Tile printing enables users to print a single, very large document over several smaller pages, which can be pieced back together to make the original, larger image, like a giant puzzle. In most cases, this method is primarily used for testing reasons before transferring control to a larger press, a process known as “proofing.” But this method also has many other applications, particularly if you need access to a professional printer.

You cannot tile print automatically in Photoshop; however, there are a couple of easy workarounds for this restriction. You can either manually tile print your picture by slicing it into separate pieces proportional to the paper size of your printer, or you can save your document as a Photoshop PDF and tile print it automatically using the Adobe Acrobat Reader program, which is available for free download.

Let’s begin with the less complicated automated way, as most individuals wish to tile print to perform rapid testing.

Method 1: Tile Printing with Photoshop PDFs

Although this technique does not solely involve Photoshop, it is important enough to include here because Adobe Reader is completely free, and the vast majority of you are likely to have it installed.

For more information on tile printing in Adobe Photoshop, watch this video below: 

Step 1: Open Document

Launch the Acrobat Reader program. Go to File > “Open.” Click the Open button when you have finished browsing for the Photoshop PDF file that you saved before.

Your large Photoshop file should open without any problems in Acrobat Reader. Open the File menu, then select Print to configure it for printing tiles.

Step 2: Split Document

Once you find the Page Size & Handling section in the Print dialogue box, click the Poster button. Your large document has now been split into as many pages as necessary, as you can see in the preview bar.

You can view information on how many pages are needed to finish the tiled print just above the preview image.

Step 3: Adjust Settings

Increase the Tile Size parameter to make your image larger altogether. Although this will make reconstructing the final image more challenging because you’ll need to put each tile more precisely rather than merely matching the borders, you may also establish an overlap around the edges of each tile.

Step 4: Print

Click the Print button after making more printer-specific adjustments. You’ll need some time to finish it, but your Photoshop document will print out properly tiled once you do.

Method 2: Manually Slicing Your Image

To create a tiled print, you may manually cut your image in Photoshop, although doing so will take much longer and make you more prone to human error.

Step 1: Determine Measurements

You’ll need to determine the measurements for your specific context on your own because they will vary significantly based on the printer model, paper size, and several other factors. Further details may be found on the help page of your printer’s manufacturer.

Step 2: Open Image in Photoshop

Open your image in Photoshop after you have your tile measurements. There is a nice solution that uses guides if you want to avoid manually sketching out each tile using the Slice tool because it takes so much time.

Step 3: Add Guides

Choose New Guide Layout from the View menu after opening it. Although it’s a little tricky, Photoshop will produce a dialogue box that lets you make a regular grid pattern using guidelines.

Activate Columns and Rows, and set the gutter value for each to 0 pixels.

To put your guides in the appropriate places, determine the pixel tile size. Choose your largest printed tile (for example, 7.5 by 10), and multiply every dimension by 300 to determine the pixel sizes to enter for the Width and Height parameters. Print resolution should be 300 pixels per inch.

To be sure you didn’t accidentally flip the two values, enter the correct measurements in the Width and Height boxes and verify them again in the live preview.

Step 4: Use the Slice Tool

By using the toolbar or the C keyboard shortcut, change to the Slice tool. While the Slice and Crop tools are nestled together, you may switch between them by pressing Shift + C as necessary.

Clicking the Slices from Guides button in the options bar at the top of the primary document window will let Photoshop do exactly what it promises on the tin: it will cut the picture into pieces depending on the guides you have made.

Step 5: Save

Next, pick “Save for Web (Legacy)” under the Export submenu on the File menu. The only way to instantly export numerous slices to various files in Photoshop appears to be to launch the outdated “Save for Web” export box.

To select all of the preview window’s slices, zoom out the preview window till you are able to see the full page. Click Save after selecting in the Save As dialogue box on the right-hand side of the window.

Conclusion

These are the two easiest ways to tile print in Photoshop; but both methods are complex. Adobe is anticipated to include the simple built-in tile printing feature available in a future edition of Photoshop. Still, it’s sometimes difficult to predict what they will do from moment to moment. Fortunately, you will not have to sit around while they care for it!