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A
amanm5143
Inspiring
April 25, 2019
Answered

Change ppi without changing size in InDesign

  • April 25, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 42376 views

Hi,

I am working on a project of around 2000+ documents which needs to be sent for printing with a specification wherein, the images need have atleast 300 ppi. However, few of the images do not have the same properties. Hence, I was wondering if there was a way to change the ppi of the image without scaling it, in InDesign? Else, is there a script or plug-in which can convert the image in Photoshop and update it back in InDesign?

I found an alternative solution for this on InDesignSecrets - https://indesignsecrets.com/raise-image-resolution-directly-in-indesign.php

https://indesignsecrets.com/raise-image-resolution-directly-in-indesign.php

The problem is I don't have images in one layer and and text in another layer. I have everything in one layer in all the documents.

Any kind of guidance, would be highly appreciated.

Thanks & Regards,

Aman Mittal

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer hammer0909

InDesign does not contain the ability to adjust image resolution directly. The article you found shows an interesting trick to make it happen though. I would create a preflight profile in InDesign to flag any images with an effective resolution below 300 so that you can easily identify which images are problematic. Then you can open them in Photoshop and increase the resolution. Or…

  • Use the trick in the article above by just putting the white image on the master page to effect each and every image in your document
  • Try the Zevrix plug-in which will allow you to resample the images to an appropriate resolution

3 replies

Willi Adelberger
Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
April 25, 2019

Enlarging would not help much anyway. The most common way is, as InDesign Secrets state in several articles, place the images in RGB with color profile and recalculate at the export to PDF from InDesign.

You write about text in your image. If a photoshop file contains text or vector, don't include it in any smart object, keep it as layer as it is and safe it as Photohop PDF (also has the extension PDP) with default settings (don't alter anything) and place this PDF or PDP in InDesign as it keeps the font alive and does not rasterize vector elements. This will increase the quality.

Sandee Cohen
Sandee Cohen
Brainiac
April 25, 2019

Will,

I believe the original poster means that the text and images in InDesign are on the same layer, not layers in Photoshop.

A
amanm5143Author
Inspiring
April 25, 2019

Yes! Rightly said!

T
Test Screen Name
Brainiac
April 25, 2019

If the images do not have 300 ppi, you either need to reduce them on the page, or source a higher quality original. You cannot magically increase to meet a quality requirement.

    Derek Cross
    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    April 25, 2019

    That's true, but enlarging an image in Photoshop a little and adding a bit of unsharp mask will often be "good enough" (depending on the kind of work you're doing).

    A
    amanm5143Author
    Inspiring
    April 25, 2019

    Hi Derek,

    Thank you for the response. You are right on this front. I am trying to figure out if there is a script/plugin or something to that extent, which could semi-automate the process.

    Thank you for the help!

    hammer0909
    hammer0909Correct answer
    Community Expert
    April 25, 2019

    InDesign does not contain the ability to adjust image resolution directly. The article you found shows an interesting trick to make it happen though. I would create a preflight profile in InDesign to flag any images with an effective resolution below 300 so that you can easily identify which images are problematic. Then you can open them in Photoshop and increase the resolution. Or…

    • Use the trick in the article above by just putting the white image on the master page to effect each and every image in your document
    • Try the Zevrix plug-in which will allow you to resample the images to an appropriate resolution
    A
    amanm5143Author
    Inspiring
    April 25, 2019

    Hi Chad,

    Thank you for taking out the time and replying to the discussion. Certainly, I did the same thing with Pre-flight Panel for identification of below 300ppi images. However, in order to improve the resolution, I would have to scale down the images by a considerable percentage, based upon the formula (ppi/300*100) which makes low ppi images tiny. Hence, I have been trying to figure out a way to change the resolution without changing the size to a great extent.

    The trick is definitely amazing however, it works when we have images in one layer and text in another. In my case, everything is under a single layer thereby, not allowing me to use the trick.

    I will definitely try the plug-in to see if it solves the issue. Thank you for putting up a prospective solution. Highly appreciated!

    Thanks & Regards,

    Aman Mittal

    hammer0909
    hammer0909
    Community Expert
    April 25, 2019

    You should still be able to very easily try the trick. Layers apply to every page in the document including the master. On the master page that is applied to all of the document pages, create a new layer. Call it Image Trick or something. Move that layer above all other layers and put the white image on that layer. That will now apply to every page! Follow the steps in the link above and you should be good to go.

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