: Ratio 1:10 - billboard I'm making a billboard design - 400 cm wide + 300 cm high + 50 mm bleed. Cause the file is too big to make it in original size, I'm gonna make it in 1:10 ratio.

@Becky351

Keep in mind that 300ppi at a 1:10 ratio would be 30ppi at the real size of your billboard. 30ppi is plenty for a billboard, you should just be aware of how your resolution changes with your ratio.
(If you were to design a press wall for example you would want to use a higher resolution like 1000ppi at 1:10 to get 100ppi at the real size)

I dont see the reason in outlining fonts in 2017, but some large-format printers still demand it for some reason. It doesn’t do much harm to type in display sizes, so you might as well do it to be safe – but it is always best to get this information from your print shop. If they are not very helpful there you might need to consider taking your business someplace else :)

Hope I could help – Please feel free to comment if I can clarify something.

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@Berumen635

Your fonts and other vector art will scale up with no problem. That is the magic of vectors. You may want to outline your fonts anyway to reduce the risk of your print shop having trouble.

It's the photograph that will take some consideration. 300 DPI is a good start. Your target resolution will depend on how close people will view the billboard.

If they will see it from their cars on the side of the freeway than resolution is not as important. If people will be viewing the billboard from up close then the resolution needs to be very high.

A fair test of how your photo will look scaled up is to fit it into your scale model (1/10th) and then expand it to full size (x10). Zoom in till it is life size (400 cm wide).

What you see on your monitor is an approximation of what people will see when they are as close to the billboard as you are to your monitor.

Now zoom out to see how the image will look from a distance. Try 50% scale, 33% etc. You will begin to get an idea of the quality of your pic at full size.

As important as resolution is image size. If your image is 300 dpi and 20 inches wide then it will probably look acceptable at 1000% scale, from a distance. If your image is 6" wide at 300 DPI than it will probably not look sharp enough.

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