5/24/2011
Overview
• Web Tips
• Definitions
• Using the Michigan Tech logo
• Photography 101
• Great images from others
• Great images you create
Great Images for Papers
and Presentations
• PDF conversion
• Final words
May 26, 2011
© Debra Charlesworth
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2011
What’s important on the web?
Quick Links are on every
page in our domain:
mtu.edu/gradschool
Find help for entire process
Quick link – Theses and Dissertations
Resources
FAQ
Links
Resources
All forms
Blog
Online seminars
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Graduate School Blog
• Theses and dissertations section answers “how to”
questions based on common student questions
• http://blogs.mtu.edu/gradschool
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Quick Link: Professional Resources
Online seminar archive
• Adobe Acrobat – July 7, 2009
Embedding fonts, hyperlinks, bookmarks, image settings
Sample Word and PDF documents
• Summer 2010 Seminar Series
Tips and Tricks for MS Office – May 19, 2010
An Introduction to EndNote – June 30, 2010
An Introduction to Copyright – July 14, 2010
• Summer 2011 Seminar Series
Submitting your Thesis or Dissertation – May 19, 2011
An Introduction to LaTeX – June 23, 2011
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Requirements for theses & dissertations
• 300 ppi images
Minimum quality for publishing in journal articles
Exceptions:
 Screenshots
 Technically
– when it is the only way to obtain an image
not possible to be higher quality
 Not
having time or funds to create the images is not a
technical reason for not having high resolution images
• Clear, readable and reproducible
Definitions
Type can be easily read, lines easily distinguished
Do not take a low resolution image and “make” it high res.
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© Debra Charlesworth
2011
Vector Images vs. Raster Images
Megapixels
• Vector images look good at any size
• The size of a raster image is defined by how many
pixels are in the image
Mathematical representation of lines, curves
Generally used for cartoons, line drawings
• Raster images
g onlyy look g
good at the size they
y were
intended to be
• A 3 Megapixel camera will take images with
3,000,000 pixels when photos are taken at the best
picture settings
Images are comprised of pixels or dots
Most cameras have multiple quality settings
The number of pixels you collect and the resolution you
need determines the appropriate size of the image
You might select low quality to save on file size and fit more
photos on a disk
Vector images can be converted to raster images by
scanning or exporting them
Check the settings before you start taking photos!
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dpi vs. ppi
Megapixel Example
• dpi = dots per inch
1000 pixels
1000 x 600 =
600,000 pixels
600
pixels
Often used interchangeably with ppi, but they refer to
different things
Refers to the properties of a printer – the number of dots
per inch the p
p
printer can p
place on p
paper
p
• ppi = pixels per inch
0.6 Megapixels
Refers to a property of the image – the resolution of it
Setting any two of the variables (pixels, inches, or ppi)
defines the third
Never increase the number of pixels in an image – it
increases the file size without increasing the quality
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Resolution recommendations
Megapixel Example
1000 pixels
• For a thesis or dissertation, 300 ppi is required for
images unless a screenshot is necessary
• A computer screen is limited to 72 ppi or 96 ppi
600
pixels
Since the resolution of a computer screen (72 ppi) is
significantly less than a standard printer (300 dpi), images
can look good on a screen, but not printed
Examining your document on the screen without enlarging
the page will not tell you if the images are good quality
Resolution
300% is a good magnification
100 ppi
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200 ppi
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3
300 ppi
3.3
2
Width (in) Height (in)
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File formats
File formats – Best for web; small size
• Choosing a file format can impact the image quality
• jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
“lossy” format – loses data every time you resave photo
• Most common formats
Good for web pages
jpg, png, tiff, bmp
• Each format has benefits and disadvantages with
respect to file size and quality
Better suited for images
• png (Portable Network Graphics)
Alternative to gif images for web – retains more color
information than gif
Smaller file size than jpg
Newest format, so not all web browsers can read these files
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File formats – Best for printing; large size
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In Photoshop CS3: Image…Image size
• tiff (Tagged Image File Format) – preferred format
• 7.2 Megapixel - will
print as an 8 x 10
image at 300 ppi
Largest file size – not recommended for web use
Preferred for most print images – does not create jpg
artifacts, and retains higher quality
• Anyy ssize
e ssmaller
a e
than 8 x 10 will also
be high quality
Use if you will be manipulating the image extensively
• bmp (Windows bitmap)
Large file size
• Website online to
check print size of
images
Windows specific
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Michigan Tech logo
• One is downloaded at a high resolution
• One image is saved from the web (right click on
image and save)
Using the Michigan Tech Logo
© Debra Charlesworth
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2011
Tech Logo from Web – screen resolution
Tech Logo – Click on logo from
mtu.edu to download – print resolution
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Logo
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Student Use
• The University symbols are not for personal use
• Students may use the logo for professional activities
Class projects
Conference presentations
p
Business cards for student organization
• www.mtu.edu/idstandards
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Camera tips - I
• Learn how your camera works and its settings
How does it focus? How do you know if it can focus?
How do you adjust shutter speed, aperture, “film” speed?
