Poster

TR
Posted By
Thomas_R._Berg
Nov 27, 2003
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456
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8
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Closed
I happened upon a command that allowed me to print a picture onto a a series of 8X11 pages that would then form a regular-sized poster. Now I can’t find the command and I have a picture that I want to turn into a poster. I have used Photoshop 3.0 (which tended to make my computer crash) and Photoshop 5.5. I can’t remember which version had this command. Can anybody help me find that functionality? Thanks. Tom

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SM
sam_m_brown
Nov 27, 2003
Never seen this in photoshop – Iluustrator does page tiling, could put you image in there and select tiled in your document options.
W
wes
Nov 28, 2003
I think you should check to see if this isn’t a property of the printer you have installed. If so this can be done through the printer.

wrote in message
Never seen this in photoshop – Iluustrator does page tiling, could put you
image in there and select tiled in your document options.
BO
Burton_Ogden
Nov 28, 2003
Thomas,

I happened upon a command that allowed me to print a picture onto a series of 8X11 pages that would then form a regular-sized poster.

That is called tiled printing. Perhaps you are thinking about a program other than Photoshop 3 or Photoshop 5.5. Check the indexes of your Photoshop 3 and Photoshop 5.5 User Guides and you will see that the command is not there.

Picture Window can do automatic tiled printing and some other programs also can. With Photoshop it is a manual process, that is easy enough, but there is no "command" to do it.

Incidentally, because most printers have mandatory minimum margins, your tiles will measure 8" x 10" or less on an 8.5" x 11" sheet. I have come to prefer the look of square 8×8 tiles. Tiled printing is neat, because it lets you print as large as you want even though your printer might be limited to 8.5×11 sheets.

You will need some sort of base to mount your tiles onto. I use foamboard but you could use masonite or plywood for something more substantial. I don’t think posterboard would be as satisfactory, but it might work OK.

You also need an accurate way to trim your tiles. Scissors probably won’t be accurate enough to avoid visible seams. They weren’t for me. The tiles need to join very precisely. I use a handheld rotary cutter, a non-slip straightedge, and a self-healing plastic cutting board. With a little practice you can trim off the white paper and leave just the print with very straight edges. Just be careful not to cut yourself on the rotary cutter. They are surgically sharp.

— Burton —
TR
Thomas_R._Berg
Nov 28, 2003
Thanks for the response. I happened to find what I was looking for, but it was a function of my printer. After all the searching I’d done in Photoshop, I found it with the printer functions. But when I actually did it, each page had exactly the margins you referred to and that made the picture smaller than the frame I’m trying to put it into. So tomorrow, when I’m less tired, I will try the tiled method you talk about. I’ve got a rotary paper cutter that I’ve gotten pretty good at manually aligning. So I’m looking forward to doing the project tomorrow.

Thanks for your rapid and thorough response. I wish I knew enough about this stuff to help others, too.

Have a great Thanksgiving, and an even better Christmas!

Tom
T
ttp328
Nov 28, 2003
The graphics program Printmaster from Broderbund will do the tiling. The gold or silver version can be bought for about $10.
Toby
wrote in message
I happened upon a command that allowed me to print a picture onto a a
series of 8X11 pages that would then form a regular-sized poster. Now I can’t find the command and I have a picture that I want to turn into a poster. I have used Photoshop 3.0 (which tended to make my computer crash) and Photoshop 5.5. I can’t remember which version had this command. Can anybody help me find that functionality? Thanks. Tom
BO
Burton_Ogden
Nov 29, 2003
Tom,

…and that made the picture smaller than the frame I’m trying to put it into.

Just out curiosity, what size frame are you planning to use?

So tomorrow, when I’m less tired, I will try the tiled method you talk about.

The pixel dimensions of your "master image" will depend in part on what printer you are using, in part on your system’s ability to handle large images, and in part on your target "poster" size. If your system can’t handle a 100MB image, then your master image can’t be that big and you may have to compromise on your pixels-per-inch resolution to get the image size down to something that you can handle. There are several tradeoffs to make.

For example, my older Epson Stylus Photo printer (rated at 720×720 dpi) does best with images that have 240 pixels per inch. However, people don’t tend to stand real close to large pictures, so I can easily get by with 180ppi for a tiled print. For a really large tiled print, I could probably go as low as 120ppi.

You didn’t say how big you want your picture to be. That will have a lot to do with how you size your "master image" and possibly on what Photoshop techniques you will use. So far my tiled pictures have all been assembled from tiles that were the same size in a given picture. I have used both 8×10 tiles and 8×8 tiles (which I now prefer), but I haven’t mixed tiles in the same picture. (I may get more creative.) As for Photoshop techniques, I use a custom grid. (You may have to use your Photoshop 5.5 to have this feature.) For 8×8 tiles you could use an 8-inch grid. But a 2-inch grid works fine for either 8×8 or 8×10. I also use a Rectangular Marquee with the Fixed Size style where the Width and Height are set to the pixel dimensions of the tiles I plan to cut. That fixed size Marquee snaps to the grid for pixel-perfect tiles. You need pixel-perfect tiles for invisible seams. After you select a tile, do an Image Crop and immediately Save As an image with your tile’s name. I incorporate the tile’s row and column number in the filename. Just be sure to keep your master image file intact, because you need to re-open and re-use it to make each tile. That’s how I have been doing it in Photoshop 5. Photoshop 7 lets you Print a Selection, which would simplify the process a bit. I recently purchased an upgrade to Photoshop 7 and will be installing it shortly. More things to learn.

Of course, there isn’t anything that says you have to have a uniform tile size in a picture. You could assemble it from various shapes and sizes and that might be kind of artistic. And, if you are going for irregular artistic tiles, you might not mind having visible seams where the tiles join. But I have been going for invisible seams and that guides which Photoshop techniques I use.

Regardless of how you cut the master image up into tiles, you should start with a master image that represents your final picture. Just out of curiosity, what size picture do you want to make? You mentioned a frame. I wonder what sort of frame. Are you planning on framing the tiled picture with a surrounding mat? Do you plan to make the frame or buy it readymade?

— Burton —
PC
Patty_Clarke
Nov 29, 2003
Tom,

Burton’s words are "gold."

Regardless of how you cut the master image up into tiles, you should start with a master image that represents your final picture.

I’m curious right along with Burton— what size picture do you want to make? You mentioned a frame. I wonder what sort of frame. Are you planning on framing the tiled picture with a surrounding mat? Do you plan to make the frame or buy it readymade?

Burton helped me to do an incredible tiled mural piece that I ended up seperating the tiles intentionally and then mounted on 3 pieces of foam core–the tryptich look. It’s pretty cool.

Patty
TH
Tina_Hayes
Nov 29, 2003
Hey my printer has that function and I’ve never tried it!

Errhmmm…anyway….
One of those photo trimmers like you can pick up on the cheap at Staples works quite well. Because these are not the high end trimmers you have to put a little ooommmfff into cutting weightier papers such as photo papers and card stock, but they really do work pretty well.

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