When exporting to JPEG text becomes pixelated when printed

[juliej77870758]

I have created some text art in Illustrator that I would like to print out as a poster. Whenever I save the file as a PDF (300 DPI) and print it myself the text appears crisp with no pixelation. However, I want the poster to be 18x24, which I can't do with my basic printer so when I print it I'm only printing out part of the picture, but regardless the lines are perfectly clear.

I would be fine with leaving it as a PDF, however, I've noticed most all print shops request a JPEG file for prints, which I can't figure out because based on what I've read online, JPEG files automatically reduce quality. Whenever I export the same file as a JPEG (300 PPI) the text becomes pixelated.

  Is there anyway I can export this file as a JPEG and not lose quality?

[d0nut247 · Accepted solution]

if your document is set up at 1:1 scale at the final output size then 300 dpi jpeg should look ok, as long as you choose to 'export' it from the file menu, DO NOT use the save for web option which will output at 72dpi.

make sure you 'document setup' is 1:1 scale in the right units. so make it 18x24 and make sure your text is at the size you want on that area.

then chose file - export

and choose jpeg

then in the next window that pops up make sure you choose at least 300 dpi (it can be higher if your computer has enough ram etc to process it)

id choose colour model RGB if you are printing at the type for place that asks for a jpeg. and make sure that the 'quality' slider is all the way to the right for best quality compression.

if its really not workign out then you could try sending them a tiff instead, which wont have any compression artifacts (you can zip it to reduce file size after you save it)

most low effort copy shops can usually work with tif or jpeg if they are avoiding pdf for some reason.

[Willi Adelberger]

dandiddotcom schrieb:

if your document is set up at 1:1 scale at the final output size then 300 dpi jpeg should look ok, as long as you choose to 'export' it from the file menu, DO NOT use the save for web option which will output at 72dpi.

make sure you 'document setup' is 1:1 scale in the right units.

then chose file - export

and choose jpeg

then in the next window that pops up make sure you choose at least 300 dpi (it can be higher if your computer has enough ram etc to process it)

id choose colour model RGB if you are printing at the type for place that asks for a jpeg. and make sure that the 'quality' slider is all the way to the right for best quality compression.

if its really not workign out then you could try sending them a tiff instead, which wont have any compression artifacts (you can zip it to reduce file size after you save it)

most low effort copy shops can usually work with tif or jpeg if they are avoiding pdf for some reason.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

A printer has a higher resolution than 300dpi.

An image resolution is measured in PPI, not in DPI.

Avoid JPG for printing, please don't give wrong advices.

[d0nut247]

It's not wrong, wrong, wrong, its a quick simple set of checks to try and help someone out.

it's mostly useful answer to the original question., and clearly an answer to question by someone who is going to need to do some additional searching to understand the dpi, ppi, lpi etc. I'm just try gin to give a useful run down to ensure they get a file that works and an answer to the question.

if you go to some random "call kwik" or "snappy snaps" "boots / tesco" all manner of high street places someone might go for a print bigger than their desktop to get a print locally, they will often ask for jpeg only,

many of them only want to work with jpeg, and 300dpi (this type of copy shop will ask of dpi not ppi) is totally fine to output a poster at 24x18. also at this size, illustrator will baulk at the request to output at a higher resolution on many systems.

sure if you are using an actual 'printer business' for professional output of a proper print run, then steer clear of someone who only takes jpeg. but you can get  totally fine result with one. I think sometimes its east to get carried away with the idea that everyone who uses Illustrator is doing professional print set up for litho print etc.

Hopefully my answer is helpful as to the actual question of the jpeg being a bit rough looking, and how to get one that isn't. sure you can 'not believe' that the printer wants jpeg, but if that is actually the case then my answer might be useful.

[Willi Adelberger]

Wrong is foremost the advice to use 300ppi JPGs as it would not be the same quality as a PDF vector has. To obtain the same quality, someone has to take the same resolution as the printer has, maybe 2400ppi to 2400dpi, as otherwise test comes out blurry. But this would increas data amount so hight that it would be impossible to use that file.

I don't believe that these copy shops can't use PDFs, they are only not used to get print files in that form as most people only want to print their last vacation images as posters. I know a lot of such copy shops here in Germany but also in the US, in Austria or Spain and I have met only on, in the Year 1998 who did not accept PDFs, this has changed since then.

[Doug A Roberts]

dandiddotcom wrote:

I think sometimes its east to get carried away with the idea that everyone who uses Illustrator is doing professional print set up for litho print etc.

but it would be rather odd to use illustrator and not want vector output if vector output would suit the end product, right?

