Known Participant

Question

InDesign, Export to PDF with 300DPI image results in 21600DPI image?

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
August 1, 2017
5 replies
13981 views

I place a 300 DPI Bitmap (B&W, 1-bit) image into an InDesign document, export it to PDF, and in Acrobat Print Preview it shows as 21600 DPI. Is anyone else seeing something similar, or able/unable to recreate the issue? Thanks in advance. (Note, the final PDF looks and prints properly, it's just that on inspection the DPI is wrong, and I fear that the recipient might take issue with the PDF files).

1. I Create a 300x300 pixel image, at 300 DPI, as a bitmap B/W image, and save as TIF

2. I create a new InDesign document, and place the Black and White image into the document.

3. I export the InDesign document as PDF/X-1a

4. I open the PDF with Acrobat DC, Print Production, Output Preview, Object Inspector.

This topic has been closed for replies.

valerismirnov

Participant

image height and width must be in millimeters and not in pixels
if in pixels then 72 dpi

John Mensinger

Community Expert

I can reproduce here.

1" x 1" image @300ppi, bitmap mode

Placed in InDesign, unaltered; Link Info values identical to OP's screenshot (size in bytes slightly different).

Export using PDF/X-1a:2001 preset

Acrobat DC Pro Object Inspector report identical to OP's screenshot

rob day

Community Expert

The output dimensions always get listed as .014"x.014" even when the aspect ratio isn't square. The pixel dimensions are always correct. Can't remember if it happened in earlier versions.

Preflight doesn't do any better:

M

mariog69599891Author

Known Participant

Thanks for the feedback everyone. So it looks like the general idea here is that Acrobat is misreporting the information on the image.

Question then: Is there another tool that I can use to better inspect properties of the PDF file?

rob day

Community Expert

I've noticed that AcrobatPro's Output Preview's Object inspector does that with all 1-bit images. i don't think there's anything you can do about it.

MW Design

Inspiring

It's not Acrobat. It's that ID has always written the information wrong. This has gone on since at least as far back as CS5 if I recall properly. The bit info is wrong, too.

Here's an example from ID:

Same image out of QXP:

And if you look at the ID example, they are identified as 4 bits per px. PS doesn't think so...

Mike

M

mariog69599891Author

Known Participant

Thanks for the additional information Mike. It's what I suspected, but still a bit troubling to learn it's been a long-standing issue.

I guess that since the images visually appear normal (and aren't .25" x .25" as indicated) that it's just the information that's wrong, and not the actual image itself. Hopefully this would be acceptable to the people who are requesting the files.

Can anyone recommend a tool that will show the information for the actual images in the PDF?

Bill Silbert

Community Expert

Check in InDesign whether the image is in at 100%. In order to get a resolution close to what you got in the pdf the image would be in the InDesign file at approximately 1%.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Did you scale the image?

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