Easy Digital Signage Content: Converting Print to Pixels

Why not convert those handbills to messages? If you’re printing posters or direct mailers, how about publishing them on your big screens? Converting your print to pixels makes for fast, easy digital signage content.

It’s a good idea to share any outbound marketing with internal staffers so that everyone, from the receptionist to the warehouse, will know about your current promotions and be able to talk about them and direct inquiries to the appropriate person in your team. With a little creativity and cooperation, you can turn your print campaigns into exciting content for your digital signage system.

The first step is to ask whoever creates the print piece to provide you with an electronic version of the finished file. Once you have it, there are several options for converting it to usable content:

  • Optimally, your source can provide a graphic file in your desired resolution and size. Simply import the file.
  • If your creative team gives you a graphic that doesn’t meet your specifications, use some simple photo manipulation software to resize and rearrange the layout into a useable format before importing.
  • If you are given a file that cannot be imported, and you don’t have access to photo manipulation software,  try this little trick:
    • Open the file so that the entire graphic is visible on your computer screen. Make it fill as much of your screen as you can without cutting off any of the desired image.
    • You can capture anything on your computer screen by pressing ALT + Print Screen. This acts as a COPY command, and will take a “snapshot” of the window open on your screen.
    • Open PowerPoint and create a blank slide that is the desired size of your finished graphic.
    • Use the PASTE command to paste your snapshot into the blank slide.
    • Next, crop out unwanted borders and size the image to fill the PowerPoint slide area.
    • You can import the PowerPoint directly into your digital signage software as a JPG or video.

Converting print campaigns to visual messages is sure to bolster your content library and your communications success.