Printing your AI artwork: ratio, resolution, paper and framing

Settle the ratio before generating

The preview settings offer four ratios: original, 1:1, 4:5 and 16:9, with 4:5 as the default. The ratio is part of the generation, not a crop afterwards, so changing it means generating again. Decide first where the picture will live.

• 4:5 is the default and the one to hang. It matches the most common ready-made frames, 8×10 and 16×20 inches, and suits upright portraits and still lifes.
• 1:1 works for profile pictures, a grid of several pieces or a square box frame, and is the least likely to lose anything to a crop.
• 16:9 is for landscapes and streets, or anything that wants a wide band of sky or water.
• Original keeps the framing you shot. Use it when the composition is already considered. Ready-made frames may not fit, so expect custom framing.

Work out how large you can print

There’s one formula: the long edge in pixels divided by the target dpi gives you inches. Multiply by 2.54 for centimetres. The real question is which dpi to aim for, and that depends on how far away people will stand.

• 300 dpi for things held in the hand, like cards, postcards and album pages.
• 200 dpi for a framed piece seen from arm’s length. That covers nearly everything at home, and nobody will see the difference.
• 150 dpi for large pieces seen from a metre or more. Poster styles like colour fields, collage and cut paper are especially forgiving, because they’re flat to begin with.

For a bigger print, use high-tier output, which comes with Creator. The standard tier gives standard resolution.

Choose paper that doesn’t fight the style

Many MuseFrame styles have already painted the paper into the picture. The tooth, the grain, the press marks and the scan noise are all generated. So the first rule is: don’t stack two textures.

• Material Studies and Printed Matter already carry strong texture. A smooth matte fine-art paper is safest, and lets the painted surface speak.
• Graphic Light and Small Press need clean colour and crisp edges. Choose matte or satin; gloss reflections break up the edges between colour fields.
• Small Cinemas and Quiet Portraits live in the shadows. Pearl or semi-gloss holds the blacks; a cotton rag matte can turn them grey.
• Black-and-white and charcoal work is the most sensitive to paper tone. A warm white tints the greys yellow, a cool white stays neutral. Ask your printer about the base white.

Framing

The mat is the step people underrate. Make the border 8 to 12 percent of the image’s short edge, with the bottom a little deeper than the top, so it reads as centred. The white space lets the picture step back from the wall, which matters most for bold colour.

Choose anti-reflective glass or acrylic. You lose a little clarity, but almost none on matte fine-art paper. Hang it out of direct sun; pigment inks last, but years of sunlight will still fade them.

However sure you are, print a proof first: A5, same paper, same printer. A screen gives off light and paper reflects it, so the same teal is never quite the same on both.

Two things that catch people out

Borderless printing trims 2 to 3 mm from each edge. If something you care about sits near the edge, like the typewriter notes in the Small Press styles, order with a white border or ask the printer not to trim.

Screens show sRGB light and prints reflect CMYK ink. The brightest cobalt, vermilion and fluorescent pink will always come out a little darker and duller on paper. That’s physics, not a bad print. Styles built on saturated colour, like Graphic Light, show it most, and a proof tells you how much in advance.