Vector vs raster for a billboard job finally clicked for me

I was laying out a 48-foot wide billboard in Photoshop last week and my file hit 2GB before I even added the photos. Switched everything to Illustrator vector art and it was under 200MB with way cleaner output, anyone else run into this size nightmare?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_mason3112d ago

I read somewhere that vector art basically scales forever without losing quality, which is exactly the point for something as huge as a billboard. That size drop from 2GB to under 200MB is wild though, sounds like you saved both storage and sanity lmao. It makes total sense that the printer noticed a sharper look since vectors hold up better at those crazy big sizes.

rowan_thomas13d ago

Man, your mileage may vary but I had pretty much the same thing happen with a billboard job last fall. My raster file was crawling at like 1.5GB just from the background gradients and textures, so I rebuilt the whole thing in vectors. The client's printer even said the vector output looked sharper from the truck at 50 feet away compared to the raster proof I'd sent earlier.