How to make sure your prints look amazing.
File resolution is a very important factor when it comes to your photos and artwork files. The simple rule of thumb is that we're looking for a minimum DPI (dots per inch) of 150. Our recommended DPI is 240, up to a maximum of 300. If you have access to Adobe Photoshop, you can check the DPI of your image by using the 'Image > Image Size' menu command. This will give you the DPI breakdown of your image, but an important thing to remember is that you must have the file dimensions set to correspond to the size of the print you're ordering, or you won't be receiving accurate DPI figures.
For example, if you plan to order an A4 sized print, you need to make sure your image dimensions in Photoshop as set at 210 x 297mm.
If you don't have access to Photoshop, we will check all submitted artwork files before printing, and we will contact you via email if your files are not of sufficient resolution for your chosen print size.
We can accept almost all standard image file types. JPG's and TIFF's are preferred, but we can also use PDF's of sufficient quality, as well as PNG's, AI's and EPS files. We also accept RAW uncompressed camera files, which are not really necessary for smaller prints, but ideal for larger panels.
Due to the nature of printed metal, colour variances can occur. Basically this means that colours can look slightly different on your finished print then they may appear on your monitor or phone. Colour appearance can even vary from screen to screen, based on the quality of your monitor, its colour and brightness calibration, and screen resolution.
Our guarantee is that we will ensure that your finished metal prints will retain colour vibrancy as accurately as possible, but when purchasing our products you must be aware that these colour variations can occur. HD Metal Prints Australia prints your items with the understanding that colours may not look 100% like they do on your specific screen. We DO NOT reprint jobs due to these colour variations.
A common question we receive is 'can I use photos taken on my mobile phone?'. The answer is yes! Modern mobile phone cameras generally take very high quality photos. It is important that you supply us the photos directly from your phone however. If you have uploaded your photos to social media sites, or transferred them via multimedia messages, they can become compressed (see below for more information on compression).
Image compression can occur when your photos and artwork are used with online platforms such as social media sites. When you upload photos to a service such as Facebook, your photos are processed and compressed to a smaller, more manageable size for use on the web. This means overall resolution is lost. Its always a better option to use a photo file directly from your phone or camera, rather than one pulled from Facebook.
This does not mean that images from Facebook are completely unusable however. We have had success using Facebook photos on smaller prints, up to an A3 size. If you're after something larger than that, we will require a larger, uncompressed photo.
Compression occurs when photos are uploaded to most social media sites, dropped into Word documents, and are sent via MMS messaging.
