Let the public know about your product or event with a big outdoor sign.
If you have a product or event that you need to promote in a big way, you can make a big outdoor sign to advertise. Outdoor signs are commonly used to announce sales at retail stores or community happenings such as festivals or parades. They also can direct people to a specific place such as the entrance to a concert venue. Though it takes planning, making a big outdoor sign doesn't have to be complicated, and it can be accomplished using standard graphics software.
Instructions
1. Open a graphics program on your computer. Graphics programs that can be used to create big outdoor signs include Adobe Photoshop, CorelDRAW and Poster.
2. Go to "File" and "New" to open a new canvas. Type in the dimensions to create a canvas the size of the sign you need. For instance, if you need a sign 4 feet high and 6 feet wide, enter 48 inches into the height field and 72 inches into the width field.
3. Add text to the sign first by using the program's "Text" tool. Use both upper and lowercase letters in the text. Capitalize proper nouns and the words in a title, as usual, but use lowercase letters on the rest of the sign.
4. Avoid fancy font styles. They are more difficult to read than basic fonts on large signs. Sans serif font styles such as Verdana, Arial and Century Gothic are basic fonts without decorative additions. Base your font size on the distance from which it needs to be read. If you need help, consult the Letter Visibility Chart, based on information from a 1998 study by the United States Sign Council, Penn State University and the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute.
5. Include only the necessary words. The fewer words the sign contains, the faster and easier it is to read. Never use paragraphs, which are difficult to distinguish from a distance.
6. Add graphics and designs to the sign to draw attention. You can draw your graphics from scratch using any of the drawing tools in the graphics program. Common tools include "Shapes" and "Paintbrush." To draw with a tool, click on the tool in the toolbar, then click on the sign's canvas. Hold down the mouse button while dragging the mouse to make the shape or paint appear on the sign. To add photos or other pre-made graphics, open the "File" menu in the graphics programs and choose "Open." Navigate to the folder where the photo or graphic is located in the "Open" window and double-click the file to open it. Draw a marquee around the image with the "Marquee" tool, which appears as a dotted rectangle in most graphics programs, then go to the "Edit" menu and choose "Copy." Click anywhere on the sign's canvas and click "Paste." The image appears on the sign. Click on the image and drag it to relocate it on the canvas. Use the small squares, or handles, that appear around the border of the image to resize the photo or graphic if necessary. Avoid adding too many extra graphics and photos. None of the pictures should detract attention from the text.
7. Save the finished sign. To save, go to the "File" menu in the graphics program and select the "Save" option.
8. Print the sign on vinyl. Signs made of vinyl hold up better than paper signs in wet weather and wind. Vinyl signs can be printed by most professional printing companies. You can get your sign file to most printing companies by submitting the digital file through the company's online submission system or emailing the file to the company using the address provided on the company's website.
Tags: graphics program, basic fonts, File menu, File menu graphics, font styles, inches into, lowercase letters