print advice

renstarrenstar Registered Users Posts: 167 Major grins
edited November 22, 2008 in SmugMug Support
Hi All,

I have a print that I would like to get done, but I'm not sure about the best way to go about getting it. I would like to get a largish print (poster sized?) of the first pdf found here (the park system and guide map):
http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=nps#

They provide the relief as a psd and the text in illustrator, and as it is noted on the initial page, the maps are public domain so no copyright issues.

The idea is to get something that we can get mounted (say with cork or something behind it) and we use push pins to mark where we've gone to. We have a very good framer here that I'm sure can come up with something to that end, but first, we need the print.

I've had a few ideas, maybe light weight poster sort of print, but I can't find a place to get it done. Thick photo paper might be over kill. Maybe canvas? Would something like this print well through SM? If so, on what product?

Cheers
-r

Comments

  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited November 21, 2008
    It'll print great at Smuggy

    20081122-dug5ufuuqi325jsc3uhr9p5rs5.jpg

    Crop it a tad for a 3:2 ratio and print it up to 24x36" thumb.gif

    I'd go Matte. Or Metallic.
    Andy

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  • renstarrenstar Registered Users Posts: 167 Major grins
    edited November 21, 2008
    Andy wrote:
    It'll print great at Smuggy

    Crop it a tad for a 3:2 ratio and print it up to 24x36" thumb.gif

    I'd go Matte. Or Metallic.

    Will the text be readable at that size?
  • hyachtshyachts Registered Users Posts: 140 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    I'd say yes, since the original it comes from is ~17X24 (according to Adobe, anyways). It may not be readable from any distance, though.

    A question I have is how to get a print of a PDF at SmugMug. I think Andy is pulling the image out of the PDF to get that screenshot below. How would you go about getting the print with the overlays of text and park boundaries? You'd at least need Acrobat to render the PDF to an image, I would think. Is that the best way to go about it?
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    renstar wrote:
    Will the text be readable at that size?
    What text? Text you add? Make it big enough, and yes :D
    Andy

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  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    hyachts wrote:
    I'd say yes, since the original it comes from is ~17X24 (according to Adobe, anyways). It may not be readable from any distance, though.

    A question I have is how to get a print of a PDF at SmugMug. I think Andy is pulling the image out of the PDF to get that screenshot below. How would you go about getting the print with the overlays of text and park boundaries? You'd at least need Acrobat to render the PDF to an image, I would think. Is that the best way to go about it?
    That file is a PSD, I opened it in PS CS4 and made it into a JPG.
    Andy

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  • hyachtshyachts Registered Users Posts: 140 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    Andy wrote:
    What text? Text you add? Make it big enough, and yes :D

    He's talking about the PDF with the overlay of information, park names, scale, so on and so on, not the PSD file (which, it appears, has none of those things). My question related to the PDF as well... I'm sure there are ways for the casual user to save PDF to JPG, but somehow I doubt they do it well. Without buying Photoshop, how would you recommend printing a PDF through SmugMug?
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    hyachts wrote:
    He's talking about the PDF with the overlay of information, park names, scale, so on and so on, not the PSD file (which, it appears, has none of those things). My question related to the PDF as well... I'm sure there are ways for the casual user to save PDF to JPG, but somehow I doubt they do it well. Without buying Photoshop, how would you recommend printing a PDF through SmugMug?
    lol3.gif I thought all the files at the top grouping were the same, just diff formats. Sorry! You can't, AFAIK - I opened the file in PS CS4 and saved it easily as a JPG. Could probably use other tools like The Gimp as well. Here it is

    422054562_282F2-L.jpg

    http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6620445_CDr3E#422054562_282F2-A-LB

    Original available for download, help yourselves thumb.gif
    Andy

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  • renstarrenstar Registered Users Posts: 167 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    Andy wrote:
    lol3.gif I thought all the files at the top grouping were the same, just diff formats. Sorry! You can't, AFAIK - I opened the file in PS CS4 and saved it easily as a JPG. Could probably use other tools like The Gimp as well. Here it is


    http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6620445_CDr3E#422054562_282F2-A-LB

    Original available for download, help yourselves thumb.gif


    There are three files there, the pdf for viewing, but they have the map in a PSD, and the text for the map in an Illustrator file. Now, I'm not a print/media type, so I don't know the best way to do things, but the reason I'm asking is I presume there is a good way to merge the psd and illustrator file so that the map can be printed just about anywhere.

    EDIT: Looks like the illustrator file includes everything and not just the text. Is there a reason to make the jpeg from this vs converting the pdf? Thanks guys!

    -r
  • renstarrenstar Registered Users Posts: 167 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2008
    Andy wrote:
    lol3.gif I thought all the files at the top grouping were the same, just diff formats. Sorry! You can't, AFAIK - I opened the file in PS CS4 and saved it easily as a JPG. Could probably use other tools like The Gimp as well. Here it is

    http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6620445_CDr3E#422054562_282F2-A-LB

    Original available for download, help yourselves thumb.gif

    Also, Andy, thanks for this, I'm waiting on the original to load so I can see it in full glory.

    Provided the pdf->jpeg didnt introduce too many artifacts I might be able to go with this. If not, I'm sure that the illustrator file will allow a rendering with arbitrary sharpness, now to just figure out how :)
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