Quality of some images degrading on export

A customer of ours created a PDF from Indesign CS4 6.0.5 using our custom PDF export presets and noticed that the quality of some of her images degraded or became pixilated jagged however the resolution did not change. They checked the original images and they were fine. The images were layered .psd files, by the way.
I asked our customer for the original document and I was able to re-create the situation on our end. After much testing, I discovered that this only happens on PDF export. Postscripting and distilling the page gave much improved results. Replacing the images fresh on the page also fixed the problem. After speaking with others here, this is not the first time this has happened.
Has anyone else had this issue? Is there a setting somewhere that will fix it?
TIA
-Travis

It can definitely be seen on print. It is harder to see on screen. The quality of the image is not stellar to start with. We are a magazine printing company and our export setting are set up to not flatten the PDFs.
The problem acts like some sort of corruption in the picture box.
Thanks Bob

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Still Images degrade when exporting

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How did you perform the export?
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Errors in Export to PDF for web use - some images are lost when PDF is enlarged & in browser

I have a multi-page PDF in InDesign CS6 that I want to export to view on the web. I need the file to stay under 2MB, and I need it to be crisp and nice enough to read the type on the page (as small as 9pt type).
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Show Large Images is a preference inside of Acrobat which might be disabled.
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Set the compression quality for individual images for exporting a PDF?

When are export a PDF in ID, you are given an option to downsample and compress images. My problem is, I want to compress some images more than others. For example, a photo in the document could be downsampled much more than a png logo. Of course I could go and pre-downsample each image to the right size in photoshop, but that can get kind of involved. Is there a way I could at least exclude one particular image from the compression process?

Well, I didn't find any way to do this in ID, but I do believe its a useful thing to do. In Fact, by doing some careful image-dependent compression, I was able to reduce the size of my pdf by half and have the result still look better than a standard uniform compression. What I did was:
first place all the images in the ID file, size and position them as they should be
then, looking at the rulers, note the horizontal size, in inches, of each image in the document
begin with the first image, open it in photoshop. If you want this image at 200dpi, for example, multiply the horizontal size (from ID) by 200. Change the image size in photoshop to this number.
save the image in photoshop as a jpg and compress as appropriate for the image type
go back to ID, open up the links window, select the image you just changed, and click the update link button
do this with all your images
when you go to export a pdf, don't do any compression or downsampling on the images.. they're already optimised
So as you can see you have to have some idea of the ideal target DPI and compression of each image in your document, and it may require some experimenting. But if you know that some images can be lowered much more than others, I recommend this method. As I said, in my case I was able to reduce the file size by half without negatively effecting the pdf appearance.

Indesign Exporting to PDF... Some Images Disappear

I have searched forums and elsewhere with no luck on this issue. I am exporting to PDF from InDesign CS 5.5 and some images are missing. Images are linked correctly and the problem also happens when I now export older files which exported perfectly fine before.
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Problem was not occuring before Christmas but started the day I returned from vacation on Jan. 3. No new software has been added.
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Any thoughts appreciated! Thanks.

Well it was a long shot. Do you run Suitcase? If so, have you updated it recently? There was a problem with Suitcase and links a month or so ago, but I don't recall if it was in PDFs. Might have been link modification dates.
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Crappy photo quality when inserting images, how to improve?

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Hi,
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9:34 PM Tuesday; July 28, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Photo Image Degradation

