Great Images for Papers and Presentations – May 26, 2011
Helpful resources
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Theses and dissertations section of blog answers “how to” questions based on common
student questions – http://blogs.mtu.edu/gradschool
Online seminars: MS Office, EndNote, copyright, Adobe Acrobat, LaTeX, thesis formatting
http://www.gradschool.mtu.edu/professional - click on “Online Seminar Archive”
Requirements for theses & dissertations
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300 ppi images – Screenshots are an exception when absolutely necessary
Clear, readable and reproducible
Vector Images vs. Raster Images
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Vector images look good at any size
♦ Mathematical representation of lines, curves, used for cartoons, line drawings
Raster images only look good at the size they were intended to be
♦ Images are comprised of pixels or dots
♦ The number of pixels and resolution of them determines the appropriate size of the image
dpi vs. ppi
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dpi = dots per inch and refers to the number of dots per inch the printer can place on paper
ppi = pixels per inch and refers to a property of the image – the resolution of it
File formats – Best for web; small size
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jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
♦ “lossy” format – loses data every time you resave photo
♦ Good for web pages and images
png (Portable Network Graphics)
♦ Smaller file size than jpg – newer alternative to gif files for web
♦ Newest format, so not all web browsers can read these files
File formats – Best for printing; large size
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tiff (Tagged Image File Format) – preferred print format – not used for web
♦ Preferred for most print images – does not create jpg artifacts, and retains higher quality
♦ Use if you will be manipulating the image extensively
bmp (Windows bitmap)
♦ Large file size, windows specific
Michigan Tech logo
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Download from: www.mtu.edu/idstandards
May be used for school purposes, but not personal use
Do not alter the logo in any way or resize it non-proportionately
Photography 101
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Learn how your camera works and its settings
Select a camera with at least 3 Megapixels, and use the best quality setting available
Check that your images are in focus before you put images in your final document
Use good lighting: shop lights can be fine – use two or three daylight bulbs
Use a tripod or copy stand to reduce camera shake and allow slower speeds for photos
Crop or compose your images well – fill the frame with your subject
Debra Charlesworth, PhD (ddc@mtu.edu), Assistant to the Dean, Graduate School
Great Images for Papers and Presentations – May 26, 2011
Using images created by someone else
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Scan images as a 300ppi tiff if available on paper
If available digitally, magnify and examine
♦ If image is high quality, choose an export method that will yield high quality
♦ If image is low quality, there is not much you can do for photographs or line drawings
Images from Journal Articles or web
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PDFs of journal articles often have lower resolution images in them
Check the journal webpage for the html version of the image
♦ May be in higher resolution
♦ May be in multiple formats (jpg, eps, high resolution, medium resolution)
♦ Often more convenient to grab image – right click and save rather than trying to tease it
out of a PDF
Example: Wikipedia – click on homepage image to find higher quality images and copyright
permissions for reuse
Additional options for graphs
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Data is not copyrighted, so you can create your own graphs using data from papers
Software can be used to extract data from a digital image of a graph
♦ Google “extract data plot” to find options
Also good if you use older equipment that outputs lower resolution images or direct to paper
Getting figures from image creation software to your document
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Copy/paste – Can retain vector images; Excel to Word yields editable graphs
Copy/paste special – choose different options for different results in file size and quality
Export images from software programs – don’t just use default options (File…Export or
File…Save As…)
Using Word? Turn off image compression
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Image compression permanently compresses images to 220ppi when saved. To fix:
♦ Turn off image compression (see our blog)
♦ Delete low resolution images
♦ Reinsert high resolution images
Exporting images from programs
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You have options – don’t just accept the defaults!
File format (jpg, tiff, bmp, png, etc.), file resolution (300 dpi/ppi), type of compression, etc.
Google to find help for your program
Useful built in PDF settings
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Settings to reduce file size for e-mail or web
♦ Standard and Smallest File Size: few/no fonts embedded, downsamples images
Settings for a print quality thesis or dissertation
♦ High Quality Print and Press Quality: embed all fonts, high quality images
How can I check my PDF file?
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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
Debra Charlesworth, PhD (ddc@mtu.edu), Assistant to the Dean, Graduate School