[juliej77870758]

Thanks for your answer. Really appreciate the help and yes, your's was the closest to answering the question I asked although, unfortunately, I did follow your steps originally and that still gave me the blurry, pixelated result. I realize not ALL print shops accept JPEGs as other posters have stated, but I live in a small town so my options are basically Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, etc. which only take JPEGs or if I try to submit online as well to places like printer studio, etc. they want a JPEG over a PDF.

The highest DPI my computer would let me set was 350 and I'm still having the same results. I would also like to eventually sell my art online as digital downloads that people can download and print out at a local place at their convenience instead of having to go to a high scale print shop, which is why I'm trying to figure out how to make the JPEG clearer. I intend to provide both the PDF & JPEG in the download, but I need to figure out how to make the JPEG quality look better before I can do that. I've seen other shops do this online as well they provide several PDFs and then a very large JPEG file (18x24) so that's why I think I must be doing something wrong.

The only thing I can think to do is create the AI file with an art board twice the size I want the poster to be (36x48), export that to JPEG and hope that when it's scaled down and printed at 18x24 it would be clearer??? I've added an image of how the text appeared when previously printed. One is the zoomed our version. The other is a close up of the letter V. For some reason it's only the V and the O that turn out pixelated, the L & E are fine...

[Monika Gause]

Your artwork falls into the category where even 600 ppi might not be enough.

Please explain to what size exactly your artboard is set (we are talking about inches here, right) and which pixel dimensions your exported JPEG has.

[d0nut247]

So the V and the O both have lines that are not going in a straight line so the pixels you have available are showing up as a set of tiny steps,

sames as if you drew this picture on graph paper filling in squares.

yes doubling physical size to export and then halving in photoshop but retaining the pixels (un-check resample) would result in clearer lines when printed, but you'll probably find illustrator will tell you it can't output at 350 as you make the doc larger, there is a point where it just wants to stop in terms of size or resolution.

the file limit on export resolution is a pain when you need very large rasterised parts, but you can set up more than one artboard on top of the main one, and export smaller sections at say 350 or probably higher if you make sections smaller, then stick them together in photoshop.

but easier, If you are still aiming for massive jpegs, you might do better to output an eps or pdf at normal 1:1 size, then open that in photoshop, where you can specify a higher resolution, i have found that photoshop allows you to choose a higher size than illustrator would let you export at originally, (maybe its better at managing the available RAM?) so if the pdf, is ALL vector it will scale up just fine - obviously still limited by the pixel count you can get it to process, and any compression artefacts you get once its all saved as a jpeg.

[Mike_Gondek]

When we used to have to digitize company logos we scanned them at 1800 dpi line art for printing to a 2540 dpi printer.

For a poster forget about printing to the companies you mentioned since they will not take a vector format. Go online there are so many to choose from and you can send them a vector file. I never used them but below is only $5.

http://www.vivyxprinting.com

[juliej77870758]

Thanks so much! Exactly the kind of site I was looking for.

[Mike_Gondek]

Happy that worked out for you. If you do not have any further questions can you update the status of your post by choosing that answer that helped you the most. Helps us when the posts get colored green so we can focus on the posts that are still green.

[Monika Gause]

In case you applied raster effects to the text, make sure the document raster effects resolution is set to an appropriate value.

[Willi Adelberger]

I don't believe you, that the printers don't accept PDFs. Use only PDF if you go to print.

Any rasterization will cause pixelation. If you print a PDF with true vectors, the resolution will be done with the printers resolution, maybe 2400dpi, if you bring a JPG it can only be printed with the image's resolution which is 300ppi. This fact alone shows that JPG printing is never a good idea for text.

If the chosen printer does not accept PDFs, take another one, there are many which are happy to serve you.

[Kris Hunt]

I've noticed most all print shops request a JPEG file for prints

I agree with Willi. This is hard to believe. If true, find another printer. That's crazy.

[Test Screen Name]

JPEG will reduce the quality, by design. That's what it is supposed to do. Also, fixing at 300 ppi will reduce the quality of text; on a basic printer at least 600 ppi is needed to look good, preferably device resolution.

I think it's more a question of

(a) some shops expect their main business to be printing photos; clearly JPEG is as good as anything else

(b) some shops don't deal with discerning customers.

(c) there is money to be made in this simple model, because JPEGs just "always work".

If you want a poster with text, find a shop which takes more than JPEG.