Adobe
Indesign
Since
PageMaker can handle only about 50 inch prints, what software
is available to produce a banner on a wide format printer?
A panorama or turntable rollout of a round art object can
be enlarged to 100 inches or longer, but what layout program
can tackle this size? At last an accessible software is available,
the new InDesign from Adobe, the Quark Killer. Adobe InDesign
can handle up to 18 feet, which is enough for basic banners
and large posters on large format printers.
Another
excellent alternative is PosterWorks, from S. H Pierce &
Co. PosterWorks allows you to print up to 100 feet long. PosterWorks,
tel (617) 338-2222, posterworks.com. Works with both Mac or
Windows PC.
The
Better Light large
format digital camera can produce enough dpi to fill the
largest of the wide-format printer sizes. This remarkable
high-end digital camera from Michael Collette can produce
both seamless
panoramas up to 360 degrees as well as rollouts of the
circumference of any round object. Rollout photographs are
of long proportions and can be enlarged to 18 feet long by
3 feet high on a large format printer.
Billboard
designers had specialized turnkey solutions but the average
desktop publisher, in-house publishing department, repro or
copy shop does not possess this class of hardware or software
for large format printers. Although in theory the large poster
size could be produced by Adobe Photoshop, it was not very
practical to do lettering in this software (though Version
5 has improved this situation). Adobe PageMaker is rather
meager if you need to prepare banners for printing on a wide-format
printer.
At
last Adobe has made large posters and banners available to
the larger market of digital photographers, graphics design
studios, desktop publishing, and prepress. InDesign can produce
posters or banners up to 18 feet long, which is a good start
in the right direction.
The
"Bible" series of books are essential desktop
references. Check out the publisher IDG Books, or amazon.com.
In
addition to books it is often helpful to attend training
seminars. We have just opened a section to introduce
training programs available around the USA.
What
kind of material can survive wear and tear at this large
size? We will be testing media from Rexam Graphics, one
of the leading international suppliers of media to the wide
format industry. Better Light has provided the large format
camera; Apple Computer provided a computer with 548 MB RAM,
Encad has started us off with an Encad NovaJetPro
36" printer, and Electronics for Imaging kindly sent
F.L.A.A.R. an EFI Fiery RIP PostScript server.
We
have gone on location to get the panoramas, and spent six
months in Guatemala
and Honduras doing rollout photography to get images
of exotic Maya art which are appropriate for large format.
You can see all this via the links provided within the text
here.
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reports by Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth
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UPDATED:
August 02/2001
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