Achieve a good PPI for your designs

How to achieve a good PPI for your designs on Art of Fiber

At Art of Fiber, image quality is key to delivering the best results for your custom exhibition walls and other projects. To ensure your designs are crisp and professional, we ask that all uploaded images meet a minimum of 80 PPI (Pixels Per Inch). This ensures that your designs will look sharp, whether they’re viewed up close or from a distance.

To help you meet this requirement, here’s a guide on how to achieve a good PPI for your designs, based on our upload guide.

What is PPI?

PPI, or Pixels Per Inch, measures the pixel density of an image. The higher the PPI, the more pixels are packed into each inch, resulting in a sharper and clearer image. At Art of Fiber, a minimum PPI of 80 is required to ensure that your designs maintain quality when scaled for large format prints, such as exhibition walls.

Why 80 PPI?

The 80 PPI requirement strikes a balance between quality and file size. It ensures that images are detailed enough to be printed clearly without unnecessary data that would slow down upload and processing times.

Steps to Achieve Good PPI

1. Start with High-Resolution Images The most important step to achieving a good PPI is to use high-resolution images from the start. If you begin with a low-resolution image, simply increasing the PPI later will not improve its quality.

   • When sourcing images, always choose high-resolution files. Stock photos, vector graphics, and images captured with a high-quality camera are good starting points.
   • If you're scanning a physical image, ensure the scan resolution is at least 300 PPI to give you the flexibility to scale it down without losing detail.

2. Set the Correct PPI in Your Design Software

   Most design programs, like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, allow you to set or adjust the PPI of your image. Here’s how to do it:

   In Photoshop:

   • Open your image and go to Image → Image Size.
   • In the Resolution box, set the PPI to 80 or higher.
   • Ensure that Resample Image is unchecked if you don’t want to alter the total number of pixels in the image.

   In Illustrator:

   • Since Illustrator works with vector graphics (which are resolution-independent), PPI comes into play when you export to a raster format like PNG or JPEG.
   • When exporting, go to File → Export and choose your desired format.
   • Under the Resolution dropdown, select Other and input 80 PPI or higher.

3. Check the Dimensions of Your Design

   Even if your image meets the PPI requirement, it’s crucial that the dimensions of your design fit the specifications of your project on Art of Fiber. Larger formats, like exhibition walls, need more pixels to maintain sharpness.

   • Make sure your image size (in pixels) matches or exceeds the size of the print area for your project. For example, if your print area is 3000 x 2000 pixels, your image must be large enough to cover this space at 80 PPI.
   • Use the formula: Dimensions in inches=PixelsPPI\text{Dimensions in inches} = \frac{\text{Pixels}}{\text{PPI}}Dimensions in inches=PPIPixels​ For instance, if you’re printing a design that is 40 inches wide, and your image has 3200 pixels, the PPI would be 80, which meets the minimum requirement.

4. Avoid Stretching or Upscaling Images

   Stretching or upscaling a low-resolution image can cause pixelation and loss of quality. Always avoid increasing the dimensions of a low-resolution image to meet size requirements, as this can degrade the sharpness. Instead:

   • Use higher-resolution assets or vectors that can scale up without quality loss.
   • Ensure that your original image has enough pixels to meet the PPI requirements for the size of your project.

5. Exporting Your Design

   When you’re ready to export your final design, make sure to follow these steps to maintain a good PPI:

   • Set your export resolution to 80 PPI or higher, depending on your project.
   • Check the image dimensions to ensure it meets the size requirements in the Art of Fiber platform.
   • Use lossless formats like PNG or high-quality JPEG to avoid compression artifacts that can reduce image clarity.

6. Test Your Image Before Uploading

   Before you upload your design, it’s a good idea to zoom in and inspect the details. Ensure that text is readable and graphics are sharp at full scale.

Use our PDF presets to export your graphics

We provide 4 presets to export your graphics with Adobe software (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.). Import them in your software and select the appropriate preset as you export your graphic to ensure that embedded images will be processed with our quality requirements in your final document (100DPI, 300DPI, Scale 1:1 or Scale 1:10)

Use Art of Fiber’s Upload Guide for Reference

For more detailed specifications and instructions, refer to our upload guide. It covers the best practices for preparing your designs, from setting up your file formats to uploading your final designs.

Uploading Lower PPI: Acknowledging the quality risks

You have the option to upload images with a PPI lower than the recommended 80 PPI, but please be aware that this may result in reduced print quality. Lower PPI images can appear pixelated or blurry when printed on large surfaces, which could affect the overall appearance of your design. By proceeding with a lower PPI, you agree to take full responsibility for any potential loss in quality, and understand that Art of Fiber and the venue will not be held liable for any issues related to print quality due to low-resolution images.

Guaranteed PPI with Art of Fiber's design tool

When you use Art of Fiber's design tool, we ensure that your images are always optimized for the best quality, guaranteeing the right PPI for your project. Our tool automatically checks and adjusts the resolution of your images to meet our minimum PPI requirements, ensuring that your designs will look sharp and professional when printed. By using our design tool, you eliminate the risk of pixelation or poor image quality, and we take full responsibility for delivering high-quality prints. You can trust that your design will meet all technical standards, giving you peace of mind throughout the process.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can easily meet the minimum 80 PPI requirement for your designs on Art of Fiber. Ensuring that your images are high-quality from the start, setting the correct PPI in your design software, and properly exporting your files will result in sharp, professional designs that look great on large formats. 

If you have questions about PPI, please ask your designer.