How much should I increase artboard size before render?

LARV · 30 Nov 2014, 16:18

How much should I increase the size of the artboard from the intended size of use to get good quality? I´ve tried 200-400% increase but when taking the rendered picture into illustrator and decreasing the size, it´s sort of pixelated..

I feel it´s sort of pixelated even when looking at it 100% after rendering when imported to illustrator. When just looking at it with the image viewer the quality seems to be somwhat better. Getting the vector sharpness I´m used to in Illustrator won´t happen I guess, I´m aware of that. Perhaps it´s not possible to get it real sharp in Vray(?)

I wish I could just set a DPI function to 240 like in photoshop.

rspierenburg · 1 Dec 2014, 12:15

Well seeing that you will only get a Raster image from a rendering the best approach would be to a) first determine what the output size would be (8.5x11? 18x24? etc) then multiply each dimension by 300 to get a photoquality dpi. That is if you are looking to print, if its just for screen purposes then you could get away with 72-90 dpi.

Rob

LARV · 1 Dec 2014, 14:44

Where can I set the DPI in Vray? That´s a new one for me.

valerostudio · 1 Dec 2014, 15:02

Options - Output - Output Size

Click Get Aspect Ratio, then L to lock it, then adjust the width to what you need based on the previous response.

LARV · 2 Dec 2014, 09:04

I´ve tried locking both the pixel aspect ratio AND image aspect ratio and the increasing the size. Is that very different from ONLY locking pixel aspect ratio?

Thank you!

LARV · 2 Dec 2014, 09:10

"..output size would be (8.5x11? 18x24? etc) then multiply each dimension by 300.."

So if I want a scence to be 20 cm wide on paper, the width would be 20x300=6000?

rspierenburg · 2 Dec 2014, 12:13

No, the 300 represents DPI (Dots Per Inch) which is pretty close to Photoquality. So it would be 8"(20cm) x 300 = 2400 pixels wide.

LARV · 2 Dec 2014, 15:13

OK thanks but I´ve tried larger renderings than that and it´s still not super sharp, but on the other hand I´m so used to illustrator I might have to accept that rendering animations will never be as sharp as vector.

dkendig · 2 Dec 2014, 22:34

Some applications get weird about DPI, and just having a large image isn't going to work properly. I'd imagine Illustrator has a way to handle it, but I'm not that familiar with it these days, been over a decade since I've loaded that app up. On a computer screen there's really no difference between having a large image, zoomed out, and having a small image with a high DPI. DPI is describing something during the printing process, so it can get a little confusing when diddling about with this type of thing on a computer. Your computer screen has pixels, and the screen itself will have it's own pixel density (retina displays for example have 200-400 pixels per inch), regardless of what your image is set to be... so DPI or PPI (pixels per inch) can be a little... ::stares at ground:: perplexing. By default we render out at 72dpi, and we don't have a place to change that setting.

There should be a way to change the dpi of an image in photoshop. A quick google search found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9j0O4kyrg

I use GIMP (it's essentially the same exact thing, except 100% free), and the dpi setting is found where you resize the image.

Hope that helps!

LARV · 3 Dec 2014, 11:52

"On a computer screen there's really no difference between having a large image, zoomed out, and having a small image with a high DPI"

Yes, that´s correct.

I actually tried importing a large rendered picture into Photoshop and scalining it down while rasising the DPI, and now it looks good in Illustrator

Thanks for all your help!

andybot · 3 Dec 2014, 19:24

@larv said:

OK thanks but I´ve tried larger renderings than that and it´s still not super sharp, but on the other hand I´m so used to illustrator I might have to accept that rendering animations will never be as sharp as vector.

You should be able to link the high resolution image in illustrator and scale it within illustrator without losing resolution. It depends on what settings you use for printing or export that will determine how much of that resolution you keep when bringing it out of illustrator.

In photoshop - there's an option when changing the image size where you can uncheck "resample image" and it doesn't change the absolute resolution, only the print size.

Though for printing raster documents, I'd recommend using inDesign. Much better link and page management.

LARV · 4 Dec 2014, 19:47

Yes, resizing pictures in Illustrator is no problem, but If I want to change the DPI I do that in Photoshop first before importing into illustrator. For some reason my rendered Vray picture didn´t work as I´m used to with photos.

"Though for printing raster documents, I'd recommend using inDesign. Much better link and page management."

That part of the work process is no problem, I work with both profesionally since 8 years. I use both for different purposes.

Thanks!

andybot · 4 Dec 2014, 20:05

I just mention that, as I've never been happy with using raster images in illustrator. Often, I'll do all the vector work for a layout in illustrator and then reference that into inDesign where I can then drop in the graphics. I've been using "inDesign" since the days of Pagemaker

LARV · 4 Dec 2014, 20:08

"using raster images in illustrator."

Umm.. what exactly is a raster image again? No, I didn´t lie about my work as a graphic news designer, and although I´ve heard the term raster image I´m not sure what it is actually. Please note that my Adobe set is in swedish.

"I'll do all the vector work for a layout in illustrator and then reference that into inDesign"
Same here. Doing vector graphics in InDesign sounds horrible

andybot · 4 Dec 2014, 20:12

@larv said:

Umm.. what exactly is a raster image again? No, I didn´t lie about my work as a graphic news designer, and although I´ve heard the term raster image I´m not sure what it is actually. Please note that my Adobe set is in swedish.

raster just means it is made up of pixels - like a jpg, png, tiff, psd, etc. When you zoom in, you see pixels instead of linework. Must be there's a different terminology in your location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raster_graphics

LARV · 4 Dec 2014, 20:19

OK, I get it. Pixel images like photos.. Yeah, we use them on occasion at the newspaper where I work

Thanks!

LARV · 4 Dec 2014, 20:21

"I've never been happy with using raster images in illustrator."

That´s a new one. I´ve never had any problem with Illustrator not showing photos properly. Never heard of this problem from anyone. In fact, if there had been problems like that me and my workmates couldn´t do the work we do.
Strange.

andybot · 4 Dec 2014, 20:35

nah, I just mean that clipping masks are a pain, I find adjusting images much more intuitive in inDesign. The other thing I really dislike is that file sizes get really huge in illustrator if there are high res images in there. Illustrator doesn't seem to use any compression for raster files.

LARV · 4 Dec 2014, 20:50

Clipping masks are a pain in Illustrator? Guess it depends on what you want to achive. Simple things I´ll do in InDesign if it gets the job done, but most of the time I do it in Illustrator, sometimes together with Photoshop. I have to most of the times since photos and graphics often overlap in my work, and often in quite "complex" ways.

But I guess everyone uses different techniqes. Depends on what your work involves. I suspect you don´t work with infographics?

andybot · 4 Dec 2014, 21:03

true, I don't work on magazine layouts. Usually I'm just doing fairly simple presentations. I use illustrator most often to work on CAD stuff like site plans. I can see for complicated combination of graphics and vector, illustrator is the obvious choice. I'm curious now if you have any particular method to deal with large file sizes for high resolution images in illustrator.