4 replies to this topic

[kelly]

Hello I need advice please.

 

I am working with ArcView 9.3.1 with the Service Pack 2, Adobe Acrobat Prof, Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. 

 

End result : - Atlas of 140 pages in printed A3 format

                   - PDF format on CD ROM

                   - PDF format online

 

Workflow : Arcmap> Indesign> PDF

 

 

Problem : I have created maps in ArcMap and Illustrator. When exporting them to .jpg or to any raster format (PNG, GIF, TIF), I get blurry text. This is a problem. I have tried setting different DPI with not much improvement. Switching from CMYK to RGB. I tried exporting to PDF then to JPG but this still is not a good solution. The text is still blurry. So the problem lies with the compression of the file since it occurs from an export from PDF, Illustrator and as well as from ArcMap. Most maps don't contain any transperencies either.

 

Is there a font that is more compatible? What can I do? Is my only solution acceptance? 

 

Thank you!!

 

Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SteveR]

Hi Kelly, this sounds to me like a resolution problem.  When vector fonts are turned into raster they get fuzzy, meaning a single alphabetic letter can be composed of pixels that are black and various shades of grey. 

 

The only way of getting around this is to increase the size of your pages in pixels.  We prepare our pages at 300 lines per inch, meaning a 12 x 9 inch page is 3600 x 2700 pixels.  How big are your pages in pixels?

 

Steve Richardson

2i3D Stereo Imaging

[Dennis McClendon]

Another potential solution is to export twice for every atlas page.  Once with raster images only, and again as AI or PDF with only vectors and type.  Sandwich the two in InDesign—the neatlines will line up quite precisely—and export to print from there.

[François Goulet]

I've also read somewhere that ArcGIS calculates its export based on screen resolution. Since standard screen used to be 72 dpi, when exporting at a resolution of a multiple of 72, you get better results (at least, in vector format...). When exporting to .ai or .pdf in 300 dpi, my 0.5 pt lines are 0.49. When exporting at 360 (5x72) or 720, the width is the right one. 

 

It MAY well be the case when exporting to jpg.

 

Would worth a try...

[David Medeiros]

I've also read somewhere that ArcGIS calculates its export based on screen resolution. Since standard screen used to be 72 dpi, when exporting at a resolution of a multiple of 72, you get better results (at least, in vector format...). When exporting to .ai or .pdf in 300 dpi, my 0.5 pt lines are 0.49. When exporting at 360 (5x72) or 720, the width is the right one. 

 

It MAY well be the case when exporting to jpg.

 

Would worth a try...

 

For vector data its also impiortant to use higher than normal DPI for exports, especially when exporting large areas of detailed data. Arc exports based on the set DPI and the screen resolution even with vectors so detailed linework will become blocky if the map scale is very small on export and the details are smaller than the export DPI.

 

For a jpg of the same scale it may be that even at 300 dpi your text is scaled so small that it's still not very sharp. The best solution is the one Dennis mentioned, export layes that must be raster seperatly from those that can be vector and especially from teh label layer. You can recombine all of these in Illsutrator, InDesign or even Adobe Acrobat Pro.