The hardest part when you want to print posters is trying to get started. Inspiration can sometimes be fleeting, or if you are a novice, you might not even really know where to start. If this is your situation at the moment, never fear. This article should be a smooth guide to novices or uninspired alike in getting started with poster printing. There are six major steps you should know to jump start your poster printing to get on with the process.

1. The hardest part: the blank canvass

The hardest part with which we will help you is the blank canvass. To get inspiration in filling up that canvass, our advice to you is just to draw a few sketches yourself. Sometimes the hard part of this digital age is that it is hard to just sketch up something in your imagination using a computer. So leave your InDesign or Photoshop behind and use a simple pencil and paper. Just sketch your ideas for a custom poster there. Do several concepts if possible. Just sketch and sketch and sketch without too much care about the details. With each sketch, you should see your ideas develop and in time you should well know when you have a good color poster design concept.

2. Refining your design

With your rough concept fleshed out, it is time to refine it digitally. It is good to scan your sketch unto the computer and then start from there. With your sketch as the background you can easily refine the shapes, text and images into a nice first digital draft for poster printing. Make sure that you scale things right though, and of course if inspiration comes, try to alter your design a little bit more so that it translates well as a true poster.

3. Adding details and texture

Once you have turned your sketch into a workable digital draft, you can then add details and texture on the next step. Add in color to the shapes and text. Try to place in shadows and lighting unto the layers, while you may want to add some texture effects to the different design elements. Use your image editing software's features to add fine detail to the other parts of your color poster.

4. Adding important poster information

When done, you should have a pretty good color poster to work with. You should then just add other important information into your poster. This information of course includes things like show dates, prices, sponsor details and other important information that the poster needs to display. Make sure of course that these text do not destroy your design. They must compliment it in a way, so make sure they are small and well integrated with the theme.

5. Compensating for printing

Make sure as well to compensate for poster printing. Add an inch or so of "bleed" to the poster dimensions so that each poster should be easy to cut. Also, make sure that color correction has been done to adapt to the CMYK printing process.

6. Reviews

Finally, when all is done, you should have a good review period or session where you and two other people proof read and analyze the whole color poster. Make sure that there are no spelling errors and design mistakes. Having three checking on the design should more or less eliminate any errors that might be passed on to printing. Once done you should be well enough to get on with poster printing.

Great! Once you do these things, you should have a good start with poster printing. All that is left is to find a poster printing service and you should be done.