Placed image in illustrator is the wrong size even though the original was sized in photoshop

[Guest]

Hi when i size an image in photoshop and then 'place' it in illustrator the 'placed' image is way smaller in illustrator than in photoshop.

To give an example I just created a photoshop canvas of 900px x 900px with a resolution of 300ppi and filled it with a red colour. I then saved this image as a jpeg so the jpeg had a dimension of 900px x 900px.

I then opened an illustrator document setup to 900px x 900px at 300ppi and 'placed' the red jpeg I had just created in photoshop into illustrator.

Now I would expect the 'placed' jpeg to cover the entire artboard in illustrator because the jpeg is 900px x 900px and so is the artboard. However what actually happens is the 'placed' image appears but is over four times smaller in illustrator!! In itself this isn't a problem but then when I scale it up to the size I want e.g. 900px x 900px, the resolution starts to decrease and do so drastically!

How can I solve this problem as I want to size a photo and 'place' it into illustartor at the correct size and at 300dpi so that I can print it!

Please help! Thanks in advance!

[Larry G. Schneider]

AI always assumes that raster images are 72 ppi so a raster at 300 ppi is shown in AI at 24%. Check the resolution in the Document Info window

[Guest]

Thank you, but that's slightly confused me, perhaps you could explain...

On my understanding if AI thought a raster image was 72ppi and that image had 900px wouldn't Ai show it as a bigger image - eg. 900px at 300ppi would be 3inches but 900px at 72ppi would be 12.5inches?

Either way if AI does indeed assume a raster image is 72ppi and this means that it is shown at 24% how can a photo be sized in photoshop and then placed in illustrator at the correct size?

Do you have to establish the size you need it to be in illustrator first, then divide this by 24 and multiply the answer by 100 to get the size the photoshop image needs to be???

Oh and I've just checked the document info window as you suggest and the image that is four times smaller than expected in illustrator is saying it is 300ppi at that small size, so when i increase the size its resolution decreases!

[Jacob Bugge]

mrplod,

It all sounds rather odd, but you may just:

1) File>Place the image in a suitable document, which may be in RGB Color Mode and with points/pixels as the unit (you may link to it instead of embedding it to keep the file size small),

2) Resize the image to the desired size by changing the W or H value in the Transform panel, and move the image to have its corner at X=Y=0 and fit into the Artboard.

Illy just presents the image as it is without resampling, whichever size you give it, the absolute size in pixels x pixels will remain the same.

[Guest]

Jacob, thanks for your reply. I agree it does all sound very odd!

So I've done as you suggest and in my very simplified example above I have placed the red square into Illy in a cmyk colour mode (same as it is in photoshop).

Then I have transformed it and although I think it should be 900px x 900px the transform panel told me it was 216px x 216px so I have scaled this up to 900px x 900px as I would like the image to be in  my example yet as I do that the resolution decreases from 300ppi when at 216px x 216px to only 72ppi when at 900px x 900px.

So how can I get it so that my image is 300ppi when at 900 x 900 in illy given that it is 300ppi at 900 x 900 in photoshop?

Again thank you in advance

[Jacob Bugge]

mrplod,

If you choose a photograph with a certain absolute size in pixels x pixels (such as 3648 x 2736) and place it on the Artboard,

1) Which W x H size is shown in the Transform palette/panel?

2) Does the W x H size mentioned in 1) multiplied by 72 give the absolute size in pixel x pixel? If not, there is something wrong, possibly with the preferences. In that case, you may try to Move the folder

[Guest]

Hi Jacob,

Ok, I've chosen an image that is 3508px x 2631px and is 300ppi.

I've opened a new artboard sized at the above size and placed the image into the artboard.

Going to the transform panel it shows that the placed image is 841.92px x 631.44px. and says that at this size it is 300ppi. These figures, when multipled by 72 become 60618.24 and 45463.68 so nothing like what I want them to be. However when divided by 24 and multiplied by 100 they become the correct 3508 x 2631. So the placed image is effectively 24% of the size I want it to be and at this smaller size it is 300ppi. However...

Once I resize it to 3508px x 2631px using the transform panel the resulting image is showing as 72ppi in the documnet info panel! Even though the original image is 300ppi at these dimensions! I just can't work out why?!?

[Jacob Bugge · Accepted solution]

mrplod,

Ah, now I know what you mean.

Illy basically works in points, 1 point = 1/72 inch, and the unit pixel (which you can choose instead of points, inches, etc) is set to the same value, 1/72 inch. This ambiguity is part of the difficulty in grasping all this.

I've chosen an image that is 3508px x 2631px and is 300ppi.

