I am starting to learn on how to create posters and artwall print (A1,A2, A3, B1,B2,B3, and most posters sizes etc) and then send to printful for . I have searched and viewed many topic and i am still a bit confused and i have some questions. I have learned that for posters prints its better to make the design in illustrator (vector and text based art) and that is better to set up a document size in AI according to the physical size in Centimers or inch or mm. ie : A2 poster = 42.0 x 59.4 Cm or 16.5 x 23.4 inch document size in illustrator. however its hard to design on a laptop screen in real size/ zoom in & zoom out etc...
So i came up that if i use how illustrator calculates exported artwork resolution i can just create an appropriate document size in Px (A2 pixel size in 72 dpi then export final artwork to 300dpi to come up with exact final image A2 sizes in px)
Here is my approch: 1- create a document 1 191 x 1 684 px (which is = to A2 size in 72dpi) A2/300dpi is 4961 x 7016 px 2-design the artwork 3- Export file as a jpeg and then set the resolution to 300dpi
I have checked the final exported jpeg and it's exported at 4961 x 7016 px/300dpi source : Illustrator - Calculate File Dimensions and Resolution for Accurate Output - File Size Demystified
I just want to know if that process of working to output a poster size is a good way rather than working on a real size document.
Ps: printful is asking for a jpg file at 300dpi SRGB for the prints .
thank you
EDIT: Thank you all and thank you @Billy kerr for this thorough answer which is the closest to my questioning. I wanted to clarify some things that were probably not clear in my question:
1- I don't use images in my posters (only vectors and probably some pixelization effects so I'm well aware of the resolution of the images in case I use them).
2- I learned during my research that the dimension of the AI document must be exact than the physical dimension of the real poster. i.e. if it's an A1, the illustrator document must be either in centimeters (59.4 x 84.1 cm.), inches (23.375 x 33.125 in) or milimeters (594 x 841 mm) and not in pixels (because it's a digital measurement), the image exported during the final rendering is expressed in px (7016 x 9933 px ) }@ 300ppi. as you show in the example (this part is understood and tested ).
- My concern is to be able to draw on a small screen on real measurements in cm, in or mm for a poster size bigger than A4.
So following your steps what if i do like this : If I take the example of an A1 poster and make the design on a smaller document @72ppi as explained on the video above taking the measurements in mm: -width 7016px/300ppi72ppi = 1683,84 px -height 9933 px/300ppi72ppi = 2383,92 px
1-Create a new document, using Print preset. Adjust the size manually to A1 @ 72ppi 1683,84 px x 2383,92 px (that a small size in wich i can design easily without zooming in and out )
2- Set the color mode to CMYK, (the color profile can be converted later to printers that requires SRGB like prihtful)
3-Now design poster, and save the AI file once finished.
4- Do File > Export As, choose a new file name, and set the file type to JPEG, use Artboards, and hit Export
5-When the export dialog appears set it up as follows: set color profile to RGB , ppi to 300 (set up at 300 brings to final jpeg output to 7016 x 9933 px/300ppi
6-The exported file i got is equal to 7016 x 9933 px/300ppi
so if we can get the same correct A1 jpeg px size/ppi by starting with a smaller size & 72ppi is that also correct to process that way rather than the conventional one you have stated ?
The main goal is to work in small canvas on screen and output the excat equal size of A1 as final result from what i have tested so far the final output is always correct. (i am aware if i use images that may be difficult to process that way as per used images resolution)
Any thoughts please. thank you