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For a
REALLY DETAILED description, see our
Really Detailed How To Page or
see the built in Poster Buddy help.
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(1)
Source Image
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The first thing to do is to select the digital image that you want to
make your poster from.
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Possible Sources - Digital Camera,
scan of photo, internet, etc.
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Image Resolution - At least 2 or
3 megapixels is best, but any size can be used. Higher is
better.
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Avoid - Very low
resolution (small) email or internet images (e.g. thumbnail images).
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(2)
Select Paper
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Next, you tell Poster Buddy about the paper that you are
printing your poster onto. Don't confuse this with the poster
size. Poster Buddy can make any size poster from any size paper by
varying the number of tile images (prints) per poster.
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Paper sizes - All standard sizes are
supported, and custom sizes can easily be added as well.
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Margin size - This is easily
customizable. If you aren't sure about margin size, then it is better to
overestimate them.
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Borderless Printing -
Some printers can print from one edge of the page to the other with no
margins. This is very handy for making posters since you don't have to
trim the margins off of your prints. Use Poster Buddy's Edge Calibration
system to ensure top notch results with borderless printing.
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(3)
Select Poster Size and Content
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You then decide how large you want your poster to be by adjusting the "Number
of tiles" wide/high. Each "tile" is a print from your
printer. At the same time, you customize what part of your
source image to include in your poster by using the zoom/pan controls of Poster
Buddy.
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Poster Size - This is calculated by
"tile" print size (print paper minus margin size), and number of tiles
high/wide.
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Preview - Click the "preview" button
to see a full-screen preview of what the final poster will look like.
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Estimated Quality
- Poster Buddy gives a rough estimate of the final image quality
(based on resolution) for the Poster. It should be noted that the
perceived "Image quality" greatly depends on how far away the poster is
viewed from.
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(4)
Create and Save Poster Images
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Poster Buddy creates a new folder and saves your poster images into that
folder. You can specify the new folder name and location, as well as the
filenames and format of the poster images.
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(5)
Print and Assemble the Posters
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You can use any application to print your images, or the Windows built
in print function. When you print your poster tile images, try to avoid
any printer settings that either crop or
automatically adjust your images.
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Windows Printing - When printing
with Windows's built in print wizard, select the "Fax" layout option.
Do NOT select the "Photo" layout option (that setting cuts off parts of your
images).
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Printer Settings to Avoid - Try
to avoid any printer settings that automatically
adjust the lightness/colors of images. Also, avoid any layout
settings that might crop your
images.
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Poster Assembly - You
first need to trim off the margins from the tile prints (not needed for
borderless prints). You then tape the tiles together from the
back. For an even nicer finish, mount the poster on poster board or put
it in a frame. Frames and poster board are inexpensive and really add to
the look and feel of the poster.
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