change DPI in flash?

Superficial · 18 Jul 2008 at 21:36

hi there,

got an image i wish to get printed professionally and they say it ideally needs to be 300 DPI minimum.

is there a way to change the DPI resolution in Flash?

i have version CS3

edit: recreating the image from scratch is not a problem

Samione · 19 Jul 2008 at 20:25

Seeing as flash is a vector program, you can essentially use any flash-made elements at any DPI. What you want to do is export the image. So go to export>image>JPEG and from there you can set the DPI.

Superficial · 20 Jul 2008 at 03:08

Samione said:
Seeing as flash is a vector program, you can essentially use any flash-made elements at any DPI. What you want to do is export the image. So go to export>image>JPEG and from there you can set the DPI.

hi there,

Thanks for the response - however I am following your instructions but do not see any DPI settings?

am going:

File>Export>Export Image>setting file name> then i get a menu where i can set the quality of the jpg but nothing for DPI?

can you help?

thanks

Joobs · 20 Jul 2008 at 03:51

You can set the export DPI in Flash CS3 Professional...

You could export it at a very high image size (pixels) too. DPI only relates to the physical image size, so if you exported your image at 3000x3000pixels it might be ok for printing.

Or export it as a .ai or .eps file and load it into photoshop would work too.

Superficial · 20 Jul 2008 at 04:04

Joobs said:
You can set the export DPI in Flash CS3 Professional...

can you tell me how?

You could export it at a very high image size (pixels) too. DPI only relates to the physical image size, so if you exported your image at 3000x3000pixels it might be ok for printing.

Or export it as a .ai or .eps file and load it into photoshop would work too.

I would be grateful for second opinions on this as this conflicts with information i have been told.

My understanding is the DPI and physical image size are not one and the same - DPI simply means dots per inch - if you have a one square inch graphic @ 72 DPI then that square inch (which is the physical size) is made up of 72 dots if that same graphic is made up of 300 Dots then there is a huge amount of extra data contained in the square inch - this allows greater levels of image manipulation with significantly less noticeable quality loss.

Beepcake · 20 Jul 2008 at 08:31

Superficial said:
I would be grateful for second opinions on this as this conflicts with information i have been told.

My understanding is the DPI and physical image size are not one and the same - DPI simply means dots per inch - if you have a one square inch graphic @ 72 DPI then that square inch (which is the physical size) is made up of 72 dots if that same graphic is made up of 300 Dots then there is a huge amount of extra data contained in the square inch - this allows greater levels of image manipulation with significantly less noticeable quality loss.

You're right about the meaning of DPI with regard to printed media, but onscreen media like JPGs it's an arbritary value and the size of the image is the important bit. If you know how big you are printing (you should do if you want to work out DPI) it's quite easy to calculate how big you need an image for a particular DPI setting. e.g. if you want to print something at 300dpi onto 6"x4" paper your image will need to be 1800x1200 pixels when you save it.

I'm sure you can figure the maths out there, but in case you have brain ache there are calculators like this to do it for you (the Convert inches to Pixels one)

Superficial · 20 Jul 2008 at 16:01

Hi there

thanks for the replys but as I said I am looking to get this professionally printed

would still like to export my logo in 300 DPI and the above path does not seem to give me a DPI option in Flash 8 or CS3.

any help much appreciated

Beepcake · 20 Jul 2008 at 17:50

I am talking about getting it printed professionally, you seem to be thinking that setting a higher DPI magically gives more detail, whereas increasing the size doesn't.. which is just nonsense.. they are pretty much the same thing, just from different angles.

You must know what size you want it, correct? If not then you can't possibly output it at a certain DPI.. if you don't know the pixel count (which you don't) and don't know the inches then you can't work it out

If you do know the size then just do what I said earlier, and if you really MUST have the JPG header set to your "correct" DPI then just open it in any decent image package, change the header value, and save it again. Job done. I'd be amazed if the printing company actually used the header DPI for printing though, they will just print at the maximum DPI they can, given the source image.

When you are printing, professional or otherwise, the maximum DPI you can print at (ignoring hardware restaints) is set purely by the size in pixels of the source image, so in order to make an image a certain DPI at a certain output size you alter the size of the source image (in pixels).

Make sense?

Superficial · 20 Jul 2008 at 18:14

Beepcake said:
I am talking about getting it printed professionally, you seem to be thinking that setting a higher DPI magically gives more detail, whereas increasing the size doesn't.. which is just nonsense.. they are pretty much the same thing, just from different angles.

You must know what size you want it, correct? If not then you can't possibly output it at a certain DPI.. if you don't know the pixel count (which you don't) and don't know the inches then you can't work it out

If you do know the size then just do what I said earlier, and if you really MUST have the JPG header set to your "correct" DPI then just open it in any decent image package, change the header value, and save it again. Job done. I'd be amazed if the printing company actually used the header DPI for printing though, they will just print at the maximum DPI they can, given the source image.

When you are printing, professional or otherwise, the maximum DPI you can print at (ignoring hardware restaints) is set purely by the size in pixels of the source image, so in order to make an image a certain DPI at a certain output size you alter the size of the source image (in pixels).

Make sense?

Firstly, I do not know for sure what image sizes I will need now or want in the future - the graphic I produce may be used on A1 posters or business cards so a high quality master image from which I can do what i like is important - I have actually been through this process before but with an image produced by graphic designer (which i most certainly am not

) so i do have experience at least with the process.

Secondly I can only go on what the professionals tell me and they are telling me to get the logo done at a minimum of 300 DPI - i will likely do a large version but it is entirely possible that even this will be enlarged when printing (as has happened before) and a higher DPI will help within reason.

The idea of creating a very large 72 DPI version of the image may possibly be a work around but this is not what typically happens professionally and is not what im being asked to do. I will take it under advisement though.

thirdly, whilst i am probably doing something wrong, I have tried changing the DPI value of the flash created png with Photoshop and the image is enlarged and blurred?

thanks,

Superficial · 20 Jul 2008 at 19:07

EDIT: I have been selecting the wrong image type from file name save drop down - thanks for all your help im sorted now

Beepcake · 20 Jul 2008 at 20:56

Ok, well if you think you can make a "300dpi image" with no idea of the output size then i'll leave you to it

Glad you found the option anyhoo.

Superficial · 20 Jul 2008 at 22:21

My confusion regarding image size > DPI can be explained easily. If i create a 300 DPI 600*600 blank canvas in photoshop and a graphic that fits within that canvas i have a 300 DPI image at that size - this is at odds with what happens in flash as when i try to convert the image after creation it raises the size respectively.