in dots per inch (dpi). Obviously, the more dots per inch, the better. But that’s not the only thing that matters. There are other very influential aspects to inkjet printing that effect the perception of resolution beyond how many locations a printer can put dots within an inch. One of the biggest is the addition of light cyan and light magenta to the conventional cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. These light inks do not add to the color gamut as some sales people will have you believe. What they really do is hide the dots from your eye in lighter colors. Since the inks are a lighter color they don’t contrast the white background as much as the dark cyan and magenta inks. This way you perceive the print to be a higher resolution that it really is. All of our printers have at least 6 color inksets that include light cyan and light magenta. The fine art printer adds several shades of black (or more precisely: greys) as well as red and blue inks.

resolution in dots

All of this techno speak is trying to get to one fundamental truth. For inkjet printing, digital image resolution and print resolution have no relationship whatsoever. You could have 1000 ppi image and have it print at 300 dpi and it would look grainy because of the low print resolution. You could have a 10 ppi digital image and print it at 1000000 dpi, the jaggy pixels would be printed very cleanly, but it would still be low resolution.

So let’s get to some practical guidelines. Generally speaking you need 100-200 PIXELS per inch in your digital images to get a nice clean print from our systems. As the dimensions of the print get larger and are viewed from further away, the needs for pixel resolution drop off a cliff. Common image resolution for vehicle wraps is 70-100 ppi. Image resolution for  a large banner may be as low as 20 or 30 ppi if it will be hung on the side of a building and viewed from 10+ feet away. The answer to my customer’s question is 70-100 ppi for the vehicle wrap he was calling about. This would save him hundreds of megabytes or possible gigabytes in file size and still get a clean print.

Notice how you really don’t (usually) need a huge file size to get great results. Notice how there is no reference to the print resolution. That’s because we’ll always print as high a resolution as is needed and we just need to make sure your images have the appropriate pixel resolution.

Of course there are exceptions to these guidelines. When in doubt, call us. We’re always eager to make sure you get the best possible results for your job.

Boulevard and street banners take a surprising amount of abuse. Banners suspended by brackets with horizontal poles are under almost constant tension and will fail if not built to take it. We use a 16 or 18 ounce scrim banner with at 1000 denier. The weight gives an idea how heavy it is, the [...]]]>

Boulevard Street Banner

Boulevard and street banners take a surprising amount of abuse. Banners suspended by brackets with horizontal poles are under almost constant tension and will fail if not built to take it.
We use a 16 or 18 ounce scrim banner with at 1000 denier. The weight gives an idea how heavy it is, the denier expresses tear and tensile strength. As a point of comparison, cheap 13oz scrim banner usually has 500 or 750 denier.
Boulevard banners typically have stitched pockets and are printed on both sides of a single piece of material. Banners that are stretched across the street are finished according to city specs or the hanging hardware used to suspend the banner.

Plus, you get to take advantage of the opportunity to give all the necessary specifications for us [...]]]> Don’t sweat the file transfer! Simply upload it through this website. No need for fussy complicated FTP. No need to battle your corporate file wall. No need to be worried your file may be too big to go through email.

Plus, you get to take advantage of the opportunity to give all the necessary specifications for us to get your print right. Providing this information speeds up the process for both of us and minimizes simple communication mistakes and omissions.

Start your upload now by clicking here.

We strongly encourage proofs when your job has to be as expected. We offer proofs off our calibrated and profiled dedicated [...]]]> There are so many material options to choose from, and each has its own unique effect on the final print that proofs are the only way to be absolutely certain how your finished print with look.

We strongly encourage proofs when your job has to be as expected. We offer proofs off our calibrated and profiled dedicated proofing system. These are an inexpensive option that allow you to see that your file is as expected in terms of layout and to a large degree – color. When the proof has to be 100% precise, request a proof on the actual material that will be used for your job. This will give the full effect the material has on the final print. Surface texture, gloss vs. matte, and the material’s unique color of white, all effect the results.

For most jobs, you can rely on our day to day high quality and completely color managed large format print systems to give you the best prints you can get. But to be sure your expectations match what is going to happen on a particular material, proofs are a necessity.

Color gamut comparisons: 13oz Scrim = BLACK, SWOP CMYK = red, sRGB = purple

We accept RGB, CMYK, or vector files with Pantone named color equally well. Unlike many large format printers, we work best with Pantone colors that are not converted to RGB or CMYK, but instead are left as the named Pantone colors. This [...]]]>

Color gamut comparisons: 13oz Scrim = BLACK, SWOP CMYK = red, sRGB = purple

We accept RGB, CMYK, or vector files with Pantone named color equally well. Unlike many large format printers, we work best with Pantone colors that are not converted to RGB or CMYK, but instead are left as the named Pantone colors. This is only practical in vector files. Raster based files automatically convert named Pantone colors to the format (RGB or CMYK)  of the file.

If you’re in the process of creating a file, RGB and or Pantone named colors are the best choices. These will allow you to take greatest advantage of the color gamut our systems have to offer. If you like to work in an RGB space other than sRGB, let us know so we’re sure to handle your job correctly. At the very least, be sure your Working Space is embedding in your files since we check for this in every preflight. If there is no embedded profile, we’ll assume it is either sRGB or US Web Coated SWOP CMYK.

If the file already exists as CMYK, do not convert it to RGB. It is better left alone in the interest of minimizing the number of color conversions done in the overall workflow. Plus, to realize the potential benefit of RGB, the file must be created as RGB. Converting CMYK to RGB does not improve the color performance.