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Need Help Do you loose quality when scaling raster image in Illustrator

ColorCrest

All around shop helper.
We hit Illustrator’s memory ceiling quite often. The re render issue is minimal if you’re working with poster size layouts.

We will get 2 gig .ai files with 6 gigs of links sometimes, it taxes our 8 core trash can Mac pretty heavy. Typically after we optimize all of the art and remove extraneous crap our production files are about a third the size or smaller.
You say sometimes. What's your experience most of the time? Still Illustrator previews are slow?
 

Andy_warp

New Member
How exactly are you determining this to the case? I ask because I don't experience this.

After conferring with my prepress guru...it turns out
How exactly are you determining this to the case? I ask because I don't experience this.
We see it in output. The second you embed the image, it takes on not only Illustrators working ice profile, but also the documents raster effect resolution. If that exceeds the 2 gig (or whatever it is exactly) Illustrator raster ceiling...it downsamples it to clear it.
 

Andy_warp

New Member
Until they get touched by an operator and / or RIP settings.
Right! It lets you send a layout to your rip with various color spaces and icc profiles. Even different color spaces. If you embed an rgb image in a cmyk Illustrator doc, it is now cmyk with Illustrator’s working space profile.

We avoid the image being processed twice, once by Illustrator and once by the rip.
 

Andy_warp

New Member
I profiled our whole color set up...create all templates...manage the graphics department...and run the printer...EVERY file he processes I see. I do all of the tech work on the machine, and all customer interaction.

I would say I have a little practical knowledge. Smart guy.
embedded.jpg
placed.jpg


To demonstrate this as a FACT, I have included 2 screenshots. For one of them, I placed an rgb screenshot and embedded into a cmyk layout. The other one I placed as a link and saved as a pdf.
 

Andy_warp

New Member
Hi there,

Another designer send me a .tiff file with 100dpi and 100% scale for a van wrap and I scaled it down to1/20 in Illustrator to make it fit in the template and now I'm going to print it in full scale. Do I lose any quality when I downscaling and rescaling in Illustrator?
Yes, you can lose quality. If the raster images get embedded. Always place as a link. If you just do the math and size it before you place it at 100% it will make Illustrator run more smoothly.

Another thing to avoid is saving a jpeg as a jpeg again. It compresses your image twice. We place as a psd if we’ve had to add bleed or adjust the file. Then you can keep the psd with adjustment layers (non destructive) and only tweak the link if further adjustment is needed. If I’m provided a jpeg that is ready to print, I use their file. For large graphics it really is worth it to get the original original file. Psd from a raw file digital photograph nets the least amount of grain/noise when up sampling.

1:20 seems like an excessive scale for vehicle wraps. I suggest working at the closest scale to the 200” Illustrator limit as possible. Mainly because of Illustrator based raster effects. We like quarter scale!
 

Andy_warp

New Member
We deal with the limits of what this Adobe software can do at least once a year. Here’s a link to the last time it happened...that Luigi face wall is 50’ wide by 30’ tall! Fun stuff!

We do the prints. All of the awesome lighting and models are handled by others. There are like twenty vendors involved! This was my sixth year managing prints.

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/nintendo-booth-at-e3-2019/8/
 
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