Bitmap manipulation

[BillHely]

NEWBIE ALERT ... BEGINNER ON THE ROAD!!!

Hi all.

A friend has supplied a bitmap image of himself which he wants on one of his web pages.

The specs of the original are:
JPG 2.78MB 2000x3008 pixels 300DPI 24-bit color.

My question is: Can Xara-X perform the magic of resizing an image like this down to only 200 pixels wide, and yet still have it look good?

If so, guidance much appreciated.

TIA
- Bill H.

[BillHely]

NEWBIE ALERT ... BEGINNER ON THE ROAD!!!

Hi all.

A friend has supplied a bitmap image of himself which he wants on one of his web pages.

The specs of the original are:
JPG 2.78MB 2000x3008 pixels 300DPI 24-bit color.

My question is: Can Xara-X perform the magic of resizing an image like this down to only 200 pixels wide, and yet still have it look good?

If so, guidance much appreciated.

TIA
- Bill H.

[raynerj]

Hi Bill,

99% of your graphics applications can reduce a file in size with little or no problems. Most can not enlarge worth beans.

To resize to 200 pixels across, change the units to pixels, drag and drop the picture into xara, and type 200 in the width box... See pic.

http://www.draginet.com/dragon.gif
John/DOT

[BillHely]

Thanks John.

The only graphics app I am really familiar with is MS Image Composer 1.5.

Everything I tried (in both Xara and IC) resulted in a fairly crappy looking reduction by comparison with the original.

Maybe I was doing something silly. I'll have another go at it and pay more attention.

Thanks for the tip.

Regards,
Bill H.

[OklaEd]

Hi Bill ... Welcome to TalkGraphics.

Import your graphic into Xara ... change the size as JohnR suggests to whatever size you want (ie: 200pix wide) ... then export as JPG.

When the options window comes up select TRUE COLOR, 96dpi, and 100% quality. This should give you a good looking image that is approximately 17k in size.

Hope this helps.

-Ed.

[raynerj]

hi Bill,

Post your image here and we can help if it is needed. I have rescaled one or two pics in my time.

http://www.draginet.com/dragon.gif
John/DOT

[gnurf]

This is what I do when I'm to lazy to start up Photoshop:

1) Import the image to Xara X

2) Resize it to prefered pixel size

3) Create a bitmap copy (24bit true color)

4) Use bitmap effects & plugins > Bitmap Effects > Special Effects: Sharpen (Medium)

5) Export the image as jpg

-Paul

[gwpriester]

If you Units are set to something other than Pixels, just type the width in the W text entry box with pix after it, that is 200pix. (Don't leave a space after the number and before the pix). The press Enter to apply the change.

Click here to learn how to set your page and rulers to pixels.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person


<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


<a href="http://www.xaraxone.com">
The Xara Xone </a>

[BillHely]

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. As a result of my earlier failure (getting a crappy result) I was beginning to think there might be more to resizing than just resizing.

In the end I did get an acceptable result, and I think I know what happened earlier. I was removing a flat grey background from the original image using a global selection of that colour. I now think it was also removing enough individual and isolated pixels from the “person� to make the resized result look bad, although I couldn't see those pixels being selected for removal. What brings me to that conclusion is that when I restarted with the original and resized with the background intact, the image looked much better.

I have taken note of all your suggestions for the future, thank you.

I really must try to find time to get into Xara-X properly. Whenever I need to do something graphical in a hurry I head straight for Image Composer because I know how to use it without wasting any time. Although I still think it's the best lightweight program of its type ever invented, it is no Photoshop or Xara.

Best regards,
- Bill Hely

[raynerj]

Hi Bill,

I do not think there is another graphics program out there that is easier to learn than xara. IF you bought the program, spend an hour or so watching the included movies. There is enough info there so you can hit the ground running, and create a passible drawing in minutes even as a newbie.

http://www.draginet.com/dragon.gif
John/DOT