Digital ads are pixelated

Of the options, InDesign is probably the last app you want to use for small digital work. It can be done, but you sort of have to jump through hoops to get it to work in/with pixels and export cleanly.

If not one of the newer "web graphic" tools, the best app is Photoshop. And the key is to work in a larger size, a multiple of your final export dimensions, and then export down to that size and let Photoshop work its magic in smoothing and blending edges, gradients and the like. (That is, it's a huge mistake, in most apps that don't do the scaling for you as a background service, to work in the exact size. Too small, too few pixels to get smooth blending and anti-aliasing and thus that "smooth" final result. Work big, export small.)

For a 300x250 web ad, work at 1200x1000 and keep the details fairly blunt. You can quickly zoom out to see approximately what your result will look like and export to 25% scale all day long while experimenting with the export filter options.

Good luck!

Sorry if these questions seem obvious, but:

• Are you exporting at 72 ppi? Any other value will export at something other than the pixel dimensions you specified in InDesign or Illustrator. In Photoshop, if you set the pixel dimensions to begin with, they should export the way they look in the Photoshop window. (In all cases, you would want to export a high-quality jpeg or a png.)
• Can you verify that the pixel dimensions of the exported image are what you expected?
• Are you looking at the output at its native size (that is, not full screen or "Fit to window")?

If the answers to all of those are "Yes," post a sample here for us to take a look at.

Export to WHAT?

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post if it helps you get responses.

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