A logo in PNG comes out fuzzy: what can we do?

Check the following:

- Size of the file (logo) in KB and its DPI count. Most images on the internet have low sizes (30-50 KB) which helps fast loading. These small sizes come out blurry in print even when the DPI (or pixel) count is 300, the standard DPI count for professional printing. To achieve good print quality you need a chunky file of 400-500 KB at least. See if you can get the logo in larger KB size from whoever made it originally.

If not try processing the PNG file via Distiller separately BEFORE importing the image into the Pages document. Then import the logo in PDF. PDFs are crisper and retain image quality better then other types of files when you resize images. You can check DPI count in Acrobart or in Preview under Tools menu or press Command+i.

- Downsize PNG image (e.g.from 4x4 to 2x2) and Distill it in that size. Then try increasing the size of PDF (from 2x2 to 4x4)

- Shadows. Check if your PNG image has shadows. Pages sometimes struggle with shadows producing blurred effect. If you can, remove shadows altogether, or increase the Wrap count around the logo to the largest possible, it may help.

- Check Distiller settings. DPI count is the most important setting - it should not be below be 300. The settings I give in this previous article have provided me with consistently good results.

Preview Drawer trick: quick way of selecting and importing photos into Pages

If you download pictures from a digital camera, they would likely go into iPhoto. To import a photo into a Pages project you just drag and drop it onto an open Pages document.

However, quite often you will have a disc, or a memory stick sent to you, or a zipped picture folder. There would be a number of photos for you to choose from. You can open them one by one - by default it will be in Preview. You don't need to put them into iPhoto or Media Browser, simply drag and drop the photo from its folder.

Now here is the neat trick number one: instead of opening pictures one by one you can open them all at once.

- Press Command and type A (for All, I presume). This selects all files in a folder.
- Press Command and type O (for Open). Preview will open all pictures in one go: they will be shown as thumbnails in the Drawer. Click on thumbnails to see the pictures and select the one you want to use in your project.

Neat trick number two: pictures may come from different sources and have different technical parametres - some files are big, some small. Go to Tools>Get Info to check DPI, file size and other data to decide if the picture suits you. Clicking on thumbnails gives data for each photo.

Neat trick number three: when you are done with selecting and checking photos, CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL and drag the picture into your Pages document. You may find that this is much quicker and simpler than going through iPhoto or Media. And certainly easier than copy-pasting photos.

The picture here shows a batch of Easter theme flowers all opened in Preview with a Drawer showing thumbnails. The main photo is of traditional Easter catkins (pussy-willow buds starting to flower).

Photos by Francesca Bostock, published in the April issue of the Rendezvous magazine and on the Rendezvous Readers Journal blog.

Please check this previous post about using the Drawer trick in ad design:
Use Preview to update repeated formats

Web-Pages to iWork Pages: just copy-paste

Quite often I need to copy material - text, images, logos from the internet.

Apple Mac allows just to click and drag elements off a web page onto your Desktop.

I haven't realised until recently that I can also copy-paste web pages straight into iWork Pages. Drag cursor over the web-page to highlight what you want to copy. Both text and graphics paste beautifully with pictures set as inline objects into a Pages document.

I find it useful for my own project because I can immediately see how images would look in my document, resize them, reprocess for high-end publishing or file for later use, already in Pages, or 'print' them to iPhoto.

I am sure many researchers and students who do a lot of work on the internet would find this simple trick useful too, because, as I hear, a lot of work these days is done the copy-paste way and not as we, old hands, used to do it by endlessly copying in long-hand from dusty volumes.

Bear in mind though, especially if your end product goes to professional printshops, that most images on the internet are low definition RGB with DPI count at 72 or lower. These are not good on high-quality print presses. Avoid them if you can. In fact, my printers ask me to provide them with a list of low-grade images in the magazine, so that they know I'm ok with that.

You can slightly improve the quality of 72 DPI images by reprocessing them through Acrobat to 300 DPI, the industry wide standard.

Check if higher definition downloads are available. Quite often images on internet pages are clickable and allow you to get a higher resolution version of the same image. Click on the photo of the beautiful Reinette Grise cider apples above to see how it works.

And don't forget to check the copyright!

In most cases you can find a free alternative to an image you are looking for. Many photo, cartoon or clipart downloads are inexpensive and allow multiple use. Or you can recreate the image yourself - these days it may not require sophisticated and expensive equipment.

Check these earlier articles:

- Quick JPEGs straight from Pages
- Creating your own clipart with instant Alpha in Pages