Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 8:28 am Post subject: Text Layers for Printing Posters
Hi there,
I'm not new to using Photoshop, but I am definitely not a power user. Having said that, I believe my question is a fairly simple one, as I'm just looking for some confirmation on a little bit of advice I was given by someone who I consider to be much stronger at Photoshop than I am.
There advice for me was with respect to the text that I place on a layer, if I am intending my output to be printed (for a poster, or a t-shirt, etc.).
They advised that I place multiple layers of the same text exactly on top of each other. So basically copy a layer and place it in the same place.
For example: If Layer 1 had text on it that said: "Max". Then I would simply copy Layer 1, to create Layer 2, placing it in the exact same location. So "Max" would sit directly on top of "Max". They advised that I can make my text look much sharper, deeper and richer by using this method. Placing more layers will richen the text further.
I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing something that didn't make any sense, and therefore wasn't wasting my time.
Can anyone comment on this?
Thank you very much for any insights you can offer?
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 3987
Location: Cheltenham, UK
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 8:56 am Post subject:
Welcome to the forum Max.
It is one of the odder things that I have heard and my initial instinct would be to ask, how does it change or alter the final file?
I can't see that it does, not for printings sake anyway. For the screen there may be a case of aliasing that with some fonts two laying on top of each other may add a emboldening effect, but this does not transplant to print. Once the final file is rendered it's just a clump of pixels with different values and a profile (hopefully if you're sending to print) telling the printer how to handle the colour information. If you have alpha channels and depending upon the type of printing process that may have consequences but, not an infinite stack of font layers. Where does it end? Are 40 layers enough or do we next need 200? You see my point.
Really and I am showing my age in a world of Open Type format but I would have thought you need to use a PostScript font or try embedding in a PDF. Neither of which are really my area of Photoshop. _________________ If life serves you lemons, make lemonade!
Thanks for the reply Hermit, and thanks for the warm welcome.
I agree with your analysis, and it seemed odd to me, no?
Digital information, is just digital information? If you tell a machine to put a color in location x,y. Does it make a difference if that information is repeated 2 times, or 10 times? Does the machine go back and place the color there as many times as there are layers? Perhaps someone out there with printing experience will be able to comment?
I'm a little baffled?
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