Thank you for considering my post. I have suffered for years
in making my sites on Frontpage. When it came to working with their
tables and cells I was convinced either they or I was demonically
possesed. I have decided to do my next website in Dreamweaver. I
have MX.
I noticed on my old site (Frontpage), that when I saved and
posted an image to my site, that photo image degraded from its
original clarity (in photography talk, this degradation is called
'noise.') My photos are shot from an 8.3 Canon 20D and it takes
very impressive, sharp and color rich photos. The photos were
originally resized, cropped and saved in Image Composer (and an old
version at that). So I always blamed the loss of clarity on
Frontpage or Image Composer.
In Dreamweaver, I find that when I construct a page which has
a photo image, and when I push that button that lets me see the
page in my browser, I still see a degradation of the photo. I must
admit, I am still using Image Composer to crop, resize and save the
original (now modified) image.
I ask you the following: What causes my photos to loose their
sharpness and color quality? Have you experienced a loss in quality
in posting your photos, and if so, how did you cure it?
I have Fireworks MX, it's just that I don't know if using it
will fix the problem. What should I do? Is some special technique
used in saving photos for a website? Does clarity change if I work
from bitmap images or .jpegs? If so, what format should I use and
work in?
Thanks for your help!

> I have MX.
That's not a great start - is it DMX6.0 or DMX6.1?
> When it came to working with their tables and cells I
was
> convinced either they or I was demonically possesed
Without a basic understanding of how HTML tables work, you
will likey run
afoul of the same demons in DW as you did in FP. Spend some
time running
through the table tutorials at the DW FAQ link in my sig to
prepare your
skills....
> So I always blamed the loss of clarity on Frontpage or
Image
> Composer.
If the image is clear when you put it on the web page, and if
you DO NOT
RESIZE IT ON THE PAGE, then it'll be clear on the web, even
if you make the
page in Notepad. The HTML authoring system makes no
difference at all.
> I ask you the following: What causes my photos to loose
their sharpness
> and
> color quality?
Resizing in the browser.
> Have you experienced a loss in quality in posting your
photos,
> and if so, how did you cure it?
Nope - not if the image is clear when I export it from the
graphics editor.
> Does clarity change if I work from bitmap images or
.jpegs? If
> so, what format should I use and work in?
Photo-quality images should always be exported as JPG, unless
you have a
special reason for using PNGs.
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com
- Template Triage!
http://www.projectseven.com/go
- DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs,
Tutorials & Resources
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/
- Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================
"Ring Leader" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
> Thank you for considering my post. I have suffered for
years in making my
> sites on Frontpage. When it came to working with their
tables and cells I
> was
> convinced either they or I was demonically possesed. I
have decided to do
> my
> next website in Dreamweaver. I have MX.
>
> I noticed on my old site (Frontpage), that when I saved
and posted an
> image to
> my site, that photo image degraded from its original
clarity (in
> photography
> talk, this degradation is called 'noise.') My photos are
shot from an 8.3
> Canon 20D and it takes very impressive, sharp and color
rich photos. The
> photos were originally resized, cropped and saved in
Image Composer (and
> an old
> version at that). So I always blamed the loss of clarity
on Frontpage or
> Image
> Composer.
>
> In Dreamweaver, I find that when I construct a page
which has a photo
> image,
> and when I push that button that lets me see the page in
my browser, I
> still
> see a degradation of the photo. I must admit, I am still
using Image
> Composer
> to crop, resize and save the original (now modified)
image.
>
> I ask you the following: What causes my photos to loose
their sharpness
> and
> color quality? Have you experienced a loss in quality in
posting your
> photos,
> and if so, how did you cure it?
>
> I have Fireworks MX, it's just that I don't know if
using it will fix the
> problem. What should I do? Is some special technique
used in saving
> photos
> for a website? Does clarity change if I work from bitmap
images or
> .jpegs? If
> so, what format should I use and work in?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>

Improve quality of JPEG images

Hi
I have an application which saves images in JPEG format after editing (well, many applications does that, but this is only a fraction of what this application does) :-)
I can't use any other formats due to size restrictions. The problem is Image Editing module of this application has operations like line drawing and text inserting. When I save the image, fine lines (especially texts) are getting blurred.
Is there any way I can increase the quality of JPEG files saved? I understand that JPEG is not meant for sharp lines and texts but with Photoshop, even fine lines and texts appear good when saved as a high quality JPEG file. Is there any such method in Java by which I can increase the quality of JPEG images?
Thanks in advance...

