Print panels: contact sheets that look sharp on screen turn mushy on paper when DPI and minimum type were never derived from paper width
`print-panel-split` targets classroom rosters, jobsite notices, and tiled wall graphics. Print vendors need effective resolution per tile plus bleed and trim marks—not a Retina laptop preview. Digital splits without bleed lose copy to blades when panels join; RGB handoffs that rely on shop CMYK conversion can dull brand colors and trigger rejections. Large wall installs need alignment ticks and documented baselines; uneven drywall makes “eyeball straight” seams drift. Treat the splitter as the knife path; print margin belongs in the source file before export.
`print-panel-split`: derive pixels from paper width × DPI, then decide whether to bake bleed before slicing
- Collect vendor minimum type size, bleed millimeters, and whether RGB is acceptable; divide finished width by columns for physical tile width, multiply by 300 DPI (or their spec) to get pixels, and resize the master if the math fails. For binders, reserve punch margins so symmetry in digital slices does not trap copy in the ring.
- Draw trim and bleed guides in the art file, align the splitter grid to those guides, then spot-print one tile at 100% on a desktop printer as a smoke test for phone numbers and email. Watch banding on gradients—work in 16-bit upstream if needed.
- Ship a CSV manifest inside the ZIP listing tile id, pixel size, color space, filename, and MD5; for murals add an install diagram with baseline photos. Email body states version and owner so shops never mix old and new bundles.
Print tiling FAQ: bleed, DPI, RGB/CMYK, and wall alignment
Physical blades drift a few millimeters from digital trim and copy vanishes—how do digital slices stay married to real bleed?
Extend bleed in the master before slicing; keep live type inside an inner safety box. The splitter cuts finished size, not press margin—note “includes 3mm bleed” in the manifest and attach a PDF legend so “net size” is not ambiguous.
PNG tiles look crisp on screen but phone numbers smear on A4—is DPI wrong or were pixels always insufficient?
Compute minimum pixels as `(paper width / columns) × DPI`; below that threshold, type will mush. Hold body copy to at least ~8 pt physical equivalents and inspect at print scale. A 72 dpi web comp cannot be sliced into crisp print no matter how many tiles you make.
Twelve office wall panels go up numbered yet seams skew—is there a process beyond eyeballing?
Print crosshair registration marks and overlap guides on every tile, require installers to snap a laser baseline before the center column, and photo each stage for accountability. Discuss backer boards if the wall is uneven—smaller tiles may be cheaper than rework.
RGB comps look bright but CMYK proofs go muddy and brand teams reject them—is that the splitter’s problem?
The splitter only divides geometry, not color. Soft-proof with the vendor ICC, spot critical brand colors, and contract acceptable ΔE ranges if you must stay RGB-only—otherwise you will re-export ZIPs forever.
Shops swear tile seven is missing—how do we package so inventory cannot lie?
Put `manifest.csv` at the ZIP root with sequence, filename, byte size, and SHA256; the email states “24 tiles—verify against manifest.” Use consistent zero-padding so `panel-7` and `panel-07` never coexist; large jobs should use read-only cloud shares instead of stray desktop copies.