Topic: Help with resolution of a PNG file?

[Anne Marie]

I have designed and ordered postcards before, but I must have lucked into it, because this time I am going through a similar process to make bookmarks and I cannot make it work.  Any help would be appreciated.

I have a Mac running Mountain Lion.  I created the files in Pages, and then converted them to PDFs.  The PDFs would not load properly to the printing company website, so I asked their support for help.  They said they were actually PNG files (I don't understand this because it clearly says PDF, but apparently I am missing something) and that if I make them a higher resolution (1638pixelsx638pixels), the PNG files should work just fine.

Any help would be appreciated.  I did a search online but the answers I found were beyond my basic abilities.

TIA!

[Mike Jung]

Aha! So you are using them as images, rather than as readable documents! I'm not terribly knowledgeable with Pages on a Mac (I only use in on my iPad), but if you're starting with a Pages document and saving it as a PNG...that actually sounds very weird, to be honest, but if so, there must be some option available in which to specify what resolution and/or dimensions you want the PNG to be. If you can find that, set the resolution to 300 dpi, which is industry-standard print quality resolution...

[Anne Marie]

I saved it as a PDF first, and then somehow it ended up being a PNG, which is not a bad thing.  The PDF will not load properly to the Overnight Prints website; it appears to but doesn't really.  The PNG loads properly but it is too small.

[Stephanie Ruble]

I have no idea on Pages. Can you use the original file and save it as a PNG with higher resolution? Or if you have Photoshop or a similar image program, can you import it to that program and re-save as PNG? Wish I knew more to help. Good luck!!

[Anne Marie]

Thanks, Stephanie.  I think part of the problem is I don't have Photoshop or any of the more professional software.

This is just a BOOKMARK!  ACK!

(Thanks to Joni, who is helping behind the scenes!)

[Stephanie Ruble]

There is a free program that you can download, but I don't know the name of it. I hope Joni is able to help you get the right resolution, otherwise, maybe google free photo software. Also, if the publisher sent you an image file that's not large enough, maybe you can ask for the resolution/size that you need. 

[Anne Marie]

Thanks everybody!  Joni helped me diagnose the problem and then a friend's husband who does this kind of thing for a living put it in Photoshop and had it fixed in about three minutes.

Now it's at the printer and I'm set!

Thanks for all your input!  I was WAY over my head!

AM, frequent user of exclamation points

[annemariewrites]

For future reference: Mac users can download a free program (app) called Seashore under Apps. You can also download Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/). I prefer Gimp because I'm more familiar with Photoshop, but it's really user-preference.

Also, you can change a file on a Mac by changing the file extention after the . So a .pdf can be erased and named .jpg or .tif or .png to change the file type. Unsure if it's the same way in Mt Lion, but you click > Get Info > change the file name.

Glad you got it sorted though. :D