11th Grade — Preparing Files for Print, Web & Video Export

⏰ Do Now — Start Here

If you send a beautiful, high-resolution print poster file to a website instead, what might go wrong?

This is exam-relevant

This lesson maps directly to an Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) exam domain. Keep a running personal vocabulary list all year -- it becomes your exam study guide. See the ACP Exam Prep section for a full study guide and practice questions.

🎯 Today's Big Question

How do we correctly prepare and export the same design for print, web, and video?

📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To

Set up and export a document correctly for print (CMYK, 300 DPI, bleed) vs. web (RGB, 72 DPI) vs. video (correct pixel dimensions/frame considerations).
Choose the correct file format (PSD, JPG, PNG, TIFF) for a given delivery scenario.
Check a file against a delivery checklist before calling it 'done.'

🧰 What You'll Need

Computer with Photoshop
Print, web, and video delivery-scenario cards

📋 Your Plan for Today

Day 1: Export Settings

Do Now (5 min).
Mini-lesson (20 min): setting up documents correctly for print (with bleed), web, and basic video considerations; comparing file formats and when to use each.
Guided practice (15 min): practice exporting one sample file all 3 ways.
Share (5 min).

Day 2: Applying It

Do Now (5 min).
Independent practice (35 min): given a finished design, correctly export 3 versions (print, web, video-ready) and check each against a delivery checklist.
Share (5 min).

🖥️ Today's Slide Deck

Short, on-the-board pacing slides — project these to follow along. (The full details are in the handout above, not here.)

Day 1

⬇️ Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

⬇️ Open / download this slide PDF

📚 Key Words

Bleed: Extra image area extending past the trim line so a printed design has no unwanted white edge.
CMYK vs. RGB: CMYK is used for print; RGB is used for anything viewed on a screen.
Export Checklist: A final review of a file's settings, resolution, and format before delivering it to a client or printer.

✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include

All 3 exported versions checked against the delivery checklist for correct resolution, color mode, and file format.

Exit Ticket: Which delivery scenario (print, web, or video) do you think is easiest to mess up, and why?

📊 Before You Leave

Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.

Class Check-In

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week (e.g. every Friday, or your class's last meeting of the week), add your best finished or in-progress work to a running portfolio folder with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, what skill or standard it shows. This becomes your formal Google Sites portfolio in Unit F -- keep it current all year so you're not scrambling right before your PBAT and portfolio review.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Preparing Files for Print, Web & Video Export.” This project asked: “How do we correctly prepare and export the same design for print, web, and video?” I used Bleed by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

🎓 ACP Exam Prep

This lesson connects to the Photoshop Adobe Certified Professional exam: Domain 5: Publishing Digital Media

🔗 Want to Learn More?

Adobe Photoshop — Export Basics

🚀 The Extra Mile

Cross-Class Connection: The same "right format for the right destination" thinking a Business class covers in choosing the right communication channel.

Career Connection: Getting export settings wrong is one of the most common reasons freelance work gets rejected across every career on the Careers hub.

Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:

Take one finished design and correctly export it for three real destinations (a printed poster, a website banner, a video title card). Start here: check the file's current resolution and color mode (RGB vs. CMYK) before you export a single format.
Build a one-page "export settings cheat sheet" as real reference material for future projects. Start here: list your three destinations down the left column first, then fill in file type, resolution, and color mode for each.