Resolution of Exported Images

Greetings, all -

I've been using Xara since 1997 when it was a part of the Corel Graphics Pack. Great program! I'm now on 15, though, because of a bug, I've reverted back to 365 until the bug is fixed.

What I'm doing is creating images to go along with documentation on different processes here at work. I take screen shots, edit them - add arrows, descriptive text, whatever - export them as a PNG and then import the image into Word. Once imported, I had a crisp image to illustrate the relevant step in the documentation.

On Monday, we moved into a new office. I have the same computer I had at our prior office, but a different monitor - a larger one - by a different manufacturer; Planar instead of HP.

The problem is, since Monday, my screen shots are fuzzy. I had thought, at first, that it was because the screen shot from the larger monitor gave me the dialog to choose to import the image into Xara at a lower or original resolution. the smaller HP monitor would just paste the image right in. But, a test I did just now shows that even screen shots that do not trigger this dialog, that paste immediately to Xara, are also slightly fuzzy.

What might cause this loss of resolution? The images that are crisp are 96dpi and the fuzzy ones are 96dpi. I am stumped at what may be causing the degradation.

Any clues?

I've attached an image that I hope shows the problem. Unfortunately, it is based on a screenshot from Word and it loses some resolution just with that. But, when viewed first hand, the top image is clearly a higher resolution.

I appreciate any help! Thanx!

[Edit: Well, I guess that image will be of no help. The forum compressed it and made the resolution issue imperceptible.]

Are you using DPX's screen capture?

I just tried a screen shot using Print Screen and then paste and there was no difference. What is the dpi of the blurry image? It sounds to me like it is less than 96dpi.

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Originally Posted by gwpriester

Are you using DPX's screen capture?

I just tried a screen shot using Print Screen and then paste and there was no difference. What is the dpi of the blurry image? It sounds to me like it is less than 96dpi.

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No, I just used Alt-Print Scn and then pasted into Xara. The fuzzy screenshot is 96dpi. But, it's not fuzzy in Xara; there is no difference, in Xara, between a new screenshot and one from last week. So, the issue isn't with Xara, I don't think. There's no difference in pasting there. The problem is when I export the modified image as a PNG and then import that PNG to Word. In Word, it's fuzzy, but it wasn't just last Friday.

The only difference is that we could only bring our laptops to the new office, not our monitors. So, I went from a 3-screen setup with HP monitors to a 2-screen arrangement consisting of my laptop screen and a Planar monitor. Everything else is identical.

Is it at all possible that the drivers for the different monitor might affect the resolution of the screenshot? I mean, I don't see how, but I can't think of any other variables.

I tried the same procedure in DesignerPro 15, and it provides a crisp image. But, 15 still has that unresolved bug concerning resizing bitmaps which is a major inconvenience for me.

Although, that doesn't answer why less than a week ago, it worked fine with 365

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Originally Posted by CKinTX

But, 15 still has that unresolved bug concerning resizing bitmaps which is a major inconvenience for me.

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Have you installed the update to 15.1? Also, after updating, right click "Lock Aspect Ratio" and deselect "Smart Transform"

To ensure exported images are perfectly crisp and as sharp as when originally captured, I have to do the following:

1. take the PrtScr screenshot and paste onto a page, in my case, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer v16.
2. scale the screenshot image to 100% (see first screenshot below)
3. export the selected image as a png ensuring the export height and width pixel size are the same as the original screenshot size. To find this out take a look in the Bitmap gallery (see second screenshot). This will change the dpi value to that of your Windows system display.

In my particular case I run my Windows system with a custom scale set to 120% to make everything slightly easier to read on my laptop. So when I export a png I have to set the export dpi to 115. Once you've worked out what this value is for your system you can just type it in without worrying about pixel sizes.

I don't fully understand all this, but it works for me, so hope it put you on the right track.

Attachment 122515 Attachment 122516

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Originally Posted by Promidi

Have you installed the update to 15.1? Also, after updating, right click "Lock Aspect Ratio" and deselect "Smart Transform"

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Yup, 15.1. Version 15.1.0.53605, in fact.

I just tried deselecting Smart Transform and the same thing happens.

If I click on a bitmap image, say a PNG, it has the look of having been selected with the "Enhance Photos" tool, rather than just the Selector tool, even though the Selector tool is the one highlighted on the tool bar.

If I try to resize the object using one of the handles, it behaves exactly as it should using the "Enhance Photos" tool, even though that's not the active tool.

I submitted a report to Xara on this months ago - May, I believe - and Xara replied that it was a known bug. I had hoped, by now, they'd have an update to fix it.

you also need to activate the select tool boundary handles - click on the first button on the left on the selector tool infobar

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Originally Posted by Jonopen

To ensure exported images are perfectly crisp and as sharp as when originally captured, I have to do the following:

1. take the PrtScr screenshot and paste onto a page, in my case, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer v16.
2. scale the screenshot image to 100% (see first screenshot below)
3. export the selected image as a png ensuring the export height and width pixel size are the same as the original screenshot size. To find this out take a look in the Bitmap gallery (see second screenshot). This will change the dpi value to that of your Windows system display.

