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The highest "common" resolution I've seen for printing a poster is 5400 x 3600 for the reasonable price of (~$15), but I have the ability to make the images I want to print (procedurally generated) as high of a resolution as possible (within limits of transferring several gb files to the store to print them). I was hoping to get a print with as high res 12K x 8K but maybe this is unnecessary for only a 36" x 24" poster print.

I also hope to print 12K x 8K resolutions for reasonable price similar to 5.4K x 3.6K, since going much higher than that seems to require spending much more money very quickly (~$100 per print or more), so I guess it's important I can get it done cheap. I do want to know what options are out there, even if they are outside my price range.

What would the highest resolution be in 24" x 36" for a canvas print and for what prices?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I assume you mean vector graphics; this question may be better suited to a graphic design forum. You might want to change your search terms as well, and search for high dpi instead of by pixel resolution. Printers convert from pixels to dots at printing time, so it's the number of dots you should be worried about. Also, with vector graphics you shouldn't send any raster image to the printer, you should send your SVG or PDF so that the printer converts directly from vector to dots without the extra conversion to pixels in the middle. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ryan
    Nov 21, 2014 at 7:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Ryan I do actually mean pixels as my computer generation process includes a rasterization to a (currently) 4K x 6K pixel image, and I can't really change that to a vector graphics format without doing a lot work, and for some of my graphics I want to print, it would even be impossible for it to truly be vector based. Regardless of what the printer is doing ( in terms of converting to DPI to print on paper ), It's limited by this resolution 6K x 4K resolution of my rasterized image. \$\endgroup\$
    – user27886
    Nov 21, 2014 at 9:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ You say "poster print" in the title, but at the end and in the tags, specify "canvas". Because of the coarse nature, canvas prints are inherently lower resolution. Can you clarify the output types you are looking for? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Nov 22, 2014 at 14:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ @mattdm I was interested in getting a high resolution, so probably poster. \$\endgroup\$
    – user27886
    Nov 22, 2014 at 20:42

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This is a partial answer.

For a 36"x24" poster the 5400 x 3600 px size is OK: You have a 150 ppi file which is good. You can probably go to 200 ppi (7200 x 4800px), but the difference is not very noticeable, even using a magnifier. In my opinion you don't need 300 ppi at all.

The main point for those resolutions are the printer resolution and smoothness. There are some latex based plotters that gives you a smooth print.

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