Is there any way I can increase the quality of JPEG files saved? I understand that JPEG is not meant for sharp lines and texts but with Photoshop, even fine lines and texts appear good when saved as a high quality JPEG file. Is there any such method in Java by which I can increase the quality of JPEG images?I JPEG is a non-conservative compression format (you do not get back exactly what you put in, it has "acceptable degredaton"--I talked with the author before it became popular and he explained what JPEG was all about--high compresses resulting in a small size for internet communications over dialup.
In more recent times I've seen quality factors brought into play with JPEG, but as you have stated, even in Adobe Photoshop under the highest quality, you still have degradation. I've seen some hint and some state that you can get a lossless JPEG, but I've not encountered it yet.
In any case, if you do find a "lossless JPEG" the size of that file is going to be bigger than you are looking at now. You may consider other file formats--TIFF or there are even more recent files formats that have higher conservative compression algorithms.

Image distortion when exporting

Hi all,
I'm experiencing off and on problems when exporting RAW images from LR 3.3 to JPG. (on MacBook Pro Snow leopard 10.6.6)
I am using Camera Raw 6.3.
Original RAW images taken with Canon 550D.
This is what happens:
Original Result
It doesn't matter if I resize or not, change quality of the JPG, sharpen or not, whatever.
11 out of 140 images go wrong, the others are exported ok. Not every 11th image either.
Exporting 1 by 1 no difference.
What's wrong here? Has anybody had this before?
Maybe connected: I have taken a lot of pictures of an ice hockey game some time ago. During import I've seen that some of the images imported had a similar problem. During importing I first saw a normal image, but it was changed to something simular at the end. I thought that was the memory card, as I was shooting multiple shots, low light, high iso.
Thanks in advance
gr. Paul

In addition: I just switched in LR from "library" to "develop" and the image on screen switched from the before and after image in the original post!
I have edited this picture before in LR, have cut the paiting out of it's environment, no other corrections. Probably I edited this one with an earlier version of LR.
Changed to original image, only the crop boundaries disappear, same crazy image...
And now in the library too, of course.
Is it possible that when you copy pictures from one drive to another that RAW files get damaged?
As in copy from camera to diskdrive (import LR) or from internal drive to external drive (as I did from Finder)?

Image aliasing when exporting print PDF at 300 ppi (bicubic downsampling)

Hello,
i am trying to describe a problem which persists since version CS3 of InDesign. It's about aliased edges in images in a certain angle; occuring when exporting the brochure as PDF file (at 300 ppi). The placed images are always at a higher quality than needed (for example 780 ppi effective). The aliasing is not there when opening the original image files in photoshop (viewing at 100%).
The PDF export settings are:
- Compression: Bicubic downsampling to300 ppi for images above 350 ppi (for color images, grayscale images and monochrome images)
- Crop Image data to frames
- Marks: Crop Marks and Page Information
- Output: No Color Conversion
- Advanced: Transparency Flattener: High Resolution
- Compatibility: Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)
- PDF /X-3:2002
Below are two screenshots
- The left one was the original image, downsampled to 216 mm in width using automatic bicubic downsampling
- The right one is the result when exporting a InDesign Document with the same width to a PDF with the mentioned settings
Downsampled in Photoshop CS6 to 216 mm width
Exported from InDesign CS6 with mentioned settings
I have no clue what happens here, but it looks like the internal downsampling of InDesign CS6 is not very good.
When i write a PostScript file of the brochure and put it in Distiller (with the same PDF Preset as above), the image looks like the one made with Photoshop. So this problem has to lie somwhere deep in InDesign or it's settings.
Anybody with similar experiences?

