Newbie question – blurry images

CD
Posted By
Chris Davis
Jul 28, 2006
Views
448
Replies
4
Status
Closed
Hi all,

Sorry for what must be an incredibly pathetic question, but I’m very new to Photoshop (only having used "packages" like MS Paint before!) and I don’t think this is the sort of thing you can find in the help file. :-/

I’m just having a problem getting my images to look crisp, especially in regard to text (and even at a 12-point font). Before I knew that .jpg compression would cause an image to blur, so I would always save my images as .bmp. Does Photoshop save .psd images with some kind of compression that makes it blurry? I can’t use .bmp ‘cos of the lack of transparency. Is there any way to get around this so that when I print my images I can actually read the text? :-/

Many thanks in advance for your help,

Chris.

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

S
Stewy
Jul 29, 2006
In article ,
"Chris Davis" wrote:

Hi all,

Sorry for what must be an incredibly pathetic question, but I’m very new to Photoshop (only having used "packages" like MS Paint before!) and I don’t think this is the sort of thing you can find in the help file. :-/
I’m just having a problem getting my images to look crisp, especially in regard to text (and even at a 12-point font). Before I knew that .jpg compression would cause an image to blur, so I would always save my images as .bmp. Does Photoshop save .psd images with some kind of compression that makes it blurry? I can’t use .bmp ‘cos of the lack of transparency. Is there any way to get around this so that when I print my images I can actually read the text? :-/

Blurryness has more to do with the camera lens and camera shake than the software programs. Bitmaps (BMP) are for the simple drawing applets like Paint. PSDs have no compression at all, as with TIFF and RAW are all ‘loss-less’ files – nothing is ever ‘lost’ if you adjust the picture.

Also your monitor is set at a resolution of 72ppi and pictures often look a bit off on a monitor. Text on the picture will always suffer because of the transfer from a vector graph (the true-type scaling software) to pixel-based text. Your only way to minimize this is using larger text on bigger pictures. Powerpoint presentations usually retain the vector graphs so text remains crisp even when blown-up for presentations.

If you are getting a lot of blurry pictures you should invest in a good tripod and also check to see if the camera lens is clean. If your camera has the feature to make an audible ‘click’ when the picture is taken, try switching it on.
T
Tacit
Jul 29, 2006
In article ,
"Chris Davis" wrote:

I’m just having a problem getting my images to look crisp, especially in regard to text (and even at a 12-point font). Before I knew that .jpg compression would cause an image to blur, so I would always save my images as .bmp. Does Photoshop save .psd images with some kind of compression that makes it blurry? I can’t use .bmp ‘cos of the lack of transparency. Is there any way to get around this so that when I print my images I can actually read the text?

Where are you using this text? If you are trying to set large amounts of text in Photoshop, you’re making a mistake; use a word processor program.

Photoshop will by default "anti-alias" text. You can set whether or not it does this, and how much anti-aliasing it uses, in the text options window. Anti-aliasing makes curves look smoother but also makes the text look blurry.

If you describe your goals and how you are using the Photoshop image, we can offer more specific help. Are you printing these images? Are you just looking at them on a screen? Are they for the Web? What are you doing?


Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Nanohazard, Geek shirts, and more: http://www.villaintees.com
JF
John Forest
Jul 29, 2006
If your images are blurry when you print them I suspect that you are probably printing at too low a resolution. If you accept the default 72 pixels per inch the picture and the text will probably be blurry. Try changing the resolution to something about 200 to 300 PPI and then create some text and print it and see how it looks.
J
jrzyguy
Jul 29, 2006
in regards to text.

Are you talking about a photo that has text in it (like you took a picture of a sign or something)

Or are you using the photoshop text feature?

If you are working with the PS text feature…there will always be some slight blurriness when you jpg or giff or bmp it.

It all depends what dpi you are working at….as well your the pixel dimentions of your piece.

IF you are working with relatively small fonts (12 pt)…and not using any "text styles" in photoshop..i would work import my jpg (or what have you) into another program (powerpoint, indesign, quark, illustrator or coreldraw)…and work with my text there.

"Chris Davis" wrote in message
Hi all,

Sorry for what must be an incredibly pathetic question, but I’m very new to Photoshop (only having used "packages" like MS Paint before!) and I don’t think this is the sort of thing you can find in the help file. :-/
I’m just having a problem getting my images to look crisp, especially in regard to text (and even at a 12-point font). Before I knew that .jpg compression would cause an image to blur, so I would always save my images as .bmp. Does Photoshop save .psd images with some kind of compression that makes it blurry? I can’t use .bmp ‘cos of the lack of transparency. Is there any way to get around this so that when I print my images I can actually read the text? :-/

Many thanks in advance for your help,

Chris.

Must-have mockup pack for every graphic designer 🔥🔥🔥

Easy-to-use drag-n-drop Photoshop scene creator with more than 2800 items.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections