Resolution on a graphic

[Karen]

I tried to submit a file to Kinkos today to print a 2 ft. x 4 ft. sign. They
advised me that when they went to enlarge the clip art, the picture ended up
looking digital and the dpi's needed to be at least 300. The background wasnt
clear either.

I just checked the resolution on the graphic that I used and it shows 150.
The clip comes from the Microsoft Clip Art and Media site. Its file name is
j0400016. How can I increase the resolution to 300? Should I use the same
graphic side by side since it is a graphic of fire with a black background?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Ed Bennett]

I tried to submit a file to Kinkos today to print a 2 ft. x 4 ft.
sign. They advised me that when they went to enlarge the clip art,
the picture ended up looking digital and the dpi's needed to be at
least 300. The background wasnt clear either.

I just checked the resolution on the graphic that I used and it shows
150. The clip comes from the Microsoft Clip Art and Media site. Its
file name is j0400016. How can I increase the resolution to 300?

a) The 150dpi resolution is at the original print size. When enlarged to
2'x4', the DPI goes down as the size goes up.

b) The "Increase resolution" button is right next to the "Complete my
project psychically" button, on the "Magic" toolbar. The ClipArt you are
using is a raster image, meaning that it is composed of a grid of pixels.
Say, for instance, that your ClipArt is 300 by 300 pixels. Then when it is
sized to 2" by 2", it will be 150dpi. You can increase the resolution to
300dpi by reducing the size to 1" by 1" (300 pixels / 1 inch = 300
pixels/inch). Enlarge the graphic to 4" by 4", and the resolution goes down
to 75dpi (300 / 4). If you have a graphic with a small number of pixels at
a large printed size, it has a low resolution and so you get blocking, as
each pixel is large enough for the eye to resolve. If you get an image
program to automatically add pixels, it will add blur, so instead of
pixellation, you get fuzz. This looks just as bad. This occurs because the
computer cannot possibly know what information to fill in in the blank
areas - it can't pull the missing data out of thin air. The solution is to
either find a higher-resolution image (larger number of pixels) or to use
many smaller print-sized low-resolution images side-by-side (giving a larger
total number of pixels), or to use a vector image. A vector image is not
defined in terms of pixels, but in terms of lines, curves, shapes, fills,
etc. This means it can be resized to any size at all whilst retaining
smooth curves and zero pixellation. Vector images in the Microsoft ClipArt
selection usually end with .wmf. They can also end with .emf and still be
used with Publisher. Professional vector images tend to end with AI or EPS;
these are not always compatible with Publisher.

 

[Karen]

My apologies that I left out some information. I am working on Publisher 2003
with this project.

 

[Mary Sauer]

There are high-resolution images available on the Office site. Unfortunately
yours is not one of them. If you type highresolution (one word) in the search,
you may find a substitute image suitable for your needs. Have you tried a vector
image as Ed suggested?

 

[Karen]

No I havent. Not yet. I will try your 'highresolution' in th search,
hopefully I will find what I am looking for. I will give both ideas a try.
Thanks.