Need help! How can this be done?

martinatkinson · #1 March 6th, 2002, 05:07 PM

Hello!

I have a small problem. A graphic I have measures out to be 1"x1" but for what I will be using it for I really need it to be 15"x15". If I try to scale it up in Photoshop I get jagged edges or a weird lumpy sort of edge. Anyone know how I can do this?

The pict is attached to this post.

Thanks so much you guys!

Albert

symphonix · #2 March 6th, 2002, 07:19 PM

Well, this is the catch with bitmap (raster) graphics: they only contain as much detail as they contain. That means that if you enlarge them, the new image only has as much detail as the old image, but now on a larger scale.

So, with your example, each pixel will be blown up to a 15 x 15 pixel square, which is not really acceptable - too many jagged edges.

For some reason I couldn't download your picture, but I'll tell you this. If it is a photo, you can probably blow it up to about 3" x 3" before it starts to look really bad.
If it is a piece of line-art, a diagram, a cartoon, etc, then a capable designer can drop it into a vector illustration program such as illustrator and trace a vector design off the top of it. Once finished, the vector image can be resized right up to billboard scale without any loss of detail. I have done this with a handful of company logos when all the advertiser can give you is a lousy little picture from their website. It is not easy, and takes even a skilled designer a fair bit of effort.

If you can get a larger original of the image, you'll be better off. Have it scanned / produced to a scale of 15" x 15" and don't resize it when you are putting it in your document - crop it if you must, but each time you resize an image you lose detail.

wdw_ · #3 March 6th, 2002, 08:13 PM

You mean like this?

symphonix · #4 March 6th, 2002, 08:53 PM

That's exactly what I mean. I once traced a scanned map using this method to create a distribution map. With all highways and towns marked in it took me about four hours. I've also done a couple of company logos and so on. It is an annoyance, but often your clients give you source materials that are just so far gone you can't do anything to save them, and have to start over.

martinatkinson · #5 March 6th, 2002, 09:47 PM

Hello!

Thank you so very much! Can you tell me what apps you used to do this? I tried using the tracing tool in Freehand 5.0 but with no luck.

Once again, thanks for your guys help!

Albert

Jadey · #6 March 6th, 2002, 09:53 PM

I don't know what program he used, but Adobe's Streamline software is made specifically to turn bitmap graphics into vector. Once they're vector you can scale them as much as you want in freehand or illustrator.

Nummi_G4 · #7 March 7th, 2002, 08:42 AM

I do not understand what the problem is... why don't you just trace over the shapes with Adobe Illustrator... then you will have vector.

symphonix · #8 March 7th, 2002, 07:30 PM

In my case I used CorelDraw, but Illustrator is another one that is well suited to the task. But as I said, it is not an easy thing for beginners to get the idea of. There is no magic-tool that does it, you have to use your vector tools to trace on screen as you would with paper.
I have used CorelTrace and found it to be useful for some line-art, I have never tried Adobe Streamline out.
You do realise, though, that what you get will be a tracing - a line-art representation - of the bitmap image you started with?
If you can get your hands on a better quality original, that would be far better.