Pixelation

[jonk80455617]

Why is a watercolor painting so pixelated in Fresco? In intuitive, exemplary simple, realistic - and so missed Sketch that was not the case. The magic of painting in Sketch all gone in Fresco, at least for me - not only by the pixelation but also by the behaviour of the watercolor brushes. But now when Sketch is soon terminated nothing else to do then to try once again with Fresco. However, it would be o great help if there was a way of getting the same antialiasing effect in Fresco as in Sketch - also if there was a way to import the Sketch default watercolor brushes to fresco - is there? Many thanks in advance for any answer solving or at least explaining these things

[Michael J. Hoffman · Accepted solution]

Hi @jonk80455617 ,

Fresco (like Photoshop) works on pixel-based images. This means that if you zoom in far enough to see the pixels themselves, everything will be pixelated. This happens for everything from low resolution thumbnails all the way to the highest resolution, gigapixel images - if you zoom to a level where you can see pixels, you will see that the pixels are square, and you'll see anything with a curved edge displaying a jagged profile.

What you need is to consider where and how your image will be seen, and ensure that your image is high enough resolution that it can be displayed at 100% zoom or less in the final application. For example, if you want to print your artwork, plan your image for the final printed size. If you want 16"x20" artwork, you might choose 200 pixels per inch for printing (or more), which means that your document should be 3200 x 4000 pixels in size.

The same goes for calculating if you want to view it on screen, calculate the screen size and use that to decide how large to make your document.

In that 3200 x 4000 document, if you zoom to 500% view, you are still going to see pixels. But in real life viewing or printing at normal document sizes, you will never see that.

I hope that helps.

[jonk80455617]

Hi Michael!

Thank you for your instructive and prompt answer.

I usually use an A3 canvas at 300 ppi - to be sure:) As I did in Sketch. I suppose that Sketch also worked with pixel-based images, still - even if I enlarged to maximum 400 % - I couldn’t see any pixels in Sketch. However, with the same resolution of the canvas, the pixels are all over at 400 % magnification in Fresco - how come?

Best,

Jon

[Zone creative]

Hello! I've been working on a drawing for a while now. Suddenly everything is so pixalised. It's like the quality just dropped overnight 

Everything was fine for a weeks before and now it's almost hatd to work on my image because it's too pixalised & I can't even see my lines and details well. 

Would you have any hints on why & how I can manage that.

this was a huge project it's breaking my heart if I have to start all over again.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hello @Zone creative,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing pixelation issues in your drawing, especially after working on it for a while. I understand the frustration, and I'll do my best to help you troubleshoot and find a solution.

Here are a couple of suggestions you can try:

• Change View to CPU Preview:

  • Navigate to the "View" menu.
  • Select "Preview on CPU" instead of GPU.
  • Check if the pixelation issue persists with CPU preview.

• Adjust Document Raster Effect Settings:

  • Go to the "Effect" menu.
  • Choose "Document Raster Effects Settings."
  • Set the resolution to a higher value (e.g., from 72 to 300) and see if it improves the image quality.

If these suggestions don't resolve the issue, please provide additional details, such as the version of Adobe Illustrator you're using and any recent changes or updates on your system. This information will help in further troubleshooting.

I understand the importance of your project, and I'm here to assist you in resolving this issue. Let me know how it goes or if you have any more details to share.

Best,

Anshul Saini

[jonk80455617]

Hello @Anshul_Saini 

I first thougt you were discussing Fresco and was istantly filled with hope that there would be a way of counteracting the heavy pixelation in Fresco compared to former Sketch (please see my post above) - but your instructions were based on Illustratrator,  weren't they? Sigh.  Anyhow, have found two watercolor brushed with wich the pixelation is on an exceptable level. However,  I have still difficulities to understand why Fresco have to be so pixelated when Sketch was not...

Best regards,

Jon

[DaveJCummings]

What DPI are you using?

[jonk80455617]

Hi! 

Why can't Adobe just use the former Sketch-technology to get rid of the heavy pixelation of Fresco? Or at least take help from the creator och Expresii (https://www.expresii.com/) - se attached pic of their rendering machine (unfortuntely only available on Windows). 

With Sketch it was magic, as if it the process of painting was on a real watercolor paper with real watercolors and brushes. Simple and intuitive too, as it should be. While Fresco in watercolor mode is just overloaded by pixels that kills this magic feeling completely, so sad! 

And when I have asked about this before, why not at least keep the Sketch watercolor brushes alongside with the non-exsitent pixels (at least up 400 % zoom) - as an integrated part of Fresco - I have never received any real answers. Only info about watercolor brushes are pixelbased and therefore, if I dont like the pixelation that these brushes create, I should instead chose the vectorbased brushes. 

But I don't want that, instead I want to paint in watercolor witout pixels - as in real - which is possible also with pixelbased brushes, again please see attached picture - or please remember Sketch. 

Any from Adobe that can explain why you cannot just fix this when you previously have proved that you could create a perfect watercolor program without pixelation with Sketch? 

I would be so happy if anyone within Adobe could adress this issue. But if not - even though sad - I would be likewise happy to be informed that Fresco has no intention of doing anything about this - and thereby no chance whatsoever of going back to the beautiful technology of Sketch. If so, please tell me so that I know for sure, so that I can stop waiting, hoping - so that I just can feel free to sell my iPad and instead turn to windows-based wonderful Expresii. 

Imagine Fresco with Expresii’s ultra-deep zoom without a single pixel - what a fantastic watercolor painting tool Fresco then would become! 

Many thanks in advance for any answer. 

Kind regards, 

Jon 

PS. In regard to DaveJCummings' question, I am always using at least 300 dpi.

[Daniel35299920eptp]

Hi Michael!

Thank you for your instructive and prompt answer.

I usually use an A3 canvas at 300 ppi - to be sure:) As I did in Sketch. I suppose that Sketch also worked with pixel-based images, still - even if I enlarged to maximum 400 % - I couldn’t see any pixels in Sketch. However, with the same resolution of the canvas, the pixels are all over at 400 % magnification in Fresco - how come?

Best,

Jon