Tips for Creating Transit Bus Ads

Designing and creating the production files for large-format output like billboards, giant wallscapes, and bus wraps, requires that the quality of the digital files be appropriate to the job.

If you think Microsoft® Publisher is good enough, stop and think again.  This is a job for professionals. Resolution is critical—as resolution affects the final quality of images and type. TAPS Media cannot accept files created with Microsoft® Word, Publisher, or similar application.

Many people think they understand Adobe® Photoshop, but you must know the basics of file resolution to get the quality required to print large format artwork.

Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that when you design in Photoshop you must set it up at the actual size of the bus wrap. Yep, that means set your canvas at (as an example) 15-feet wide by 6-feet tall.

Designing Using Adobe Photoshop?

File size requirements for large format printing are different than those for traditional ink on paper printing. And acceptable standard files are different from printer to printer. When submitting digital artwork files for your TAPS Transit bus ad, the best file for our workflow is either a Adobe® Photoshop (native .psd file) or Adobe® Illustrator (saved as a .ai, .eps, or .pdf file).

If providing a Photoshop file:

• Save as a native .psd file with layers
• Use the Adobe 1998 RGB colorspace
• Set pixels per inch (ppi) at not less than 100. More than 150 is overkill
• Canvas must be a the actual size of the bus wrap
• Include any linked artwork
• Rasterize all type, or include the fonts with your project
• Provide file on a DVD or use a large file FTP service. Do not email.

When using Photoshop, set the canvas size to the ACTUAL SIZE of the bus surface.

A note on pixels per inch

Even though the industry standard resolution for small format (traditional offset printing) is 300 ppi, in the large format world the larger the graphic, the less the ppi required. We have plenty of success with 125-150 ppi images in almost every large format situation.

Designing with Adobe Illustrator or other Professional-level Vector Appplication

If you plan to use Adobe® Illustrator (saved as a .ai, .eps, or .pdf file) or other professional-level vector-based application, here are some things to consider.

• Save as a native .ai file with layers, using CS3+ version
• Use the Adobe 1998 RGB colorspace
• Set pixels per inch (ppi) at not less than 100. More than 150 is overkill. This will apply only to any photos you import or place
• Artboard must be a the actual size of the bus wrap if you are using imported or placed photos
• Artboard can be a ratio of the actual size (ie; 1-inch equals 1-foot) if you are not using photos
• Make sure all imported or placed artwork is either embedded or that the linked files are included with your art
• Outline all fonts, or include all fonts with your file
• Provide file on a DVD or use a large file FTP service. Do not email.

Make good files, and you will do your part to ensure less headaches, higher quality prints and assure that your art appears on the bus closer to how you expected to look.

Start with Good Creative

Although you have a little more flexibility than with a traditional stationary billboard, a transit ad still must convey the essential message with as few words as possible. It also must be big, bold, and have contrast. A poorly designed transit bus ad won’t give you the return you need to justify the cost.

Image is everything. The image(s) you use in your design are critical to getting noticed.

What's wrong with this design?

On first look you might think this bus art design is a winner. But let’s consider how it might be improved by keeping in mind the important elements of good large-format design.

Like billboard design, consumers generally interact with your art on the move. With rare exceptions transit ads are coming and going and allow a limited amount of time for recognition, message delivery, and message memory. It is vital that the amount of copy (the number of words) be kept to a minimum. Transit bus ads are primarily for branding and immediate response.

A good design uses BIG images, few words.

Comparing the two examples, notice that the same image of the nurse is made significantly larger and cropped tightly. The combination of size and cropping make for a more effective image.

Fewer words always improves a design. The ad message is the same, but by using stronger (and fewer) words it actually works better. And while everyone tells you to put your website address everywhere, we sacrificed it so that the phone number could be made larger. Remember: transit bus ads can be effective in creating immediate response. By making sure the phone number is seen, there is the opportunity to convert a consumer view into a call for information.

What Works Best

There are things that radio does better than TV, or print. Or that only print can do. Each type of advertising media has its best use. Transit bus advertising delivers high frequency and high reach. It’s a double whammy, if you keep in mind that the message needs visual impact and straightforward copy treatment.

Sizes Matters

The toughest choice a large-format designer has to make is how to reduce the copy for maximum effect.

Surely you have seen “mouse type”—tiny, unreadable, words usually at the bottom of an outdoor ad. Like in newspaper ads, on television, and in magazines, disclaimers are often set in mouse type sizes. They only one who thinks consumers are reading this are the regulators in the attorney general’s office. For the rest of us, it’s a blur of type at the bottom.

Unless your marketing demands certain required disclaimers, keep small type to a minimum.

Honestly, designers will sometimes place copy in small type at the bottom, just to please the boss who absolutely insists that the copy be in the layout. Otherwise it’s wasted space.

The image—photo, artwork, etc.—gets the consumer’s attention so that they will look long enough to see the copy.

By the way, type itself can function as the image. As an example in this promotional sign for TAPS Media, the headline is the main focal point. But notice that the headline is only six words. Keeping it short means letting it be big. Notice the small type in the design? Yep, stuff our boss made us put in the layout!

More About Font Size

The Three Second Rule of outdoor advertising warns designers that the average consumer has about 3 seconds to see, absorb, and recall ad copy. If you cannot get the attention of the consumer as quickly as possible, you’re going to have to rely on “frequency” to get the job done. The best copy in the world won’t work, if the type is too small to read.

Keeping fonts large enough to be legible requires some work. Here is a good formula to help you determine what size to make your type.

Height of text (in inches) = 0.035 x Distance (in feet)
Point size of text = 72 x height of text (in inches)

If your sign is going to be seen from 20 feet, such as from a vehicle on the street to the side of a transit bus, than your smallest text needs to be at least 0.7-inches tall, or a point size of 50.4. Here are a few examples we calculated fro you.

When using Adobe Illustrator to create your artwork (Illustrator is a “vector” based program, as opposed to Photoshop which is “raster” based.) you may have to “cheat” to get the font sizes large enough. In earlier versions of Adobe’s application you would be limited to 1,296 pt. The work around is to create the type, then convert it to outlines and make it as large as you like.