Rob Day wrote:
Something about your test looks off. The export from ID and export from PS PDFs are both zoomed at 1200%, but the export from ID vrsion is 90% smaller.
Yeah I noticed that I actually had the image in InDesign scaled @ 90%, so the effective ppi was around 650. I get the same jagged results when I use anything other than a 300 or 600 effective ppi. Whereas if I use a 650ppi image in Photoshop and export to PDF, it downsamples smoothly.
Rob Day wrote:
The diagonal lines in your test are 1 pixel so at 300ppi to an offset press at 150lpi, the lines would be less than a halftone dot so I'm pretty sure you would need a loupe to see any difference. Maybe with a stochastic screen there would be better resolution but still difficult to see. So if the printing is that good I would just export without down sampling. With disk space running at 15 cents a gigabyte there's not much to gain with a downsample.
It becomes noticeable with some images more than others, but I'm printing a lot of images of buildings and drawings with sharp lines that converge to a point, or are distinguishable in the full size image but indistinguishable when downsampled. This can introduce distracting patterns when they aren't downsampled smoothly, something like this:
Unfortunately the printers near me aren't very good, so I'm having things printed online, and this particular printer (blurb.com - for a small job) won't accept large PDFs without compressed/downsampled images :/ I'm making 300dpi versions of the really crucial images for the time being, but I'm hoping there is a better solution!
The other issue is exporting the PDF for use on the web, either as a download or on an online PDF viewer like issuu.com. The two PDFs on the right side of my test look much better in these situations. Is there any disadvantage to using Distiller to make my PDFs for this purpose using the Device Independent setting? I don't have any special interactive elements.

Images degrading when rendered-

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me. I am working on Fincal Cut HD express and am trying important some images into my edit, make them move using motion/keyframes, however as soon as I render the files the image degrades and the quality becomes so poor it is unusable. I am importing the images as PSD files, 300dpi with no layers (as I need the image to float with no background). I have tried importing them as jpegs, gifs etc however this then gives the image a background and therefore is unusable anyway and anyway the still degrade on rendering. So the image looks fantastic when it is first imported, however as soon as it is rendered it degrades dramatically…..
Thank you for any suggests/ideas/help….
LBTV

Welcome to the discussions. As well as Tech2's advice, it's best to resize the images to be appropriate to your needs.
IOW, don't use images that are too large. DPI MEANS NOTHING. Never refer to it again. Dimensions, dimensions, dimensions. What size are you using?
Patrick

IPad Image Degradation

As professional photographer I was thinking of creating some wallpaper imagery for the iPad so I asked somebody that owns one to put some of my photos on his so I could look at them. When we did the quality was awful: you might say grainy or pixelated.
The images were originally 1024x768 which I understood to be the native resolution of the iPad. In an effort to track down where the image degradation was taking place I had him send an image back to me, once straight from Mail on the iPad and again from his web based Yahoo Mail page. The image that came back from Yahoo was fine, but the image that came back from the iPad via Mail had been reduced in size to 640x480.
The only think I could figure out is that for some reason the iPad reduced the image size which left me rather puzzled. why have a display with a resolution of 1024x768 if the device reduces images to 640x480.
What do I not understand here?

The best way to create wallpaper for the iPad is to start with an image much greater in resolution than the iPad's 1024x768. If you do that then you benefit in two ways.
First, save the image to your iPad, then go into settings, then wallpaper and then select your image in your saved photos. Since the image is large you can pinch and zoom in and out and you can move it around to recompose the image to your liking. Be sure you are satisfied with what it looks like in landscape and portrait by rotating the iPad before setting the image as your wallpaper. It will then save your zoom factor and your recompositioning of the image.
The iPad zooms into your wallpaper when viewed in portrait so as long as your stay within the resolution of your original image in that position before you save your setting then it will look tack sharp in both landscape and portrait, assuming your image was sharp to begin with.
The minimum image resolution for ipad's wallpaper is 1024x1024 if you do not wish the image to be degraded. That's fine if you are happy with the look that you get but you will not be able to pinch and zoom in without severe image degradation and you will not be able to reposition to your image the way you could with a much larger image.
I have no answer to your e-mailing issue as I am not yet using my iPad for e-mail.

