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tif and jpg graphic files aren’t crisp
Hi all.
I picked up Indesign cs4 last week and I’m setting up a flyer (11″x8.5″) for print.
I purchased a tif image (6177×4118 pixels, 20.6″x13.7″ @300 dpi) from the internet.
When placing the image in a project, it’s blurry and you can see the square pixels inside the image and the the edges aren’t sharp and crisp.
I went back to the sight and purchased the same picture in jpg format (4326×2912 pixels, 14.6″x9,7″ @ 300 dpi).
When placing that image in a project, it’s still a bit blurry and not crisp at the edges but much better than the tif file.
I’m using a mac pro and when I just open the tif or jpg in the finder both images are crystal clear.
The sight I went to for the image also offers smaller versions of the picture. 3464×2309 pixels, 11.5″x7.7″ down to 2121×1414 pixels, 7.1″x4.7″ both a 300 dpi.
I’m considering buying the picture again at the smaller sizes to see if that tightens it up or makes it clearer but this one pictures getting expensive.
I’ve been doing alot of reading and tutorial watching but can’t find the reason why these images are not looking good when placed in a project.
Any help or suggestion in placing a crisp, clear image into InDesign would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Rich -
5 Replies
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You’re seeing a low-resolution proxy image. Go: View > Display Performance > High Quality Display.
InDesign’s default is Typical Display, which will slow your work down less than rendering/re-rendering your images at full resolution every time the screen is redrawn.
Also, if you find yourself having the same problem with printed output, visit one of InDesign’s most puzzling default settings; Print > Graphics > Images > Send Data > Optimized Subsampling, and change it to “All.”
John M:
All of the vim with none of that annoying vigor. -
Thank you so much John. For the future, how should I consider which size image files to download? And would tif be preferred over jpg? I’ve been doing the layout from the jpg download, any benefit in backing up and placing the tif download instead?
Thanks again for your answer to the original post, I changed the display setting (and set it back) and it made all the difference in the world.
Rich
Never Say Never
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Most times, the JPEG’s you’d download from a reputable source will serve you just fine. On principle, if the same image is available in TIF, that would be preferred, seeing is it presumably wasn’t saved using a lossy compression scheme, as would be the case with the JPG format, even when saved at maximum quality.
If your source offers size choices, you’ll want to weigh those options on a case-by-case basis…according to what you know about how you’ll use the image. Naturally, it’s always better to have too many pixels than too few, so you want to err on the larger-than-necessary side of it. On the other hand, it may be wasteful in terms of bytes and cost to purchase the largest size available, then only use it in a low-resolution or very small print application. Considering potential future applications may be a key factor. A general rule would be to buy the largest size your budget allows.
John M:
All of the vim with none of that annoying vigor. -
Thanks John,
You’ve been a big help.
I’ll be around.
RichNever Say Never
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I run CS3, so this may not apply to you. But, I have had instances where my “View>Display Preference” is set to high quality and some individual images are not looking good.
Solution:
right click on the offending image and choose “Display Performance>High Quality”. It makes no sense because I don’t allow object level display settings, yet it usually happens at least 2-3 times a week.Tech-T Productions
http://www.technical-t.com
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