Preparing artwork for huge exhibition spaces or large point-of-sale displays in Photoshop can be a nightmare and can use up precious processing time on your computer. And this is even if you have a Dual 2 GHz G5 Mac with 3 GB of RAM!
But there’s no need to keep the high resolution you would for ordinary print files. Some Photoshop files I’ve made have been 3 metres by 8 metres at 120 ppi and have printed out fine. A lot of these spaces are printed on white backed acetate or plastic translite which is back lit.
The results can be beautiful and won’t crash your computer!
And another thing. Don’t worry too much if you get the spinning wheel of death, the multicoloured pizza or umbrella or whatever you call it. Even when working on a souped up G5 Photoshop can still freeze – even saying (not responding) when one choses the force quit option (Command-option esc). But when this happens don’t force quit! Chill, make a cup of tea or coffee, it will spring back to life and you won’t have lost anything!
