Setting up page resolution on XaraX

[coldfuel]

When it comes to designing for print using bitmaps i've alwsys used Photoshop, set page print dimensions, set resolution to 300dpi and Phptoshop does the calculations for you and you have the correct page size to work with.

However (and this is going to make me sound stupid) i can't for the life of me figure how to do this in XaraX. I need to supply a 300dpi resolution file which includes bitmaps (jpg's), but whereas in Photoshop you just enter print size and resoltuon and it works out the rest, i cant seem to do this in Xarax, how is this done in XaraX?

[pauland]

If you are doing a 10" by 20" illustration at 300dpi the resolution you need is

10 * DPI x 20 * DPI = 10 * 300 x 20 * 300 = a 3000 x 6000 pixel bitmap, however, if you just set the size in XaraX to be the drawing size (page-> Options) of 10" by "20", when you export the jpg, you have the opportunity to set the DPI/bitmap size then.

Paul

[Soquili]

The resolution of an exported image can be set on the export dialog. The Optons part of the Export dialog is where to make the setting.

[Charles Moir]

You set up the page size in the File -> Page Options dialog. Set the dimensions you require. When you export you can select the export resolution.

Remember Xara is a vector program and so it sorts of works at infinite resolution - the whole point of vector graphics as opposed to bitmap programs, like Photoshop, is that they are "resolution independent". So it works in real-world dimensions, inches, feet, meters or whatever, and when you export everything gets converted. (e.g. when you export as PSD or TIFF or PNG you get to select the required resolution).

When printing or saving in vector format (e.g PDF or Flash) everything is saved as vector so there is no resolution as such.

In the case of bitmaps on your page - they are exported at whatever resolution you make them, and so again this is fundamental difference between a vector or object oriented approach, compared to fixed resolution approach of bitmap programs. So in Xara as you resize your bitmap down it just gets higher resolution. The status bar shows the actual resolution. This gives rise to another fundamental advantage of the Xara approach. You can scale a bitmap down to be tiny. And then later scale it back up and the whole thing is there - we retain the full resolution of all bitmaps, all the time.

When exporting your page as a bitmap, then everything will be re-sampled to the output resolution you choose. When exporting as vector, bitmaps are output as is - at the resolution they are. In other words the program tries to retain maximum resolution at all times.

Hope that's not too complicated an explanation.

[coldfuel]

You set up the page size in the File -> Page Options dialog. Set the dimensions you require. When you export you can select the export resolution.

Remember Xara is a vector program and so it sorts of works at infinite resolution - the whole point of vector graphics as opposed to bitmap programs, like Photoshop, is that they are "resolution independent". So it works in real-world dimensions, inches, feet, meters or whatever, and when you export everything gets converted. (e.g. when you export as PSD or TIFF or PNG you get to select the required resolution).

When printing or saving in vector format (e.g PDF or Flash) everything is saved as vector so there is no resolution as such.

In the case of bitmaps on your page - they are exported at whatever resolution you make them, and so again this is fundamental difference between a vector or object oriented approach, compared to fixed resolution approach of bitmap programs. So in Xara as you resize your bitmap down it just gets higher resolution. The status bar shows the actual resolution. This gives rise to another fundamental advantage of the Xara approach. You can scale a bitmap down to be tiny. And then later scale it back up and the whole thing is there - we retain the full resolution of all bitmaps, all the time.

When exporting your page as a bitmap, then everything will be re-sampled to the output resolution you choose. When exporting as vector, bitmaps are output as is - at the resolution they are. In other words the program tries to retain maximum resolution at all times.

Hope that's not too complicated an explanation.

Wow...the move to vector based packaged for bitmap work/export is not as simple as i thought..to be honest im a little confused...

Lets say im using XaraXPro (which i'm just about to purchase) which with it's new multi page document support should be ideal for A4 brchure design which i can supply in .PSD format (which my printer accepts). Im designing an Aa flyer which is a mix of .jpg bitmaps and vector work. I need to supply the .psd export in 300dpi format.

Now if i set the page to A4 size and import 300dpi images and scale them down to fit where i want them, then they are going to be not 300dpi but 300+ depending on how much i scale them down.
Now also if i export the final artwork and set to 300dpi wuring export does it increase the page size based on the resolution it is being saved at or just save the A4 .psd file at 300dpi resolution (which will make the print size around 3 times smaller than A4 when printed at 300dpi)

I hope that all makes sense

- Steve

[pauland]

Now also if i export the final artwork and set to 300dpi wuring export does it increase the page size based on the resolution it is being saved at or just save the A4 .psd file at 300dpi resolution (which will make the print size around 3 times smaller than A4 when printed at 300dpi)

I hope that all makes sense

- Steve

Steve, I did a quick test. I exported an A4 page at 300DPI, then closed the document then opened the exported file. It came in at the correct pixel size for a 300DPI image of an A4 page (just as per the formula I said in my original reply).

Don't be afraid to experiment!

Paul