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• • November 20, 2012 at 5:39 pm #63592
    linabella

    Member

    Hi,

    My apologies up front if this question has been answered before, but I have been unable to find it by searching.

    I have several jpgs that I need to resize to 500 px wide and place into an InDesign document. I resize them in Photoshop by using Image/Image Size and changing the width to 500 px, resulting in a file that Photoshop says is 500x335px at 350 ppi.

    I go to File/Place in InDesign and place them in my document and they now show at 102×69 px at 350 ppi (in the INDD info panel).

    I'm not drawing a graphics frame when I bring them in – just clicking somewhere on the document and letting go of the cursor.

    On Object/Fitting/Frame Fitting Options I tried unchecking Auto-fit and Content Fitting. I also tried using the direct selection tool to choose the object and choosing Object/Transform/Clear Transformations just in case there was something lurking in a previous setting.

    I have a tremendous number of images in varying native sizes to resize and place into an InDesign doc.

    Any ideas about what I could be doing to cause the images to resize again in InDesign?

    Thanks in advance,

    Amber

  • November 20, 2012 at 6:55 pm #63593
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    What happens if you make them 500 x 335 px at 72 ppi in Photoshop instead?

    Why would you want something at 350 ppi? Too high for most output needs.

  • November 20, 2012 at 8:49 pm #63595
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Amber,

    There is nothing wrong with your file. You are looking at the InDesign Info panel, when you should be looking at the Links Info panel. Your document is set up (probably) in pixel measurements, and the calculation from pixels to inches is relative to your screen setup more than anything in your document.

    If you look at the object in the Links panel and expand it to show the Info, you will see that the size of the image is in fact 500×335 at 350 ppi. The Info panel is simply showing the dimensions of the object in the current measurement units, not the underlying pixel dimension of the linked image (though it does show the actual and effective ppi, as it does in the links info panel).

    Hope that clears it up. You really have nothing to worry about.

  • November 21, 2012 at 5:34 pm #63603
    linabella

    Member

    Thanks, jdoverton!

    I was looking at the info panel in INDD rather than the links info. It does say 500×335 pixels, but the doc I'm placing the images in is 500×400 pixels and when I place it, it takes up a space that's 100×55.

    If I just increase the size by 400% or so it will be the size I need – but because it's really 500×335, there's enough info to do so without pixelating it – is that right?

  • November 22, 2012 at 8:01 am #63604
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Again, you are confusing the frame size, measured in pixels, inches, mm, picas etc., with the linked photo size, always in pixels. If you change your default document measurements, your info panel will change. It will show the frame size in, say, mm, and also show the effective ppi of the image, which won't change uless you resize the photo.

    As a default , when you place a photo, it will come in at its natural (native) resolution and size. Only by resizing in InDesign will that change. Resizing can be done several ways, using object styles or dragging a frame as you place, for instance. The ideal workflow is to know what size the frame will be in the final document and size the photo in Photoshop before placing it. This eliminates any on-the-fly resampling by either InDesign or the final printing drivers (RIP).

    As to your specific question on pixelation, the ppi in the links/info panel should give you a guide. The underlying photo might in fact have pixelization that has nothing to do with placing it here. You may simply have a bad photo. That aside, go by the links/info panel information and confirm it if you like by setting the High Quality Display (Ctrl-Alt-H) and zooming into Actual size (Ctrl-1) and actually looking at the photo. Any pixelization will be apparent.

  • November 26, 2012 at 1:23 pm #63637
    linabella

    Member

    Thanks again for your info.

    My original plan was to resize the photos to fit the InDesign document, but I ran into a snag and ended up here. I prefer not to do any resizing of the image in InDesign.

    What I'm attempting to do is to size the photo at 500×335 pixels at 350ppi in Photoshop. When I open it in Photoshop it's 3872×2592 pixels at 350ppi, I resize it to 500×335 and leave it at 350ppi and save it. Then when I place it in a 500×400 pixel document in InDesign, it is suddenly 102×69 pixels.

    So even though photoshop shows the photo at 500×335 pixels and it was straight out of the camera at 3872×2592 at 350ppi,

    and the dimensions of the document I'm placing it in are 500×400 pixels in InDesign,

    (and I'm not drawing a frame – just clicking on the canvas and letting it come in at whatever size it is)

    there's something in my default InDesign settings telling it to resize? So how else would I resize a photo to fit a 500×400 pixel InDesign doc?

    My units and increments panel is set for pixels as the ruler units. Where else should I be looking?

  • November 26, 2012 at 1:46 pm #63638
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    What you should do is change your units to something other than pixels. This is your source of confusion.

    If you look in the Links>Info panel, when you select the picture, you will see the actual and effective ppi of the linked image. The problem is that your screen is designed to show something like 72-110 pixels per linear inch (depending on the type of screen). If you are putting a 500×335 pixel image at 350 dpi, that works out to about 1.42″ wide by 0.96″ high. Depending on your screen, this will work out to only about 100-150 pixels wide, as you are saying. This doesn't mean that the photo will print at 102×69, just that it takes that many pixels (at 100% zoom) to display it. The underlying image is 500×335 or whatever photoshop output.

    You will go a long way in removing your confusion and increasing your understanding of the issue if you change your document settings to inches (or mm) rather than pixels. You are welcome to work in pixels (especially if you are designing for the screen), but you are confusing screen measurements with structural measurements of the linked image. I assume that you are designing for print, or else you wouldn't be using such a high resolution photo. No one prints pixels. They print linear measurements (inches, mm, picas, etc.)

    Jake

  • November 26, 2012 at 6:22 pm #63640
    linabella

    Member

    Thank you for the info.

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