I am planning to send some images to Alamy they need them as 24MB images how do I know when they are

Good morning I have submitted some images to Alamy and they like them, which is a great start, they need a Jpeg file size of over 24MB when uncompressed. Opening a JPG in an image program such as Adobe Photoshop will show you the uncompressed (open) file size, I have no idea how to proceed can you help please, many thanks
Kind regards
Sheila

Hi Sheila
A 24Mb JPG is a bit of a strange thing to ask for, but image size, vs resolution vs dpi vs size on disk vs size when open in Photoshop, is something that seems to cause more confusion than almost any other subject on this forum, and at my camera club, and I dare say, in the editorial office at Alamy - or at least at the desk of their new trainee who is doing work experience while waiting to go to uni.
I had not heard of Alamy, but they were easy to find, and as you'd expect, they have a page with guide lines on how to submit images
http://www.alamy.com/contributor/help/prepare-images.asp
Bottom line is to give them full resolution high quality JPGs (10 or more). They just say RGB, so play safe and make it sRGB.
BTW I had to laugh at the arbitrary way they list 'unsuitable' cameras.
http://www.alamy.com/contributor/help/unsuitable-camera-list.asp?cname=Canon
And nothing about iPhones!
BTW This answer has sat waiting in a Word document after the site went down just as I was in the process of posting it. Nice to see it back on line, but now I have to gou for the evening.

Some images don't transfer from RH8 to the Word output

Why is it that some images don't transfer from the RH8 file to my Word output when I generate?
They do transfer to the Flash Help, but not to Word.
Some of them are small images - just shots of icons or tools - and others are quite a bit larger.
It takes me at least another hour to format the Word document after the output.

Hi Patti,
I have had similar problems of images "softly and suddenly vanishing away" during export from RoboHelp to Word. I never really solved the problem, but I did find some useful tips.
First you shouldn't embed your images; in the Printed Documentation Wizard you should select "Link to sub-directory"
This has the advantage that lost images are now replaced by a small red cross -- easier to find when reviewing.
Next, in Word, try Edit>Links. If you are lucky you will see something like this:
Notice that some links have a Source File of ../Images; they are the ones I was missing. For some reason the path to the image file is moved up one level.
I never found out why, but the workaround was simple: copy the entire Images directory and paste it one level higher in the directory hierarchy. A waste of disk space, to be sure, but it worked. The grabs above show Word2003 and RH8.
Hope this helps,
--- Derek

RoboHelp 8 WebHelp: Some images not displaying in Chrome or Firefox Browsers

(I'm using RH8 v 8.0.2.208 under XP SP3, all latest Windows updates. Building to a WebHelp output.)
I have many topics in which the images have a Fade In effect (Dynamic HTML Effect > Page has been loaded > Fade in). I build it into WebHelp.
This works beautifully in IE8, but in Google Chrome, and Firefox, there is no fade in (I can live with that I suppose) BUT some images are there, some are not - just white space where the image should be. I get identical problems, topic-for-topic, in Firefox and Chrome. Some fade-in images display, some don't. They are a mix of JPG and GIFs.
Can anybody throw light on this?
Help!

laurenrobertson88 wrote:
> I created my site using CSS divs, php and HTML and was
testing it using safari
> (as i am a Mac user) and everything looks correct. I
then went to view and test
> the site on Firefox and IE and some (not all) of the
images are not displaying.
> I have tried re-uploading, checking the paths and i cant
see a soloution. I am
> currently testing the site here:
>
http://www.omobono.co.uk/test/sapient/indexcss.php
>
> i cant figure it out - help!
Using Firefox on my PC I get 3 images missing:
1.
http://www.omobono.co.uk/test/sapient/images/logo.jpg
2.
http://www.omobono.co.uk/test/sapient/images/nav_home_over.jpg
3.
http://www.omobono.co.uk/test/sapient/images/mainline.jpg
When I try to view them I get this error message:
The image
http://www.omobono.co.uk/test/sapient/images/mainline.jpg
cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
Maybe try exporting the images again and uploading again? A
quick google
shows it could be the colour settings, make sure they are set
to RGB,
not CMYK.
Steve

Quality of some images degrading on export

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