converting xara file to jpeg 300dpi

[waddamanagirl]

Hello, would appreciate advice on converting a very busy xara file to jpeg 300 dpi for printing. Is it suggested that when a file is full of a variety of elements that the file be created into a bitmap file within xara, and then exported as jpeg 300 dpi. Or alternatively should elements be created as bitmaps, as each one is complete, and then exported? Or is it better to export the xara file from the original elements straight out of xara? If someone with experience could assist with this it would be appreciated.

[Albacore]

You're going to hit a few problems here exporting file as jpeg for print as it's not the format I would use. I would go PDF/X as the PDF format converts complex areas of your drawing into bitmaps and through the PDF export you can specify what DPI that you want. It also converts the colour management of the file from RGB to CMYK which is what is required if your file is to be printed by a commercial print house. This is a very large subject to give a quick answer to and it would be better if you posted your Xara file up to T/Graphics where we could better judge what format would be the best to use and how to achieve the best output. It all depends on what effects you have used in your drawings so it might be better so convert certain areas to a bitmap before exporting to PDF/X. It might be better to export the file as a .tiff rather than PDF if you have used many photo's on your page.

Unless you're going to print the page yourself I would never use jpeg always go for PDF/X, Tiff or even Png as the last resort. Come back if you don't quite understand what I have meant here.

[handrawn]

in a nutshell jpeg[jpg] was designed to enable photographs to be placed on the web at small file sizes, which it achieves by compressing the data, and in the case of jpeg, which is 'lossy', that means some of it is removed - does not usually matter with a continuous tone photo viewed on a screen, given a good resolution at source, but you are asking for issues if you use it for print which is a different process

as albacore said, it is complicated - one issue is getting the pixel size right, so if you want to print 10 inches at 300 dpi your export needs to be [at least] 3000dpi; resizing can be done in several ways, and the best depends on what you have in the file so yes, a file posted up would be helpful

also if your objects [elements] are not all pure vector that will need to be taken into account

[gwpriester]

I have used JPEG at 300dpi. If you are going to use a bitmap format, then I would go with TIFF. Let the printer convert to CMYK. Each printer has a specific setting that works best for them. But if you can export PDF/X then this is the best way to go.

[waddamanagirl]

Thank you for input, yes I understand most of what has been said. I am putting together artwork, some of which I make myself in Xara, I create various elements, then combine them at will, I include some imported elements from various places, some bitmap, some jpeg, some png. When I have created the artwork I reduce it into circles of one inch, or half inch for jewellery making. So the small area can become very busy lose the clarity I need. The artwork will then be sold for people to download as either a jpeg or pdf. I have attached one that I am not at all happy with, this system will not allow me to upload the xara copy, is there a trick to doing so? Look forward to further help. thank you.

[handrawn]

the XAR file should attach as normal - but it can only be a maximum of 10MB in size, which is usually fine for vector, but if you have imported bitmaps that can result in a large file so you may have make a reduced size copy to upload if that is possible

[handrawn]

I create various elements, then combine them at will, I include some imported elements from various places, some bitmap, some jpeg, some png.

ok - guesswork at this stage without a xar file, but it looks to me like your imported source material is not up to the job and the best solution to that is to draw [trace] over it so you get a pure vector result

if you reduce pixel based images down too far then they start to degrade because pixels are a fixed size and they don't shrink, there are just less of them, and so less detail - and using jpg just makes this worse because of the presence of artifacts as a result of their lossy compression

now if this is going to be printed by a professional printer, and if your source bitmaps are already at 300dpi, then you may get round this by designing it at a large size and letting the printer do the reduction because printing is a different process, but no guarantees - there are members here who would know more about the exact ins and outs of that than me - if in doubt talk to the printer and if possible get samples

it is difficult for me to say any more without seeing the source[s]

[gwpriester]

Odd, looking at your two examples as a stereogram, the spacing is subtlety inconsistent making some of the circles come forward.

In Xara, I would adjust my Duplication Distance (Page Options > General), for the distance between rows and leave the Vertical at 0, and duplicate the object enough times to create the first row. Then set the Horizontal Duplication Distance to 0 and the Vertical Duplication Distance to the same offset distance and duplicate the entire row downwards.

[Egg Bramhill]

Are all the buttons the same? Would this work?

[Egg Bramhill]

this system will not allow me to upload the xara copy, is there a trick to doing so?

You could upload it to dropbox or google drive or simalar and supply a link.