Custom Poster Printing

Bigger is better with poster printing services. Before art could be computerized, vectorized (made into line segments by a computer), rastorized (made into pixels or dots of color using the computer) making a large print of anything was quite difficult, time consuming and expensive. Large print advertising was relegated to movie promotions lining the walls of the local cinema and rock stars who had millions of dollars to blow on marketing. Without owning a theater or playing an electric guitar, many businesses, organizations and causes were left with printed cards, letterhead and hats. Even with the best ink jet printing of the time, before 1980, poster printing services were just too much of a "luxury" for most marketing budgets. The 1990s gave birth to the computer craze. It was not long before art and animation were handled solely on the computer screen. Companies in the print field started using digital art files that fed directly into a large scale press. The custom poster printing industry was born! Not only was it easier but now was affordable enough for the average business owner to consider as a viable marketing tool.

Years ago, a printing company would run the large image in sections. For example, an average poster would be made into a grid with coordinates on the X and Y axis. The image would be cut into square segments to be printed on a standard size press. A screen would be made for all the separate pieces, making a template for all the blank papers to copy from. If 40 posters were being made, the top left corner of the image would be printed 40 times. Ink would be applied to the image on the paper. The pigment had to be applied one color at a time, and the paper dried between runs. The ink choice could either be CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) or RGB (red, green and blue). If there was a color unique to the customer (which is often the case), a spot color could then be added on the paper's last trip through the press. "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." (Revelation 4:3) Then the press operator would remove and clean the screen and reload the image of the next segment of the picture. After all of the segments were done and dried, the press operator would follow the grid lines to put the puzzle back together. The images would all be covered with a laminate to give the appearance of seamlessness.

For obvious reasons, this process was painstakingly long, labor intensive and expensive. Part of the answer came in larger custom poster printing machines. Then, one large screen was made to burn the image into large format paper. Forty sheets of this large paper would be sent through the press, to be burned by the picture on the screen. The ink would then adhere to the image in relief on the top of the paper. The paper would be dried and then delivered to the customer. Though this large scale press did make the process a bit quicker, digital printing almost made it faster than lightening. A business owner now has access to high quality custom poster printing without even leaving her office. An illustrator or graphic designer is necessary to create the image that best expresses the marketing angle being attempted by the company. If the business does not have regular need of an artist, graphic designers can be commissioned on a freelance basis and still produce customized art that reflects the heart of the company. The owner will work with the designer to produce art that satisfies her criteria. The designer will save the document in an easily accessible format, such as .pdf or .jpg.

The graphic designer will then send it to a company that specialized in poster printing services. This file could be sent over the email as an attachment, uploaded through the digital print company's website or couriered to the print company, if it is in the same area as the originating business. This type of print making is often called "on demand," because the recipient of the emailed file prints the document or poster on the demand of the client. The presses of today can in take digital information directly from a computer. On demand, or digital print companies, do not design silk screens for each requested job. The computer sends the digital image directly to the press. Ink is applied in much the same way, except that the press no longer has to provide drying time between colors, and spot color is done at the same time as all the other pigments. Digital presses no longer require large numbers of prints to be cost effective. In other words, there is no wasted ink, time or money wasted if the client merely wants one poster. In years past, print preparation was so difficult that running only one piece of artwork was simply not efficient.

There are many options when working with a custom poster printing company. Most, if not all, of these options will be listed on the customer interface portion of their website or will be discussed over the phone by a customer service representative. Gloss or matte, printing to the very edge or leaving a white border, blurred or smoky effects, paper or foam core, among other options, are the choices available when using poster printing services. A business owner should be very involved in this design phase, so that the finished product is to their liking. In the former types of presses, a press check was available before printing, but because on demand is a "what you see is what you get" kind of industry, the file sent or uploaded by the project originator will be exactly replicated when the job is complete.

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