TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Actually, if the resulting graphic "looks fine" in the printed output,
that will be in part a stroke of luck.
To resize the image from 2400 x 2400 to 3300 x 3300 means the software
had to interpolate--adding lines of data that were previously
non-existent in the original image. Fortunately for your project, that
often can work in logos--far better than it might in non-continuous
images such as photographs, for example.
Also, if the printed image is to be run at, say, 150 lpi, then you
probably didn't need to resize the image at all prior to cropping it.
Next, you should allow for paper trim in the image size calculation
when planning a full-page image. In other words, you should make the
image a bit larger than the page size, so that when the printer cuts
it down to size it will be seamlessly edge to edge. On a sheet-fed
press, you cannot print to the edge of the original page size--the
press has to have a bit of room for metal "fingers" to grap the sheet.
Thus, the paper is generally larger than the page size and is trimmed
to size later.
The same thing holds true with a lazer printer, by the way--generally,
if memory serves, the printable area is perhaps an eighth to a quarter
inch smaller on the sides than the page size.
There is a small possibility that the trim will not be completely
straight, too--which is why you print the image a little larger than
the finished size so there are no unsightly white edges--the
background color extends completely in all directions.
For use online, a 300 dpi image is completely overkill and makes the
file size unnecessarily large. For that version, I'd hold it to
something much smaller--90 dpi or so would seem ample, for example.
David
> From: "Spectrum Writing" <info -at- spectrumwritingllc -dot- com>
> To: "'Fred Ridder'" <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:57:39 -0700
> Subject: RE: Graphics question
> Thanks all, and the comments about cropping helped. The graphic is basically
> a BIG logo smack in the middle of a dark blue background, so I maintained
> the aspect ratio and resized the image at 300 dpi to width and height of
> 3300 x 3300 for an 11.5 x 11.5 image. I then opened the image in SnagIt and
> used the crop function which simply removes the unwanted area of a capture
> and keeps the rest. Because the image is a large logo smacked in the middle
> of a big blue background, I cropped the image starting at 0, 375 (1.25
> inches to be removed from each side and at 300 dpi, that's a 375 pixel
> starting point) and took the cropping to 2550 x 3300. It basically removed
> to large rectangular portions of the dark blue of equal size from both sides
> without touching the logo and now my image is 8.5 x 11 and appears just
> fine.
>
>
>
> Also, I do understand and appreciate the comments about the needing a
> different image format with a different DPI, but I don't have that option.
> The image is all that the client has left from a previous Graphic artist and
> there's not much that I can do about that. It's for the cover of a PDF
> (User's manual) that will be either printed or viewed online, so I am not
> too worried about the ultimate look. Viewing it online, no one is going to
> stay focused on the First page and printing it - well, it rarely gets
> printed as it is accessible online.
>
>
>
> Thanks all - this is a great bunch of helpful folks on this list.
>
>
>
> TVB
>
>
>
> Tammy Van Boening
>
> Owner/Principal
>
> Spectrum Writing, LLC
>
> www.spectrumwritingllc.com
>
> info -at- spectrumwritingllc -dot- com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Use Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word, or HTML and
produce desktop, Web, or print deliverables. Just write (or import)
and Doc-To-Help does the rest. Free trial: http://www.doctohelp.com
Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at: http://www.ModernAnalyst.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
