Hi all, I've been working with InDesign for years and have only recently been having a problem exporting PNGs or JPGs from InDesign without having them go pixellated. But first, my system/operating specs: InDesign Version: 15.03 (Updated 13 days ago) Machine: Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 10 Enterprise I'll use the specific task I'm currently working on as my example. I have been asked to create a small image to be included in a regular Outlook email from our central HR team, using the dimensions 415x60. I create the requested image in InDesign, using an Adobe font (IvyJournal Bold), a high-resolution image (.JPG, Actual PPI = 72, Effective PPI = 671) from our brand library with a simple colour overlay, and, of course, our corporate logo. It appears on my screen in InDesign as in attachment 1. I export the image with settings as in attachment 2. When I open up the exported PNG file, it appears as in attachment 3. Of course, I can increase the export PPI to something higher, but then the dimensions of the image will be too big. I have also tried recreating the image in Photoshop, as well, and it yielded the same result. I showed this to my colleague (who is a full-time graphic designer for us; I'm a comms person) and he couldn't see anything wrong with what I was doing either. This has never been a problem before (until the last couple of months) and it's driving me mad! Any useful advice would be gratefully received. {Renamed by MOD}

Participant

Question

All exported PNGs and JPGs from InDesign 15.0.3 are pixelated on Windows 10

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
June 3, 2020
7 replies
1298 views

Hi all,

I've been working with InDesign for years and have only recently been having a problem exporting PNGs or JPGs from InDesign without having them go pixellated. But first, my system/operating specs:

InDesign Version: 15.03 (Updated 13 days ago)

Machine: Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 10 Enterprise

I'll use the specific task I'm currently working on as my example.

I have been asked to create a small image to be included in a regular Outlook email from our central HR team, using the dimensions 415x60.
I create the requested image in InDesign, using an Adobe font (IvyJournal Bold), a high-resolution image (.JPG, Actual PPI = 72, Effective PPI = 671) from our brand library with a simple colour overlay, and, of course, our corporate logo. It appears on my screen in InDesign as in attachment 1.
I export the image with settings as in attachment 2.
When I open up the exported PNG file, it appears as in attachment 3.

Of course, I can increase the export PPI to something higher, but then the dimensions of the image will be too big. I have also tried recreating the image in Photoshop, as well, and it yielded the same result. I showed this to my colleague (who is a full-time graphic designer for us; I'm a comms person) and he couldn't see anything wrong with what I was doing either. This has never been a problem before (until the last couple of months) and it's driving me mad!

Any useful advice would be gratefully received.

{Renamed by MOD}

Import and export

This topic has been closed for replies.

Ashutosh_Mishra

Inspiring

Hi David,

Thanks for reaching out. I hope your issue is resolved now. We'd appreciate if you can mark the helpful responses correct. If you used any other method, please share it with us. It'll help other users in the community having similar situation.

If you still have issues, let us know so that we can help you out. Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Ashutosh

rob day

Community Expert

Also, the text in your tagline is set at 10.9pt, which is near the threshold for legible type in a raster image. You might consider increasing the hieght of the ID file so you can increase the size of the logo, and up the pointsize of the tagline. Here the height is 80px and the tagline is set at 16pt:

rob day

Community Expert

It looks like your original post’s attachments are magnified—the InDesign text is vector so when you zoom in you would not see pixels, but in the exported rasterized PNG you would. The more accurate comparison would be Photoshop’s 100%, which is a 1:1 monitor to image pixel display.

If I export your ID file to a PNG at 72ppi, and place it in a Mail email as an attachement at Actual size, and compare with the ID original and the Photoshop PNG export—both have a pixel dimension of 415 x 60— they all match:

Note by default InDesign’s 100% preview is the actual Print size, so depending on the resolution of your monitor you’ll have to reduce the zoom level to match the PS 100% 1:1 view—my display runs at 109ppi so my ID magnification needs to be 67%

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Here's my results

I saved each file type and then inserted it into the email client:

Top is a PNG exported directly from InDesign

2nd is a JPEG exported directly from InDesign

3rd is the PDF exported directly from InDesign - opened in Photoshop - saved to 72 ppi - and it's a different size in the email???

BobLevine

Community Expert

PPI is, AFAIK, irrelevant in Outlook. It's about the pixel dimensions.

davidrmelnickAuthor

Participant

Hmm...confusing. Yes, RE: pixel dimensions, as there are some platforms (LinkedIn, for example) where imagery needs to be exactly the right pixel dimensions...you can't submit a larger photo (even it if is the same size ratio).

BobLevine

Community Expert

The most useful advice I can give you is to create the artwork in Photoshop.

Absent that, export a PDF, open it in Photoshop and rasterize it there.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

I've also opened your attachments and the image is

Changing it to 72 doesn't reflect the dimensions you say you used?

davidrmelnickAuthor

Participant

Hi Eugene:

Do you have your Transparency Blend Space set to RGB? Yes, I do.
And do you have your Transparency Flattener settings to hi-res? No, but I tried that and still got the same result.
The other thing - PNGs in email is not a good idea - I found that a lot of times this goes through a conversion process and converted back to JPEG. Thanks for the tip! I have found that, as well, when inserting images into emails, so I'll give it a go. I will, however, mention, that Attachment 3 is not a capture from the email itself - it's the actual file when I click on it to view it. (Just mentioning in case it helps!)
I've also opened your attachments and the image is...changing it to 72 doesn't reflect the dimensions you say you used? The attachments were just from screenshots I did - not the actual artwork, as I wanted to show what they look like on my actual screen, so I don't think they would show you the correct meta data for these files. If you can suggest an alternative for how I could share with you, I'd be happy to do so!

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

You can zip the files up and use Dropbox or Creative Cloud to share the zipped package. Would really get a better idea of what's happening then.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

You say you're doing a colour overlay

Do you have your Transparency Blend Space set to RGB?

And do you have your Transparency Flattener settings to hi-res?

The other thing - PNGs in email is not a good idea - I found that a lot of times this goes through a conversion process and converted back to JPEG.

Export to a JPEG and try that in the email client.

I had before inserted a PNG and it looked great, but when the email was received on the other end it had been processed back to jpeg and looked pixelated.

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