EPS images are blurry-URGENT

[saranas]

Hi there,

I bought 20 EPS line art images from Shutterstock to use in a book. But, all the images are pixelated. I got in touch with Shutterstock and they told me that the images are fine and the problem is on my side.

I also saved the image as AI, PDF, and TIFF, but nothing has changed. I have the View on Display, High Performance and still nothing. I uninstalled the program and reinstalled and still nothing. My project is stalling because of that. Can please anybody help me out? I'm adding one of the images in the Preview program on the Mac and it looks perfect; it's only when it is in ID that looks jagged.

Many, many thanks!!

[saranas]

I'd like to add also a screen shot of the image in ID so that you can see how it looks. I used Blending Mode, Multiply, but even without it, it is still blurry.

[Scott Citron]

Check to make sure to clear Object-level display settings. Sounds like something is stuck. Also, try placing the image in ID and then exporting as PDF. Is the image still blurry in your PDF?

[saranas]

Hello Scott,

thank you for taking the time to look into this:-)

The Clear Object-Level Display Settings is not selected and when I export to a PDF I get the same result as you see in the image I've added.

[Willi Adelberger]

Your added PNG is not blurry on my screen.

What program do you use to open the exported PDF? Only Adobe Acrobat is reliable, never use Preview or other non-Adobe Viewer.

[rob day]

Is the format af the artyou are placing vector (AI or PDF), or image (PNG). Can you post a capture of the ID or Acrobat preview zoomed in at a high magnification—something over 400%? Line art previews have to get anti-aliased for display a lower magnifications, and the problem migh be with the preview proxy, which would not show in the print output.

[saranas]

Hi Rob,

it an EPS, a vector. the picture I posted is a screen shot from ID. I tried to magnify the picture in Acrobat, but I get the same result.

[rob day]

Can you share the PDF via Dropbox or your CC account??

[saranas]

https://we.tl/t-VxRL1r57Yu

here it is

[rob day]

I don’t see a problem, I think you are responding to the low res preview proxy, which isn’t used for the print output. AcrobatPro’s Object Inspector tells me the lines got exported as vectors. Here is the PDF line zoomed in:

Acrobat has its own anti-aliasing options in the Page Display Preferences:

With all of the rendering options uncheked:

[saranas]

So, it doesn't matter that the images are not clear in ID, does it? But, I have another book I'm working on where all the images are clear. I don't know what to make of it and want to make sure that when I finilize the project, it will be good. 

[rob day · Accepted solution]

Vector line art is different because of the contrast btween the black line and the light background—the preview is an image even though the output will be vector. You just want to make sure the link status is normal.

[Test Screen Name]

Aren’t “blurry” and “pixelated” pretty much opposites?

[Eugene Tyson]

I wrote an article on this here

https://indesignsecrets.com/high-res-image-look-low-res.php