In my particular case I run my Windows system with a custom scale set to 120% to make everything slightly easier to read on my laptop. So when I export a png I have to set the export dpi to 115. Once you've worked out what this value is for your system you can just type it in without worrying about pixel sizes.

I don't fully understand all this, but it works for me, so hope it put you on the right track.

Attachment 122515 Attachment 122516

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Thanx, Jonopen. That's pretty much what I've done, except I have Import at dpi specified in the image file, rather than Resize large imported photos down to X pixels in Options/View, to avoid having to expand large images all the time. But, the problem was not with viewing the images in Xara; that never changed. It was only when they were saved as PNGs and then imported to Word.

I had no problem with the resolution, the crispness, at all until just last Monday. But, today, the problem seems to have gone away. My images imported to Word are as crisp as they've always been, except for those I created earlier in the week; they're still fuzzy and will have to be replaced.

I don't know how this happened; either for the problem to occur or for it to have gone away. I've not changed any settings or made any other adjustments. The problem seems to have just disappeared. All I can think now is that, because of the move to our new offices, on a new network, I have to VPN to my drives - nothing is stored locally. I don't know if the VPN process might have damaged the resolution, somehow, and that something, somewhere along the connection chain might have been corrected, adjusted, lost, gained, who knows what to have first created the problem and, now, to have resolved it.

Anyway, now it seems to be working just as it has for years.

Maybe it was gremlins...

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Originally Posted by handrawn

you also need to activate the select tool boundary handles - click on the first button on the left on the selector tool infobar

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Hmm. I'll look at that.

OK, I had never paid attention to that button before. Well, that sets the handles the way I expect, However, I wonder why Xara told me it's a problem that they were aware of, if that's all it takes.

Well, thanx for the tip, handrawn.

because at that time [May?] they had not yet fixed it?

Glad you got it to work :)

Glad things are working back to normal. :)

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Originally Posted by handrawn

because at that time [May?] they had not yet fixed it?

Glad you got it to work :)

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Perhaps. I wish they'd've answered one of my queries about it, so that I could have quit using 365 and used 15.

But, no matter now. It works and that's all that matters.

Thanx!

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Originally Posted by Jonopen

Glad things are working back to normal. :)

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Thanx! But, I sure wish I knew what caused it.

Not sure I can add anything here, because I do have the version you have, but there is a bit of better way to take screen shots, For taking screen shots, I use https://app.prntscr.com/en/index.html it gives you a bit more control over the screen shot you take and it gives a few other options, very light on the system and always works.

@SgtDre I love that app for screen shots, thanks.

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Originally Posted by SgtDre

Not sure I can add anything here, because I do not have the version you have, but there is a bit of better way to take screen shots, For taking screen shots, I use https://app.prntscr.com/en/index.html it gives you a bit more control over the screen shot you take and it gives a few other options, very light on the system and always works.

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Correction made "missed Word"

You are very welcome, @behzad, any help I can give back to the community.

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Originally Posted by SgtDre

Not sure I can add anything here, because I do have the version you have, but there is a bit of better way to take screen shots, For taking screen shots, I use https://app.prntscr.com/en/index.html it gives you a bit more control over the screen shot you take and it gives a few other options, very light on the system and always works.

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I'll have to give that a look. Something we have at our new location that I hadn't noticed is the addition of the Microsoft Snipping Tool. I tried this, but it's not much better than just using Alt-Print Scrn. Sometimes, to clean up a screen shot, I first dump the image into MS Image Composer - kind of a beefed up Paint - that came with Front Page. For instance, when I get a full screen shot, there is bleed over from adjacent screens. Only a couple of pixels, but it's annoying. So, I paste the shot to Image Composer, trim off the excess pixels to get the 1920x1080 image and then paste that result to Xara for additional processing.

But, I'll check out your suggestion to see how it compares.

Thanx!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CKinTX

I'll have to give that a look. Something we have at our new location that I hadn't noticed is the addition of the Microsoft Snipping Tool. I tried this, but it's not much better than just using Alt-Print Scrn. Sometimes, to clean up a screen shot, I first dump the image into MS Image Composer - kind of a beefed up Paint - that came with Front Page. For instance, when I get a full screen shot, there is bleed over from adjacent screens. Only a couple of pixels, but it's annoying. So, I paste the shot to Image Composer, trim off the excess pixels to get the 1920x1080 image and then paste that result to Xara for additional processing.

But, I'll check out your suggestion to see how it compares.

Thanx!

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To remove the excess pixels in Xara, trim away with the Feather Tool with Profile (1,0) and make a Bitmap copy.

Acorn