Creating clipart

**mightyfun** · 15 December 2006, 01:01 PM

Good morning everyone,

I am in the process of creating clipart. My problem lies in the sizing.

I noticed that when I save my objects to bitmap copy they come out huge. I am not sure how to size them. I would like to be able to visualize it compared to a regular 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

I will attach the project that I am working on currently.

Thanks,

Jen

**Soquili** · 15 December 2006, 01:25 PM

Hi Jen,

What resolution are you saving the bitmap?

I'm asking because the pink stripes you were using for a background image was huge and I think it was 200 or 300 ppi which is print resolution. For screen resolution you should use 96 ppi which is the Windows default and has been the Mac default for several OS versions. Adobe and a few others still use 72 ppi which was the original Mac resolution but is archaic.

**mightyfun** · 15 December 2006, 03:06 PM

Bill,

I've been saving at 300 ppi to avoid having a fuzzy copy.

I'm not sure how else to avoid this.

Jen

**WolfMoonHP** · 15 December 2006, 03:23 PM

If you are looking for clip art to be used in print, then 300 dpi makes sense to me.

But if you want to see it in relation to an 8.5 x 11 page, just click on:

File->Page Options->Page->US Letter and choose either portrait or landscape.

This always helps me to see how it would look on a printed page.

I've always found it easier to shrink a high-res picture than to enlarge a low-rez.
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Will

**Soquili** · 15 December 2006, 03:40 PM

Jen,

The 300 ppi is great for print but if you want to display your clipart on a website you would need to also create a 96 ppi for screen display as a thumbnail preview.

The higher resolution image would be the one you make available for download by a customer and/or for 'larger' viewing.

**WolfMoonHP** · 15 December 2006, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by Soquili

Jen,

The higher resolution image would be the one you make available for download by a customer and/or for 'larger' viewing.

Great suggestion, Bill...I was strictly thinking in terms of saving clipart for my personal use. But for offering as downloads, the smaller thumnail and the larger download size would give MightyFun the best of both worlds.
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Will

**mightyfun** · 15 December 2006, 03:50 PM

Thanks Bill, Will

I changed my screen to a US Letter size. It really helps, thanks.

I will take into consideration whether I am using it for print or for web graphics.

Are all programs able to resize png images? If so I may just keep it at the higher resolution to keep it sharp. I will make a 96 ppi image just to have though.

Thanks again. You guys are a great help.

Jen

**WolfMoonHP** · 15 December 2006, 04:33 PM

Much of what I know I learned from Bill and others here on Talk Graphics. Happy to share!

By the way, I forgot to tell you that I really like your angel! It has such a warm, "folksy" feeling. Really nice!
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Will

**mightyfun** · 15 December 2006, 06:36 PM

Thanks,

I'm a "folksy" kind of person.

My husband used to give me drawing challenges. We laugh because if he told me to draw a dragon it would always turn into a kind of dragon like "puff the magic dragon", or if he told me to draw worms I would automatically think of the cute little "book worm" with glasses and big eyes. He would try to give me the most grotesque images to draw and I tried to think in that form, but I could never get a good feel for gory. So I just stick with what works for me.. fortunately "cute" still sells. LOL

You guys are so much help. I've been a "graphic artist" now for a month and I already feel like I can start building a portfolio of designs to sell. I never thought it would be so easy.

Thank goodness the people in this forum put up with all my questions. I'm sure to the formally trained a lot of them seem pretty basic and sometimes dumb. I am glad people are supportive here and I appriciate all of the constructive criticism and help. You teach me more every day.

Thanks again,

Jen