ok not sure if this is the right place for this so excuse me if its not.

Im running a local epic comp in a few weeks and i want to make up some certificates for randon things, like "supreme assasin" for most S/c's killed etc
Now the problem im having is when i search for pictures online they all seem to be "small" when i import them into the documents to use, and when i enlarge them they become all pixelated.

Now not being a big image pc guy, lol if that makes sense, how do i avoid this? or suggestions to get the job done.
i want to print to A4 scale so really what im asking is -

1 : am i just downloading the right pictures ?
2 : am i just doing it wrong when i import the picture?
3 : any advice from someone that knows more than me (which is liekly everyone) would be greatly appreciated.


Regards


Tim NZ

1) the images you are downloading are too small. google image search allows you to filter search by file. Many images of epic on these forums would not be suitable to print, as they are saved 72dpi at 800*600px or less in general to keep the file size small and allow easy viewing.

2) possibly, but without knowing which application it is hard to say. If you are just using word/Ooo just copy/paste or import image from file should do it.

3) Additionally even if it is big enough to look good on an A4 on screen, it may well still print poorly (print at 150/300dpi is higher quality than screen resolution). Also people probably own the rights to these images.

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

the images i was downloading were of public share sites, nothing from tac com

so your saying need to find images with a higher dpi ? which is something i thought of, but when i got a image at high res 1080 x 700 ish it looked the same pixalated effect when i enlarged it on the document.

and yes im using just basic word files with pics inserted.

all i really want is a A4 sized image with some text over the top.

lol didnt think it would be that hard before i started. what a learning curve.



Tim NZ

72dpi is fine as long as the image is large enough (dimensions) to scale down to the page. Eg, a photo from compact digital camera might only be at 72dpi as a jpeg, but have dimensions of a few thousand * a few thousand, so it would print scaled down on an A4.

You could also try re-sampling and enlarging the image in photoshop.

Could just make the things A5 not A4.

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

Word is really crap at enlarging images.
I'm not sure what you should use, but basically, it reduce the pixel count in accord to the dpi when you import, and then enlarge by interpolation without using the available pixel data. You should probably make the images into smaller print size with higher dpi before importing into word.

thanks for the pointers, it has been enlighting, i shall try some of your suggestions.

Regards


Tim

For an A4 print you want to really be looking at a minimum of ~1200x1650 pixels (2MP).

awesome, good info

thank you


Tim NZ