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Question

Image file too large for Indesign book cover

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 2, 2024
3 replies
1271 views

I have two images I have created in Photoshop 2024 for two different books I have completed.

First book - the cover design imports into InDesign within the parameters of the book cover template. The cover photo is 6x9, 1800x2700 (pixels). The book cover template I set in Indesign is 6x9. I can design the spine and back cover matter and look perfect.

Second cover - the cover photo is same parameters - 6x9 at 1800x2700 pixels. Same template design. The spine is set larger due to more pages. I import the second photo into the new template and it blows up beyond the Indesign workspace. I can't seem to change the scale of this image without cutting off huge portions of the original image.

Why would two different images of the same file size behave differently? I recreated the second book cover template w/in InDesign and got the same results. The only difference between the two files is one is a larger file size for the data contained by 233KB. Otherwise, they are essentially the same pixel scale.

This topic has been closed for replies.

rob day

Community Expert

I import the second photo into the new template and it blows up beyond the Indesign workspace.

Hi @mhill78 , is the problem image you are placing by any chance a JPEG? If you use Photoshop’s Export to JPEG the image does not keep its output width and height info and defaults to 72PPI—your 1800 x 2700 pixel image would have an output dimension of 25" x 37.5" at 100% scale. To keep a JPEG’s output dimensions, use Save As not Export—but PSD would be a better choice.

M

mhill78Author

Participating Frequently

That is exactly what I did. However, the first image was exported as jpg and Placed into Indesign without a problem....

Well, having a background in IT, I will just chalk it up to an Adobe "unintended feature".

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

I had to modify even further. By taking out all the text of the jpg, then import the "blank" photo into InDesign, it looked way better when using InDesign to create the text instead of the imported photo with the text template. I'm learning.... 🙂

A lesson nearly all of us learn.

That the big three Adobe apps can do much of what the others do, especially the "layout" features of AI and PS, lead many users down unproductive paths until we learn to use each tool to its strengths. And it's just as big a mistake, IMVHO, to use InDesign's feeble vector art and image-management tools beyond the simplest approaches where one-shot efficiency is more valuable than shifting to the right tools and integrating.

L

Lut Van Nooten

Community Expert

If you click and drag while placing, you can place the image in a smaller size. In the info panel you can check the acual ppi and effective ppi. The dimensions of your image pixels x pixels may be the same, but the resolution (actual ppi) can be different. If so it will appear larger / smaller when you place it in InDesign (100%).

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Are you using Place to import the images? If so, you should be able to drag-draw an image frame of any size and then rescale it. Try making the import frame small, then position and scale it to the front cover area.

Do the images have identical technical specs, other than their pixel size? File format, color space (RGB vs CMYK), completely flattened (no layers), etc.?

And... just as a test, can you place Image A in the problematic File B?

M

mhill78Author

Participating Frequently

They have different layers because I had changed hues and saturation, which adds layers. Should I flatten both to hopefully alleviate the problem? Both are CMYK color format and both are .jpg.

rob day

Community Expert

There is no reason to use the JPEG format, all linked images get previewed with a low res proxy. Place your layered Photoshop files as PSDs. If you have text layers saving as Photoshop PDF format will keep the text as vectors.

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