need resolution advice on wall wrap

[artbot]

hey sign101ers!

i'm doing a big wall wrap that is choking my computer. ...or else something is just wrong with the computer. i've worked on larger gigabyte files than this but maybe it's just the dimensions that is slowing it down.

short of a weekend upgrade (this is a rush job). i'm thinking of downsampling the file.

current file:

650" x 132" @ 140ppi (91,300 x 18,582 pixels). currently 9gigs and it hardly started should rise to 20 gigs or so with layers. i've gone as high as 14gigs without problems but not at 91,000 pixels.

attached is a rendering of the project (wall wrap with 3/8" acrylic floated "dancing people" floated over. except for the current design is supposed to go all the way to the ceiling at 118" high).

also attached is a photo of the space. it's a bit tight. a luxury retirement home. beyond the wall is a work out area.

do you think for this space i can get away with 110ppi or less. the image is supposed to be a bit dreamy so there isn't a lot of sharp detail.

 

[speedmedia]

Typically we will utilize an image like this at full size @ 100dpi. Get great results that way, never fuzzy as long as the image is good.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

[Letterbox Mike]

We ALWAYS do wallpaper and wall murals at 75ppi. Any more is overkill and is just a time and resource hog.

 

[ProWraps]

72dpi on all wraps.

 

[artbot]

thanks guys! i've got to do something, the computer just can't hack it. it's a maxed out quad core xps (even has a ssd scratch drive).

i'm gonna start at 100 and see if it will speed up to bearable. and then drop to the 70's if that doesn't do it. i'm sure it will look fine.

 

[MikePro]

aye, i usually save my files at 1/2 scale and 150dpi (1/4 scale @ 300dpi, when I have projects too large for photoshop/illustrator canvas). worth a quick test print to ease your worries, but you should be fine running <100dpi.

 

[John Butto]

aye, i usually save my files at 1/2 scale and 150dpi (1/4 scale @ 300dpi, when I have projects too large for photoshop/illustrator canvas). worth a quick test print to ease your worries, but you should be fine running <100dpi.

Like MikePro says, what program do use use at 660"+- wide layout, Photoshop?

 

[artbot]

it's photoshop.

the file format .psb allows for 300,000 x 3000,000 pixels.

i'd think it'd take a pretty fast pc to work on a file of that size. 8 gigs of ram
an ssd scratch and quad core will not cut it. time for a maxed out i7, maybe a raid 0 array for saving and a much bigger ssd scratch disk and put the operating system on it's own ssd too.

 

[Sticky Signs]

100 dpi should be more than enough at full scale. Besides, the seniors won't notice.

 

[artbot]

starting to think that there is something seriously wrong with my computer. photoshop freezes on image size in cs3, cs4, and cs5. and i just put 8 gigs of top of the line memory in it (was blue screening a few weeks back). i've downsampled to 100dpi. now the file is only 4.6 gigs and it's still acting terrible. really bad timing. on top of this rush job my buyer wants 3 high quality props in the next week for a 1.2 million square foot military hospital... why!!!!???? grrrr....

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Hi sorry I don't know how to fully help as I don't usually do graphics that large - however I had very annoying problems a couple years back which I couldn't troubleshoot - and turned out to be RAM. I thought the initial BIOS POST check would tell me if there was something wrong - but it didn't catch my problem - however the MS Memory checker did. If you want to thoroughly check your new chips (which could be bad), I recommend using this utility if you haven't already done so.

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

 

[Letterbox Mike]

I assume you're running 64 bit windows?

Is the file CMYK or RGB. If you're in CMYK and you're confident about your color management settings, convert to RGB, that'll reduce the size somewhat.

And seriously, reduce the resolution to 75. There is no discernible difference between that and 100dpi beyond a foot away. You are killing yourself over an extra 25 pixels per inch that make zero difference.

 

[MikePro]

any way to break up your file?
I notice there's a doorway that could allow you to cut at least a portion of it into a separate file. I do lots of 3'tall by 150' wide murals and since I don't feel like fighting with max file sizes and dpi's all the time, I always broke up my files based on sections 1-3, 4a, 4b, 5-etc.

 

[ncpdfsb]

like mike and john say, you need to cut that file size. reduce overall size by 75% then bump it up to 100% in your rip. although you did not mention what you were using. direct from ps? nice work.

 

[ncpdfsb]

I assume you're running 64 bit windows?

Is the file CMYK or RGB. If you're in CMYK and you're confident about your color management settings, convert to RGB, that'll reduce the size somewhat.

And seriously, reduce the resolution to 75. There is no discernible difference between that and 100dpi beyond a foot away. You are killing yourself over an extra 25 pixels per inch that make zero difference.

i used to have a chart. resolution vs. the human eye. showed how lower resolution at comparable distances has no effect on image quality. have to dig that up..

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Full size @ 72 printed @720 will be perfect.

 

[artbot]

thanks for all the advice. waking up to a computer on a rush order weekend that seems to be acting up is not a good feeling. i will do a mem check first. strangely at about 2:00am the computer started acting fine (after it was off for a while, very suspicious). maybe it's a bad board, memory leak, bad memory stick, this computer win7 64, cs5 64 has never been as stable as i'd prefer.

as for file size, it's at 4 gigs. that is nothing for this computer. i commonly work on 12 gig files, so there must be something going on. the fastest fix might just be to run to houston and grab a craigslisted i7 and keep on working.

 

[artbot]

update:

reason for insanely slow performance was a corrupted file. did memtests for hours, did every arrangement of scratch disks. a "mock" file of the same dimensions works fine. the project file bogs down then crashes the computer.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Dam, sorry to hear. What does this mean? You have to recreate it from scratch? or it can be fixed?? I recently had a corrupt eps file which drove me mad - I thought it was a format issue - luckily it was only 500kb...

 

[artbot]

i got some bits and pieces. the base image is from a proposed restaurant proposal (calligraphic pen work from corel)... that files been tossed and rasterized. grrrr...
i even backed it up (a backed up corrupted file that also crashes)

it will be an interesting week. i figure if i don't eat sleep or poop, and then drive the project all the way to dallas at the last minute, i be only four or so days late.

"they who live by the machine will die by the machine also".