An image that is 3508px x 2631px is just that: this is the pixel size, meaning that it is made of 3508 x 2631 = 9,229,548 pixels (small squares), each of which may have its own colour, no more, no less.

This image can be represented at any size in any application, and that size will determine its resolution in PPI (Pixels Per Inch). If you divide the size by 300 to get a resolution of 300 PPI you will get 11.693 x 8.77 inches = 841.92 x 631.44 points/pixels (understood as the unit 1/72 inch).

This means that if you want the image to have a resolution of at least 300 PPI you cannot make it larger than 11.693 x 8.77 inches = 841.92 x 631.44 points/pixels (pixels as units in Illy).

If you want a larger image at 300 PPI you will have to start with a larger original image.

An image fitting an Artboard of 900 x 900 points/pixels = 12.5 x 12.5 inch at 300 PPI will have to be 3750 x 3750 pixels (300*12.5 = 3750).

Are you sure that is the actual size of the red square you made in Photoshop? If so, I have no clue why it shows up the way it does in Illy.

Edit:

I just reread this:

I then saved this image as a jpeg so the jpeg had a dimension of 900px x 900px

When you export as a JPEG, you can set a resolution, but you can also just save it at an actual pixel size (as in Save for Web & Devices) such as  900 x 900 pixels. Maybe that is where things go wrong.

[Guest]

Brilliant! I think you've probably hit the nail on the head. I already knew about pixels having specific values and that resizing therefore altered resolution etc etc but what I didn't know was that a pixel in Illy is equivalent to 1/72 of an inch and I was therefore getting confused that an image sized at say 900 px in photoshop was coming out at 216px in Illy as I had assumed that the pixel dimensions would be the same.

However from your explanation I now understand it as this, if i make an image of 900px x 900px in Photoshop and then export it at 300ppi the resulting image has a real world size of 3 inches x 3 inches. Translated into Illy units this is then 3 * 72 which results in an Illy size of 216px x 216px and this is exactly where my confusion was coming from - (ie how did a 900px x 900px image become a 216px x 216 px image?) so now I know that Illy pixels = 1/72 of an inch I think I can tailor things accordingly.

Thank you so much for your help!

[Jacob Bugge]

You are welcome, mrplod.

It is a rather confusing choice to set pixels = points as a unit, undoubtedly stemming from the once standard 72 PPI for monitors.

[Kar209]

mrplod1999 and Jacob,

Thank you both so much for sticking with this thread!! I really appreciate how the two of you worked together until the issue was resolved and I really appreciate mrplod1999 for reiterating things so nicely!! Both of you have been a real help.

I just wish I could find the resolution for my Placed images.

many thanx, kara

[Jacob Bugge]

For my part you are welcome, Kara.

[sorenw64146368]

I would like the program to insert the figure in the correct dimension rather than me adjusting the size of N images manually...

[Test Screen Name]

Then make the image the right size - in INCHES (or millimetres). Do not attempt to work with measurements in pixels, Illustrator is not a pixel design tool.

[Kar209]

Hello:

I would like to find the resolution of a Placed File but when I check the Document Info panel Resolution is not listed.

I have Placed .png, .jpeg and native files but none of them show the Resolution.

Is there another place I should check?

Ty

[Larry G. Schneider]

You have to choose either linked or placed images from the panel flyout. Then it's listed here

[Kar209]

hello larry,

i just saw your reply ... um, i'm pretty sure i just clicked place but honestly i didn't notice if the Linked box was checked or not.

i'll go check it out and brb

okay, i'm back ...

i go to File > Place and then choose my image and then rather i Check the box next to Link or not this is the info i get in the Document Info panel:

ps. no matter what i do my placed images are not looking good at all. the size Illy is placing them at makes the image look de-pixelated (is that a word?? lol), and also when i scale them up. no matter what file format i place and no matter what the original resolution. erg.

i know i have placed images in illy before the last update with no problems. i do not understand why i cannot get the place feature to work now.

thank you for your time!!

[Larry G. Schneider]

Kara,

Click here like in any AI panel for a list of things which the panel can do

[Kar209]

Well Bless Your Soul Larry!!

I'm gonna use the excuse that it's too close to dinner as to why i did not think to click that down arrow for more options. i should know that by now

Any way, after dinner I'll get back to trying to figure out this Place mystery.

I totally get what Jacob helped mrplod1999 work out and so in the future i will keep those things in mind ...

I can't think ... must eat ... but i'll be back.

Thanks so much for your time Larry and Jacob too

Okay so all fed ... but i still need to go back to illy and work with the Place feature some more before i know what else to say or ask.

I'll probably be back tomorrow. thanx again!

[Steve Fairbairn]

See this thread: Trouble with the Place feature particularly post #6.