Hi there,

I am helping a local charity design a large display board (170cmx70cm actual) and have no idea how to resize the images I have imported to build the display so that they maintain their high quality res when printed at large scale but so that they are small enough to send the file to printers! I've read forums and I know people hate inexperienced users posing questions that to trained users are obvious but I'm getting frustrated so I thought that I would try this site....

Basically the display has nothing but images on it that are 20+MB each and the total file size is 228 MB - the printers said that they dont want the file this big. I built the file in a single layer with multiple objects. I have set the paper size to the actual display size and have stretched to images to fit it. I converted the images to bitmaps and resampling the images to 600dpi and at 10% or their original size but when I zoomed in, they were all blurry. (Again, I dont have a design background - this is a volunteer project - I usually just do straight-forward things like adverts and mailouts!)

Any advice is appreciated!!!

mandi:

I know people hate inexperienced users posing questions that to trained users are obvious

That is not true for most forums.
Only those "experienced" posters who thought they know everything will reject dummy questions.
If post a question of 1+1=? , people here will still answer you ^_^

Back to your question.
You are doing the artwork in Draw?
First you have to determine the resolution you are going to use to achieve the optimal result your customer (i.e. the charity group you are helping) would accept. Normally 300dpi is the minimum.
Next, when you import the inidividual image (JPEG or BMP) to be used in the artwork, they will be imported with the native resolution, some could be higher and some lower. Rather than dragging the handles to visually resize them, use the Resample tool (Bitmap -> Resample) to actually resize the image to the dimension and resolution you want.
Now, when everything is done and saved, how big is the file size? And what is the file format and maximum file size your printer can accept?
An artwork of 170x70 cm in cdr format shall not be very large at all, depends on the images you imported.

Cheers.

 

 

 

Do you know the previous dpi of the images before you resampled them? If you stretched them, the dpi would decrease giving you a blury (yet scaled up) image.

Most printers should be able to manage a 228mb file in all fairness. They would just downsample before outputting it.

Mandi,

What would be the viewing distance of people looking at the display board?

300 dpi may be the correct resolution for a brochure, but it is likely too
high for this type of project as people will be viewing from at least
several feet (meters) away.

I would leave all photos at their default resolution. Do NOT resample them
in CorelDRAW. When you Publish to PDF, then choose the resolution and all
images with a higher resolution will be resampled when you make the PDF.

 I think that the average viewing distance would be about a metre away...

the photos are all stock photography that import as jpegs. I am using one photo to serve as the background display and then placing 5 or 6 other jpeg images on there as well. I checked the size of the one I am using as the display background and it is 44MB, 300dpi, 5057x7000 pixels. Is there a way to make these jpegs smaller but not lose their crisp detail?

Thanks for being so helpful everyone!!

 

Hi Mandi, what is the current file size you are having (cdr or pdf)?
And your printer's maximum size allowed?
You didn't reply on that.

Foster, what is the difference between resampling in CorelDraw and resampling during PDF creation?

 Sorry about that -

The current file size is just over 225MB and the printer said they handle 'large' files (they wouldnt specify a max size saying that it varies for different projects etc) BUT, she wanted .eps files bc/ they dont use corel only adobe and will not modify the files I send. We are in a very small rural community and they sub the work out to print houses in larger cities who then mail the product back. She emails the files to the subs or uploads them to their ftp sites. I couldnt upload the file on their ftp as they said it was too big. Long story longer, this is the second attempt to get this printed as she said the corel file was so big that the print house couldnt even open it so they printed off of the pdf I sent as a visual aid - the colours were awful, the images were grainy.... luckily they acknowledged that this is all voluntary for a non-profit in our local community so they didnt charge us for it.  SOooo... I'm now trying to make everything smaller before I create two additional panels for the display (its a bifold table-top display).

Thanks so much Michael et al for your help - and so prompt! Its truly appreciated - best, M

Mandi,

It sounds like the printer is giving you very bad, and very stupid, advice.
Mostly because they "refuse" to support CorelDRAW files.

The BEST format to provide is a PDF file, not an EPS file. Even Adobe-biased
users should know that.

Just changing that one thing will make the files much smaller as PDF files
support compression and EPS files don't.

If the viewing distance is a full meter, I'd suggest no more than 200 dpi
and maybe even 150 dpi will give you absolutely awesome results. You don't
have to change ANYTHING in CorelDRAW. When you Publish to PDF, set the
output resolution in the Pub2PDF dialog box.

Michael,

If you resample in CorelDRAW, it is a permanent change to the CorelDRAW
file. What happens if you later decide to make the image bigger again? Oops,
too late. If you only doing it when publishing to PDF, you still have the
original data in CorelDRAW for the future. Given the very low cost of hard
drive space, there is no need to shrink it in the CorelDRAW file unless you
absolutely, positively will never need it again.

 A million thanks Michael, Foster and Andy!

I am working on the display at this moment and will keep on as I have been - we'll see what the printer says when I bring it in to them next week...dont be surprised if I'm back on here with questions!!! Hee hee hee!

Thanks so much guys!!

Best, m

mandi:

The current file size is just over 225MB

Is that the cdr or pdf? And the resolution is?

Try what Foster suggests.
Leave all the imported images at their original resolution.
Save the artwork as cdr first, then export it to PDF at a resolution of 180dpi.

I don't think the resulting PDF will be 225MB, the cdr probably yes depends on your image.

I agree with Foster, All the printers that I submit work to request PDF format. Firstly, its good for compatibility between systems (as many printers use macs)

Also, it may be worth checking your Colour management settings. They may be washing out the image on the page. I normally export to PDF with no colour profile attached and let the printer adjust for their specific system/paper.

I actually send everything to the PDF in RGB and leave it completely to my
printer to do the conversion. After doing various tests, this gave me the
best results.