High Resolution Rendering

[hrdorlando]

We are trying to utilize one of our own high resolution renderings as a back drop for a trade event.  We used X9 to create the image.  Although we have SSA, the team at Chief was not able to assist.  The graphics department requesting our image is asking for 30" width (unit of measure) and 600 dpi.  Can anyone help as to how we might achieve this?

[TheKitchenAbode]

If you are using an existing pic then you will need to load it into a program such as Photoshop and use the adjust image size. To achieve what you want your existing pic will need to be 18,000 px in width. 30" X 600 DPI = 18,000 px. For example the pic you posted is 1527 px in width, at 600 DPI it's physical print width would be 2 1/2".

[Chopsaw]

The most accurate way I have found to print in high resolution from Chief is to format a borderless PDF paper size and print to PDF.

 

I also talked to tech last week and they really were not able to give me positive advice but I was able to create a Meta File ( .EMF ) and set the width to 10" and the dpi to 1800 and it was not properly formatted but seemed to work ok for printing purposes.  Meta Files are copied to the clipboard and then saved in another program such as paint.

[hrdorlando]

Thank you Chopsaw and TheKitchenAbode for your help.  We are going to try both options.  Another quick question, we attempted to set up a layout page at 30"tall x 42"wide (per standard options on drawing sheet set up).  When we imported the image at 600 dpi, it does not fit on the page. Wondering if you have experienced this?  I would think since we are trying to get to 30" wide it would have fit on the page set up at 42" wide?

[country]

With a layout image, you just grab a corner and shrink it to fit the space.

[TheKitchenAbode]

14 minutes ago, hrdorlando said:

Thank you Chopsaw and TheKitchenAbode for your help.  We are going to try both options.  Another quick question, we attempted to set up a layout page at 30"tall x 42"wide (per standard options on drawing sheet set up).  When we imported the image at 600 dpi, it does not fit on the page. Wondering if you have experienced this?  I would think since we are trying to get to 30" wide it would have fit on the page set up at 42" wide?

 

Just a guess but it is likely that the resolution DPI of the layout page is lower than that of your pic. The advantage of using PDF is that you can set the resolution of the PDF file to match that of your pic. High resolution PDF's are a very common method used to transfer graphics to the printer production people.

[hrdorlando]

Thank you again.  This is super helpful.  We are going to send as PDF with the resolution they requested and fingers crossed it will work. 

[Dermot]

Have you tried using the Export Picture tool from within Chief?  I would recommend that you try this first before anything else.  You can specify the pixel size to generate as well as the resolution.  As Graham pointed out, if you need a 30" image at 600 dpi, you will need to specify 18000 pixels for the width.  You might also need to specify the height unless you want to have the image match the screen aspect ratio.

[TheKitchenAbode]

Just now, Dermot said:

Have you tried using the Export Picture tool from within Chief?  I would recommend that you try this first before anything else.  You can specify the pixel size to generate as well as the resolution.  As Graham pointed out, if you need a 30" image at 600 dpi, you will need to specify 18000 pixels for the width.  You might also need to specify the height unless you want to have the image match the screen aspect ratio.

 

That will work well but we have been having problems with that in the most recent version of X10 where it will only export a proper image if the size is the same as the active window size. Should be fine in older versions.

[Dermot]

The original poster is using X9 but the export picture tool should work the same in either version.

 

If you are having any problems with exporting images in X10, then please try it again after you get the new update we posted today.  If you are still having problems after that, then please report them to technical support so that we can look into them further.  Please be sure to include information about things like what rendering technique you are using and what all of your export settings are (file type, image size, dpi, etc.).  Including a sample plan with a saved camera representing the view you are trying to export would also be helpful.  Please be sure to include all of your system information, like your OS version, video card, and driver info.

 

You should always report any problems you are having directly to tech support and not just discuss them on the forums.  Here is the link:  https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/ 

 

[TheKitchenAbode]

1 minute ago, Dermot said:

The original poster is using X9 but the export picture tool should work the same in either version.

 

If you are having any problems with exporting images in X10, then please try it again after you get the new update we are planning on posting later today.  If you are still having problems after that, then please report them to technical support so that we can look into them further.  Please be sure to include information about things like what rendering technique you are using and what all of your export settings are (file type, image size, dpi, etc.).  Including a sample plan with a saved camera representing the view you are trying to export would also be helpful.  Please be sure to include all of your system information, like your OS version, video card, and driver info.

 

You should always report any problems you are having directly to tech support and not just discuss them on the forums.  Here is the link:  https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/ 

 

 

Thanks Dermot. I will wait until the new update has been released.

[Renerabbitt]

4 hours ago, hrdorlando said:

We are trying to utilize one of our own high resolution renderings as a back drop for a trade event.  We used X9 to create the image.  Although we have SSA, the team at Chief was not able to assist.  The graphics department requesting our image is asking for 30" width (unit of measure) and 600 dpi.  Can anyone help as to how we might achieve this?

Id be willing to tackle this for a fee. Would import the 3d model into an external software. You will get a ton of artifacts using just chief as the textures are very low resolution

[Chrisb222]

8 hours ago, hrdorlando said:

We are trying to utilize one of our own high resolution renderings as a back drop for a trade event.  We used X9 to create the image.  Although we have SSA, the team at Chief was not able to assist.  The graphics department requesting our image is asking for 30" width (unit of measure) and 600 dpi.  Can anyone help as to how we might achieve this?

 

Use File > Export > Export Picture from Chief, select PNG as the output format. PNG will result in higher quality compared with JPEG.

