export to jpg with high resolution

[Leen]

Hello for all,

I'am a new member in this Forum, and a new user in illustrator.

I have a question, hope i fined the answer here:

how can i produce a jpg image with high resolution using the illustrator.

for example: if i draw my objects in illustrator, and i want to save it as a high resolution jpg, then i go to: export --> save it as jpg --> change the resultion to custom and make it very high.

then it produce an image but with not high resolution , I mean when i still zoom the pic, i still see the pixle, and i know the main feature of illustrator is to produce an image with high resultion......... so how can i make it???

[eugenetyson]

Well:

Illustrator bases it's drawing on a vectors. Each line is drawn and made up of mathematical equations. This means that they can be scaled to any height and width without losing quality.

But to do this the drawing has to be created in Illustrator. Not a photo that is placed or copy and pasted into the document. Illustrator is not Raster Editing program like photoshop.

So you start off in Illustrator with a blank cavas and create using the tools in Illustrator. Any scans, photos or non-illustrator editable items can't be scaled without losing quality, become pixelated.


If you have used Raster Effects in your document then you need to set the Effect>Document Raster Effects Settings and make the appropriate settings here.


If you have a native Illustrator file then you shouldn't export to JPG. As the size of the jpg would depend on the quality at output.

So if you an A5 sized illustration and you export that as 300 dpi as a jpg and try to print it A4 size then it will only print at 213 dpi (A5 - A4 = 71% increase).

However, if you exported to jpg at 420 dpi and then printed at A4 size then it will be 300 dpi on output.

That's the thing with JPG files, they are controlled effectively by their DPI (PPI). If you have 72 dpi image, you need to print it out at 24% of it's size to get 300 dpi. The DPI is effectively relative to amount you are scaling by.


But if you leave the document as a native illustrator file, save it as .ai or a PDF then you scale that illustration to any size you want, as it's effectively dependent on DPI, as it has no DPI as such, it's controlled by the vectors, which can scale no problem.


But again, if you have raster elements in your document or are just trying to improve a raster (bitmap) image by exporting to jpg then you can't do this with Illustrator.

The important thing here is that you are using the wrong file format. As JPG is resolution dependent for output and "File>Export" should be a dead give away, as you're exporting out of Illustrator for use in another application, or for another use.

Exporting to JPG won't allow you make any further changes to the JPG in Illustrator. If you save as a .ai or .pdf then you can open the file and make further edits.

If you need to print out from any computer then Save As a .pdf, as pdfs can be open on most computers these days, this pdf, becuase it contains the Vector Data of the Illustrator file, can be scaled to any size.

[The Repro Kid]

Eugene gave you a lot of good info.

But to effectively answer your question, one needs to know what do you intend your final output for this file will be. Print? Web? Video?

Only with this info can one determine if a JPG final would be appropriate for your AI file.

Going to print with it? Forget JPG, leave as AI, or save as PDF or EPS.

Going to web? GIF or PNG would probably be better if you have few gradients or need a transparent background.

I'm going to assume that you are going to print, since you mention High Resolution.

Since you mentioned drawing your objects, I'm also going to assume that you're not trying to place a photo in AI to magically make it an infinitely scalable vector, as Eugene suggested. You may already know that that's impossible. (That's like wrapping an apple in an orange peel and giving to someone while saying, "Here, enjoy this orange.")

[eugenetyson]

Well, in addition, A5 - A4 is not a 71% increase, that should be a 141% (141.8 to be precise) increase!

(A4 - A5 is a 71% decrease)

I found the original post to be a little bit lacking in information to what the end result should be, so I just tried to cover as many bases and topics I could think of on the fly.

But I like the short answer given by Repro.

[eugenetyson]

then it produce an image but with not high resolution , I mean when i still zoom the pic, i still see the pixle, and i know the main feature of illustrator is to produce an image with high resultion......... so how can i make it???

That's the difference between a illustrator file, like the .ai and .pdf vs the bitmap versions, such as jpg and tiff

As the .ai are scalable to any size you won't see any jagged edges/pixelated areas. All you'll see are smooth lines, no matter how big it is or how much you zoom in by.

But with jpg and tiff, they are bitmaps, and bitmaps will generally have rough edges when you zoom in a lot on them, and it's very difficult to make bitmaps/jpg/tiff/raster images larger without the edges looking rough.