• Select a camera with at least 3 Megapixels
g p
• Check that your images are in focus before you put
images in your final document
The screen on the back of a camera is small
Images that look good here may not be in focus!
Photography 101
© Debra Charlesworth
View images at high magnification on computer (300%)
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2011
Camera tips - II
• Use good lighting
Shop lights can be fine – use two or three
Light bulbs should be daylight bulbs
• Use a tripod
p or copy
py stand
Reduces camera shake
Allows you to shoot at slower speeds which yields a higher
quality photo
• Crop or compose your images well
Nobody wants to see lots of background – fill the frame with
your subject – make it the most prominent feature!
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Great images from others
© Debra Charlesworth
2011
Using images created by someone else
Images from Journal Articles
• Scan images if available on paper
• PDFs of journal articles often have lower resolution
images in them
Examine scanner settings
Use tiff format, and scan at a resolution of at least 300 ppi
Each scanner has its own maximum optical resolution
• If available digitally, magnify and examine
• Check the journal webpage for the html version of
the image
May be in higher resolution
If image is high quality, choose an export method that will
yield high quality
May be in multiple formats (jpg, eps, high resolution,
medium resolution)
If image is low quality, there is not much you can do for
photographs or line drawings
Often more convenient to grab image – right click and save
rather than trying to tease it out of a PDF
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Additional options for graphs
Web images
• Data is not copyrighted, so you can create your own
graphs using data from papers
• Avoid using images from web pages
Presented at screen resolution to save on file space
Limited to 72 or 96 ppi in general
• If data is available in a graph, software can be used
to extract data from a digital image of a graph
• Tryy to obtain a high
g resolution image
g when p
possible
Google “extract data plot”
• Example with Wikipedia
GraphClick ($8, Mac)
In Wikipedia, for example, click on the image
Plot Digitizer (freeware, Mac, Linux, Windows)
Often, there are multiple sizes of an image available
UN-SCAN-IT ($345, Mac, Windows)
Image page also includes how the image may (or may not)
be reused
• Also good if you use older equipment that outputs
lower resolution images or direct to paper
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Three images available
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_bridge
Location of image
Pixel size
Home page
250 x 112
Image page
800 x 357
Full resolution link 3621
Full resolution
3621 x 1617
x 1617
Image size at 300 ppi
0.83 x 0.37 inches
2.67 x 1.19 inches
12 07 x 5 39 inches
12.07 x 5.39 inches
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Getting figures from image creation
software to your document
• Copy/paste
Can retain vector images; Excel to Word yields editable
graphs – with high file size
• Copy/paste special
Choose different options for different results in file size and
quality – bmp options in Word/Excel are generally best
• Export images
Many software programs (Matlab, ChemDraw, Illustrator,
Acrobat, etc.) give options to export figures as a raster
image (File…Export or File…Save As…)
Great images you create
© Debra Charlesworth
2011
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5/24/2011
Using Word?
Exporting images from programs
• Word introduced a new “feature” in 2007 that
compresses images to a “print” resolution of 220ppi
• You have options!
• Once the file is saved, the image is compressed, and
you can’t regain the pixels you lost
• File resolution (300 dpi/ppi)
• This is set for EACH FILE, not an overall preference
in Word 2007. To fix:
• Quality
• File format (jpg, tiff, bmp, png, etc.)
• Type of compression
Turn off image compression (see our blog)
• Etc.
Delete low resolution images
• Google to find help for your program – “export
images tiff matlab” yielded a page from Matlab
support as the first hit
Reinsert high resolution images
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ChemDraw Export Example
ChemDraw Export Example
72 ppi
144 ppi
144 ppi
300 ppi
300 ppi
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PDF Settings
• PDFs are not “one size fits all.” There are many
options available to create them.
• Think of a printer and all of the options available:
Double sided, draft mode, multiple pages printed on one
page, etc.
• PDF files have similar (if not more) printing options
available.
• Covered in detail in the presentation we have
available online – you can define your own settings,
or select a built in setting
PDF Conversion
© Debra Charlesworth
2011
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Standard PDF Settings – Images
Useful built in settings
• Settings to reduce file size for e-mail or web
Standard: doesn’t embed all fonts, downsamples images
Top number in each
circled area needs to
be 300.
Bottom number is
some amount higher
than 300.
Smallest File Size: no fonts embedded, downsamples
• Settings
g for a p
print q
quality
y thesis or dissertation
High Quality Print and Press Quality: embed all fonts, high
quality images
Assuming no one has altered the built in settings (I’m not
allowed to on my office computer), these settings will give
high quality graphics with embedded fonts.
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How can I check my PDF file?
Preflight results tab
• Preflight tools in Acrobat can check a variety of items
• Graduate School has created a preflight profile that
you can use to check that all of your images are
300ppi or above
• Go to the blog for directions
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Final Words
• If you start with a low resolution raster image, there
is very little you can do to improve it
Adding pixels does not add quality
• Increasing the resolution above 300ppi will increase
the file size, but will not significantly increase quality
• Don’t accept the default settings – most are
generally set for smaller file size
• Experiment before you take real images, or when
you export your first image
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Questions!
© Debra Charlesworth
2011
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