[Chopsaw]

8 hours ago, Dermot said:

Have you tried using the Export Picture tool from within Chief?  I would recommend that you try this first before anything else.  You can specify the pixel size to generate as well as the resolution.

 

Dermot,  Could you explain this a little further or direct us to a resource that does as I have checked with tech support about this issue several times over the years with very little helpful feedback.

 

I just created two identical Exported Picture files.  One saved at 72 dpi. and another saved at 6000 dpi.  The properties report does indicate the recorded resolution but the identical file sizes would suggest that this is not true and visual inspection confirms it.

 

Can this be explained or fixed please.  v. 20.2.1.1

[hrdorlando]

Update:  yes, we have exported as picture in several different formats and different dpi settings.  Sadly, after export, and upon opening by end user, the image has a barring effect running through it.  I did speak at length to Chief yesterday and luckily got a very helpful team member.  They thought it might me my video card driver NVIDIA dated 2014.  Our IT updated it to 2018 version.  And I transferred the file to X10 to see if that would help.  Still no luck.  Chief asked me to submit a case via tech support.  So we are waiting, hoping they have a solution. 

[TheKitchenAbode]

11 hours ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Dermot,  Could you explain this a little further or direct us to a resource that does as I have checked with tech support about this issue several times over the years with very little helpful feedback.

 

I just created two identical Exported Picture files.  One saved at 72 dpi. and another saved at 6000 dpi.  The properties report does indicate the recorded resolution but the identical file sizes would suggest that this is not true and visual inspection confirms it.

 

Can this be explained or fixed please.  v. 20.2.1.1

 

I believe you will find that defining the DPI will have the effect you are expecting if you set the width & height of the pic in inches. If the width and height is in pix then the total number of pixels is not affected, just the physical print size. 

[hrdorlando]

Note:  When exporting as picture (.bmp since caution message said this would be best considering file size), we adjusted the unit of measure to inches, defined the width at 30" (we are trying to have printed specifically for a booth where host designates the size) and we noted dpi at 600.  But barring is present upon opening.

[TheKitchenAbode]

17 minutes ago, hrdorlando said:

Note:  When exporting as picture (.bmp since caution message said this would be best considering file size), we adjusted the unit of measure to inches, defined the width at 30" (we are trying to have printed specifically for a booth where host designates the size) and we noted dpi at 600.  But barring is present upon opening.

 

Just a guess but maybe due to the pic size, that's a lot of pixels, you might be exceeding your video cards memory. If so it should resort to shared memory but maybe in doing this something gets screwed up. You could test this by reducing the DPI and seeing if it goes away at some point and if so calculating the total pix to see if that is within your video cards memory limit.

[hrdorlando]

Thanks.  I will try that. 

[TheKitchenAbode]

3 hours ago, hrdorlando said:

Thanks.  I will try that. 

 

I just tested this out and it seems to have no effect. I get bands showing up. Here is an example, just a plain room, standard camera view, exported at 8000 px width. You can see vertical bands on the walls and the one across the ceiling. There are no doors or windows in this room. It occurs in both JPEG and PNG image exports.

[TheKitchenAbode]

Here is the same view exported at the current window size. No banding.

[Chopsaw]

4 hours ago, TheKitchenAbode said:

15 hours ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Dermot,  Could you explain this a little further or direct us to a resource that does as I have checked with tech support about this issue several times over the years with very little helpful feedback.

 

I just created two identical Exported Picture files.  One saved at 72 dpi. and another saved at 6000 dpi.  The properties report does indicate the recorded resolution but the identical file sizes would suggest that this is not true and visual inspection confirms it.

 

Can this be explained or fixed please.  v. 20.2.1.1

 

I believe you will find that defining the DPI will have the effect you are expecting if you set the width & height of the pic in inches. If the width and height is in pix then the total number of pixels is not affected, just the physical print size. 

 

Thank you so much Graham,  I have been struggling with this for years without any help from tech support. It is still a little unintuitive but it seem that it must have been fixed at some point without me being aware.

 

Just have to find out what that warning about the 200 MB limit is all about for all but .bmp and if it is wise to override or not.

[TheKitchenAbode]

16 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

 

Thank you so much Graham,  I have been struggling with this for years without any help from tech support. It is still a little unintuitive but it seem that it must have been fixed at some point without me being aware.

 

Just have to find out what that warning about the 200 MB limit is all about for all but .bmp and if it is wise to override or not.

 

You are more than welcome Chopsaw. I rarely use the inches and DPI and when doing so I always have to think it through. DPI and inches are more relevant when sizing for the purpose of physical printing and they want you to define the physical print size with a resolution that matches their printers.

 

I just tried a JPEG export that exceeded the 200mb warning. Seemed to be ok but still has those bands.

[hrdorlando]

Good morning Electromen,

 

Thank you for the information.  The final print size requested by the marketing team is 30" wide (height determined by aspect ratio).  The marketing company handling the trade show is not actually the printer (more the coordinating team) and I think they requested the information the way they did because I sent them a screen shot of the 'Export Picture' window options for sizing and resolution.  They were trying to help me fill in the blanks.  I will ask them for the minimum PPI as you mentioned. 

 

Is there a fee for your assistance if we send you the file? 

[KirkClemons]

Tech support is not equipped to teach users concepts such as image resolution in one phone call. However, this guy does a good job of doing it in 2mins.

 

Hopefully, this helps clarify what you are doing when you adjust the DPI.