How to design a big print?

[bonniehandi]

Hello all,

Someone has asked me to design a poster (44cmx60cm) and a matching book cover (22cmx30cm) each at 300dpi.

If I put that into PS, the number of pixel is something like 5000pxX7000px. This basically brings PS to a halt.

How do I go about setting it up so I can still use PS and print at high quality?

Thanks.

[Revision12]

Hmm, sounds like you could do with more RAM tbh. I've never encountered a problem with larger documents slower PS down before.

However one solution might be to create each element of the design in a separate Photoshop document (make sure they're the right size and still 300dpi, or you will lose quality!) and then just import them one by one in to the full size piece. It's not ideal, and doesn't get rid of the issue entirely, but it should mean you don't have to work through too much slow down.

[Medley]

I agree that if you do this on a regular basis (or plan to) that more RAM may be worth investing in. However, here are a few specific suggestions:

1) discuss with this 'someone' the need for a full resolution poster-size image. The farther away a viewer is from an image, the less resolution is needed to provide the illusion of continuous tone. And the larger the image, the farther away people generally stand to view it. You may be able to get away with, say 200 dpi, and save yourself 1/3 in file size.

2) Before editing, go into Preferences> General and look at the number of history states. Unless you've already trimmed them, the default setting is 20. Cutting that down saves memory.

*note*: In the preferences, you'll find that you can change the amount of memory dedicated to Photoshop. The default setting is 70%. I strongly advise AGAINST tampering with this. Raising it has a tendency to rob needed memory from other essential computer functions. The LAST thing you want is to do all your editing, only to encounter an error when you try to save the final version. Trust me, it's happened. You were warned......

3) Limit your use of layers. Duplicating the background layer doubles the ram needed for the image. Start by duplicating the original file, then doing your edits on the duplicate file. This eliminates the need to leave an 'original' background layer, as the original file is still untouched. Merge layers as often as possible.

4) Although it's a pain, saving the image at an intermediate step, then closing the image and reopening it clears the memory cache, and can get you farther down the road when things grind to a standstill.

None of these are the best solution, but I hope you find that they help.

- Joe U.

[bonniehandi]

Thanks for both of your replies.
My computer is 2.2GHz and 2G ram. I am currently sitting at 60% for ram dedicated to PS. Scratch disk is on a different hard drive. I think this is about the best setting I can get out of my machine.

I think I should try reducing the number of history states, and see what happens.