Sign Africa Journal May / June 2018 | Page 27

FEATURE 4. MASTER THE TYPE TOOL Invest a little time in learning all that you can do with Photoshop’s type tool. Watch a few videos and read a few online articles. Text is the fundamental reason for most sign work so you need to be proficient with this, too. 5. OUTPUT AT 300DPI For signs, I use 300dpi resolution. It gives you a much higher quality output. For a banner, I would use 150dpi resolution. I learnt a lot about using layer styles from the Photoshop WOW! Book by Jack Davis and I’m sure there are other books like it to help you get started. One minor limitation you should be aware of is that Photoshop rounds the corners of the outline. If the customer insists on perfectly square corners, you’ll have to do that design in Adobe Illustrator, and export it using 'Save as PDF (or EPS)'. Back in the Photoshop layout, use the Place command, which is a special command for importing files. Photoshop can help you create incredible printed lettering and graphics with powerful visual appeal — especially for customers. Selling upgraded graphics is easy when you can show the dramatic difference they can make. Reprinted with permission from SignCraft Magazine www.signcraft.com www.SignAfrica.com | MAY/JUNE 2018 ISSUE 95 27