What PPI and DPI is needed for a photographic backdrop printed at 6x4 foot? I have a stock image which is 4000 px across and 300 dpi. Do I need to enlarge that with photoshop before sending to my backdrop printer?
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3When in doubt, always ask your printer. It's hard for us to really give you a definitive answer, without knowing all the details of their printing process, but I think that the image is high enough resolution to work. Make sure you send them an uncompressed .tif, for any raster images involved.– ManlyCommented Feb 22, 2016 at 17:01
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I would use between 72-100 dpi if the image could handle it, although you could maybe drop it down a little further if necessary. .
The longer the distance you view something, the smaller the dpi, at longer distances a higher dpi is wasted. So general rules would be.
Magazine (close up) 300dpi
Banner (medium distance) 72 - 100dpi
Billboard (long distance) 30 dpi
My biggest piece of advice is always best to ask your printer, an experienced printer will always help you get the best possible results.
Check out this previous answers for a little more detail.
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If the stock image on-hand is the only option, then the truth is, the OP should submit it as-is without modifying it (aside from the appropriate cropping), and then ask the banner-maker to print it at the specified size. There isn't any benefit to the OP resampling the image prior to that. As you say in the linked answer, the banner people are only going knock it back down to (foo ppi). The main concern is how is the banner going to re-photograph, and it sounds like you have experience with that.– YorikCommented Feb 23, 2016 at 16:51