Save PNG at 300dpi for print and not end up blurry

[Cassie5C49]

Hi,

I am fairly new to Illustrator. I have created some drawings which I have exported, however it is blurry. I have exported each asset on its own but I don't know which of my settings to change. In View > Pixel Preview I can see that it is not right (see image).

I am trying to make cliparts that I can use in my teaching and I can't find what to do to make clear, crisp images like the ones I purchase from other teachers. I know they need to be 300dpi PNG so that I can print them on worksheets etc. Can someone please help me?

[Mike_Gondek]

.png is a bitmapped format, you should try using a vector format if the app you place these in will accept. For web use .svg, others you can use .pdf, or a .ai. By worksheet so you mean google sheets. Your cell may just be too small, or you may be using an app where you need to set the resolution of the page. We need to know exactly what apps you are using, and where the low res issue is coming from printing or viewing?

The concept of resolution is something all of us have to learn at first when working with bitmapped graphics. if you have a 1-inch star at 300dpi and a 10" star at 72 dpi then 720 pixels is greater than 300. So total pixels is all that really counts in the end.

So my recommendation is to try a vector file format, and that will adjust to the max resolution of your printer. If needs to be .png, then maybe scale your stars 300% larger and try again making PDFs so they are physically larger in measured size which will give you 3x more total pixels.

[Cassie5C49]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your response. I am trying to use it in Powerpoint. The images are blurry when I insert it (therefore I haven't printed it yet) and it is also blurry when I view the PNG in 'Preview' on Mac. 

After your recommendation I changed the Asset Export > Export Settings > Scale to 3x and then Resolution 300dpi. The quality is a lot better but I was wondering if these settings (see image) are the ones I should be using or have I missed something? Also, how do I ensure it is a vector file format? I thought that all creations in Illustrator were automatically vectors.

Thank you,

Cassie