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Placed Images with 300 dpi are still presenting blurry/pixelated

Community Beginner ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Hi there,

I am attempting to import figures from a Word Document to an InDesign file. My workflow has been taking a screenshot of the figure, opening that screenshot using IrfanView 64 4.59, adjusting the DPI to 300, saving that new image, and placing it on the designated page of the InDesign file. However, when I open the file as a PDF using Acrobat, my figures still present blurry. Does anyone have advice or suggestions on how to combat this issue? I've even tried using Preview on my Mac but same outcome.

I look forward to your help!

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How to , Import and export , Print

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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You should NEVER attempt to do anything with a screenshot. Zoom in as far as you can, take the screenshot and place it in the document.

 

That's it. There's not much else you can do with them.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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I typically wouldn't use a screenshot, but they have a black background when I save the figures as images. I need a white background that matches my InDesign template. I will see if the zoom and capture method helps.


Thank you.

 

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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One other thing. Save them as PNG. Do not use JPG.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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What is the effective resolution of the images? Can you post a screenshot of the links panel (showing effective resolution)? What are your export preset settings?

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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I have attached a screenshot of my links panel correspnding to one of the figures. As for the export preset settings, I believe it is defined as High Quality Print.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Your screenshot shows that the effective resolution is 98 x 104. It is far from enough.

Links panel.png

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Hi Lauren,

what do you expect with a horizontal effective resolution of 98 pixels per inch and vertical effective resolution of 104 pixels per inch? You scaled the image unproportionally.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Forgive me for my lack of expertise, but this is the very reason I am posting on this forum. I want to gain knowledge and insight on how to combat the very issue I face and learn how to better my workflow. Is there a way to adjust the effective PPI using IrfanView or InDesign, or am I better off taking a new screenshot that is zoomed in as @BobLevine mentioned?

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Should I just resize the image using IrfanView to enhance the effective PPI?

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Can you get the original image – you can't improve the quality of low-resolution images significantly?

Whatever the resolution (PPI) of the original image it will have a lower resolution if you enlarge it in InDesign – as mentioned by jmlevy, check the Links panel to see the Effective PPI, which is the important figure for documents to be printed – rule of thumb 200 to around 300PPI.

 

By the way, this screenshot you've mentioned – you do have permission to reproduce the image?

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LEGEND ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Taking a screenshot, then trying to increase the resolution, is rather like trying to turn chicken soup back into a chicken. Don't expect it up and running about the yard any time soon.

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Explorer ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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if it is a word .DOCX file you could make a copy of the file and change the extenion to a .zip. unzip the new file and look in the folder and find the media folder and inside will be the images from the word file. Try using those and upsample if you need to

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Yes. This.

I do this all the time, and it's the best approach if all you have access to is the Word file.

This only works on DOCX files, so if you have an older DOC format document, open it in Word and resave it as a DOCX first.

Unfortunately, Word can downsample images when brought into the document, so even the approach above may not get the best quality of the orginal image. For that, you would need the originator of the document to send you the original image files separately.

 

~Brad

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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I probably should've clarified this better, but the figures in the Word document are not technically images because I believe the author developed their figures and graphs within Microsoft Word. Compressing the file does not include these figures as separate image files. Hence, my decision to screenshot each figure to place them in my InDesign file.

@Derek Cross I have permission to reproduce the figure because I am developing the PDF version of the author's article for an academic journal.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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"because I believe the author developed their figures and graphs within Microsoft Word."

Another option: Save the Word file as a hi-res PDF, then you can import such images that way.

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LEGEND ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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You write "I am developing the PDF version of the author's article for an academic journal." This gives me some ideas, which you might already have discounted but never mind.

 

1. Do you really need to involve InDesign? It doesn't seem likely an academic journal will need anything fancy that can only be done in InDesign. Word can export a high resolution PDF (using Acrobat), so just fix the layout as needed - done!

2. If you really do need to involve InDesign, consider this: export the Word document as high resolution PDF, as above, and PLACE the pages of the PDF in InDesign as full size sheets. Any work which has to be redone in InDesign is then masked out in the placed PDF and you create in the white space left. InDesign is persuaded to flow around the space with original content/graphics still there.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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Just place the DOCX file. Afterward, you can unembed the links.

There is very little reason to unzip it unless you need only the images because they won't be any better in the zip file than they are if you place file.

And again, DO NOT adjust those screenshots. You will never improve them; you could ruin them, though.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 08, 2022 Apr 08, 2022

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"Just place the DOCX file. Afterward, you can unembed the links."

Most definitely! But based on the OP's experience, I didn't think they would know how to unembed.

The other benefit to doing the UNZIP method is that you have better access to vector objects, like SVG and EMF.

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