Exporting large 2D bitmap image

thomthom · 21 Jun 2009, 14:13

Those of you that have been exporting large 2D bitmap images of your SU model might have often run into the problem where SU won't save.

I ran into this problem today when I tried to export at 7000px wide (no AA). But I had a thought; I tried to save as PNG. It's compressed and require more processing and possibly more RAM when handling. So I tried to save as BMP (which is uncompressed) - that worked without problems.
Anyone else tried this? Can you export larger images if you save to BMP?

Anssi · 21 Jun 2009, 16:37

The exportable image size thing seems to be some kind of black art. If I run into problems, I'll try your trick. Did you by any chance try it with AA on?

Anssi

thomthom · 21 Jun 2009, 17:04

No. I don't have time to do extra testing now.

Alan Fraser · 22 Jun 2009, 09:33

SU does seem to have a real problem with large images. If it's for a printed repro rather than web use...so size is a little less relevant...I usually export as a tiff. SU exports tiffs completely uncompressed, so then you just need to open it in an image editor and immediately save it again, but this time using LZW compression.
But, newbies beware, as mentioned, it's inadvisable for Anti-Aliasing to be on for anything much above screen resolution...serious risk of system hang.

thomthom · 22 Jun 2009, 09:39

And the AA isn't that good either. I find a better result is achieved by exporting 2x or 4x the size you want and scale down in Photoshop.

putnik · 23 Jun 2009, 03:03

thomthom, Universal Document Converter is a very useful print driver that has saved my bottom a few times when SketchUp refused to export at very high resolution. UDC doesn't do AA which is no problem, Photosohop does it better than SketchUp anyway. I've exported 14000px wide using UDC for highres elevations at A1 size. It costs US$69. http://www.print-driver.com/

vizier · 23 Jun 2009, 03:46

Wait a second...I have been "exporting" my large images in bits and pieces then pasting them together (poorly) in photoshop. How the heck do you get SU to export more than what is currently being displayed in the window???

vizier · 23 Jun 2009, 04:26

Well I figured it out by myself...theres a little options button in the export dialog box that I never saw before. Now that I have found that I can now really start using sketchup for my maps and scene backdrops (for D&D games).