How to Make a Poster From a JPEG

When you've got that perfect landscape snapshot, group portrait or original pet photo, put it front and center by making it a poster. No need to settle for generic wall art when you can decorate with your own custom images. To preserve the integrity of your picture file, though, you must take steps not to blow up the image. Instead, create a poster featuring your JPEG and build the rest of the wall hanging around it, adding backgrounds that match part of the image or help it stand out.

Difficulty:

 

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Windows Paint
• JPEG
• Microsoft Publisher
• Adobe Photoshop

1. Using Paint

   • 1
     Open Microsoft Paint. Click the Paint button. Click "Open." Browse to the JPEG to use for the poster and double-click the name of the file. This opens the file and takes up the entire Paint canvas.
   • 2
     Click the Paint button again. Select "Properties." Type the required poster dimensions into the "Width" and "Height" boxes, such as 24 and 18, respectively. Click the "Inches" radio button. Click the "OK" button.
   • 3
     Click the "Select" button on the ribbon. Click the "Rectangular selection" option. Draw an outline around the JPEG, then drag it into place in the middle of the poster.
   • 4
     Click one of the colored boxes in the "Colors" section of the ribbon, such as one that matches a background color in the JPEG. Click the "Fill with color" tool, the paint bucket, on the ribbon. Click anywhere in the white space of the Paint canvas, filling the poster with the background color.
   • 5
     Click the Paint button. Select "Save As." Give the poster a name and click the "Save" button.

   Using Publisher

   • 1
     Open Publisher. Click the "More Blank Page Sizes" button. Double-click the "Posters" file folder. Double-click any of the preset poster options, such as "22 x 34," and Paint opens the blank poster page in the workspace.
   • 2
     Click the "Insert" tab. Click the "Picture" button. Browse to the JPEG on your computer and double-click the name. When Publisher opens the image, drag it into place on the poster.
   • 3
     Click the "Draw Text Box" button on the "Insert" tab's ribbon. When the cursor turns into a plus sign, drag the cursor to form a text box below or above the poster.
   • 4
     Type the poster message into the text box. Highlight the text. Click the "Home" tab. Increase the font with the font size menu, change the colors, position and alter the text's font using the controls on the ribbon.
   • 5
     Click the "File" tab. Click "Save As." Type the poster file's name and click "Save."

   Using Photoshop

   • 1
     Open Photoshop. Click the "File" menu. Click "Open." Navigate to the JPEG and double-click it. Click the "Image" menu and select "Canvas Size." Enter new dimensions in the "Width" and "Height" boxes, such as 24 and 36, respectively. Click the "OK" button and the poster size increases.
   • 2
     Click the "New Layer" icon at the bottom of the "Layers" palette on the right side of the screen. When the new Layer 1 is added to the palette, drag it below the picture layer Background, so Layer 1 is on the bottom and the picture is above it.
   • 3
     Right-click the paint bucket icon on the "Tools" pane on the left side of the screen. Click "Gradient Tool" from the fly-out menu. Pull down the rainbow menu on the toolbar at the top of the screen. Choose a background design for the poster, such as chrome bars or pastel stripes.
   • 4
     Click the left side of the poster and draw a line to the right side (other options include drawing from the right to left, top to bottom and reverse or diagonal corner to diagonal corner). The gradient background appears behind the JPEG and fills the poster space.
   • 5
     Click the "File" menu. Click "Save As." Re-title the file so you don't overwrite the picture with the poster name and click the "Save" button.

     
     

     Tips & Warnings

     • These instructions teach you how to use a JPEG as the basis for a poster. Attempting to blow up a small JPEG into poster size would destroy the image, causing an effect called pixilation. The entire image would become a blurry mishmash of little squares. You can use this same process to make JPEGs into posters, but the JPEGs must already be large file sizes equivalent to your preferred poster size or larger, which is rare. Otherwise, placing your JPEG as the featured subject on a poster image is your best bet.

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