Printing (big) posters using Keynote/Powerpoint

[Jenheta]

Hi all,

I am not a designer or digital image expert so bear with me, please.
I need to prepare and print a poster containing text and images (not pictures but technical stuff like colored 3D surfaces and contour maps). Keynote and Powerpoint are my preferred choices due time limitations. I will create the design using one of them and then export to a PDF file.

Here is the problem. This time my poster size will be 4 ft X 6 ft which exceeds both Powerpoint and Keynote size limitations (I remember Powerpoint having a max slide size around 54 inches). The solution I heard was to prepare the poster using HALF of the final size (ie, 2ft X 3ft) and then expand it by 200% at the end. Here lies my concern. How bad will be the image degradation after this expansion ? Which resolution should the images have in order to have a decent result after the expansion ?

I know that everyone has a different opinion about the term "decent result" but anything with minimum granulation will be fine. Most of images on this poster have the same size (half of a letter sheet). The biggest one will occupy the space of two sheets (letter size) side-by-side.

I really appreciate any comments !!!

 

[ewilson6]

I usually use resolutions of 480 dpi. There is minimal degrading at this resolution, sometimes I will go as high as 1040 dpi depending on how much memory you want to use.

--Eric