I am switching to AI from Corel and need some help in scaling. How do I scale a photo or background image in AI to size based on a known size in the photo? Example: I took a picture of a storefront and I'm going to impose the sign in the photo... I import the picture and I know the door in the picture is 36" wide. How do I scale the photo so that the door in the photo is 36" wide and all other object are in scale.
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Scale picture to known size
- Thread starter bkirk
- Start date
Custom_Grafx
New Member
It'd be the same as how you do it in Corel?
The logistics are a bit different...
Select your thing that you want to scale, right click it, click on 'transform' then click on 'scale' and put in your percentage.
The logistics are a bit different...
Select your thing that you want to scale, right click it, click on 'transform' then click on 'scale' and put in your percentage.
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
Draw a rectangle over the known 36" wide door.
Select the rectangle and use it as a clipping mask for the image.
Scale the rectangle up to 36" wide and release the clipping mask.
Image should be the right scale.
You do have to watch out for Illy's lower workspace limit.
EDIT
"If either the height or width goes past 227" at full scale AI won't do it."
I am wrong here, I just tried it and it will scale beyond the limit, anything out side the 227 does register but is still there.
wayne k
guam usa
Select the rectangle and use it as a clipping mask for the image.
Scale the rectangle up to 36" wide and release the clipping mask.
Image should be the right scale.
You do have to watch out for Illy's lower workspace limit.
EDIT
"If either the height or width goes past 227" at full scale AI won't do it."
I am wrong here, I just tried it and it will scale beyond the limit, anything out side the 227 does register but is still there.
wayne k
guam usa
Last edited:
GypsyGraphics
New Member
it's not really a matter of scaling in AI, it's a mathematical equation. what size is the 36" door currently on your page?
maybe it would be easier to create your text in the actual dimension on a 36" wide artboard (working in 100% scale), group, copy and pastes onto the page with your photo. then visual scale it down maintaining the proper portions by holding shift, as you drag the corner anchor.
that way, it doesn't matter what size you photo is or what scale you're working in. and your 36" version is your cut file.
maybe it would be easier to create your text in the actual dimension on a 36" wide artboard (working in 100% scale), group, copy and pastes onto the page with your photo. then visual scale it down maintaining the proper portions by holding shift, as you drag the corner anchor.
that way, it doesn't matter what size you photo is or what scale you're working in. and your 36" version is your cut file.
phototec
New Member
To scale any image in Illy, first you have to KNOW the actual currant scale, to find that out, you use the Measure Tool (located with the Eye Dropper Tool), hold your mouse button down on the Eye Dropper Tool, and the Measure Tool will be accessible.
Using the Measure Tool, select a known point on the door in the photo, and drag the tool across to the other known point of the photo, holding down the shift key will keep your measurement horizontal (I do this all the time). The measurement will be displayed in the INFO window. You are selecting the two know points (36" wide) on the door.
To make sure you are going to end up with a true scale image, you need to make sure of the actual points on the door that are 36" wide, and use the same reference points to scale from.
Now that you now the exact dimension of you on screen image, using a calculator, divide 36" by whatever dimension you got using your Measure Tool. This will give you a magnification factor for enlarging your image to a full size of 36" wide.
Next step, double click on the Scale Tool and input your magnification factor into the SCALE window and click ok, the image should be enlarged very close to the FULL scale of 36" wide.
Sometimes, when rounding off the decimals for the magnification factor your image may not be exactly 36", that's ok, just do both procedures one more time and you can get it sized to EXACTLY 36" wide.
I often make my own full size templates, I tape a know sized object in the photo, in your case, I would have placed a 36" yellow metal yard stick on the actual door, stepped way, way back away from the door, so not to get distortion, snapped a photo straight onto to subject. later when i load the image into illy or PS, I scale on the screen using the Measure Tool, follow the above procedure, and I'm able to get a full size image very close to exact size.
Good luck
Custom_Grafx
New Member
Lens correction tool in filter/distort in PS is amazing at making photos perfectly straight/square. I use it all the time for things like shop windows.
PS is also better (maybe not better, but more featured) for measuring off photos than Ai. I use a tool called "measurement log" in PS. You punch in your custom scale (eg 1.342) and it does the math for you, and enters each measurement point as a database style line in a log. This log can also be exported to tab delimited text file.
PS is also better (maybe not better, but more featured) for measuring off photos than Ai. I use a tool called "measurement log" in PS. You punch in your custom scale (eg 1.342) and it does the math for you, and enters each measurement point as a database style line in a log. This log can also be exported to tab delimited text file.
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
You guys are making it too hard.
Need to follow the KISS rule and let the computer do the grunt work.
Too many steps and you run the risk of crash and burn:
http://articles.cnn.com/1999-09-30/...er-climate-orbiter-spacecraft-team?_s=PM:TECH
wayne k
guam usa
Need to follow the KISS rule and let the computer do the grunt work.
Too many steps and you run the risk of crash and burn:
http://articles.cnn.com/1999-09-30/...er-climate-orbiter-spacecraft-team?_s=PM:TECH
wayne k
guam usa
Custom_Grafx
New Member
Haha, that's gold!
artbot
New Member
i do tons of virtual installs... one very important thing mentioned earlier is to transform the image plumb in photoshop first.
as far as a technique. mine is probably wrong but easy. i draw a selection over the know object. that object's dims will show up in the info window. go to image size and turn off resample image. then divide (in your head) the amount of pixels vs. the dim you see. you'll usually end up at like 10ppi or 12.3 ppi. tick up and down a bit and you will get a good feel for zooming in on the exact ppi needed. you'll see your info window immediately updated each time. in the end, you will have an image that is like 500" x 350" @ 8.2ppi. all scaled. you can later upsample the file to what ever dpi you will be printing and doing real file creation for.
as far as a technique. mine is probably wrong but easy. i draw a selection over the know object. that object's dims will show up in the info window. go to image size and turn off resample image. then divide (in your head) the amount of pixels vs. the dim you see. you'll usually end up at like 10ppi or 12.3 ppi. tick up and down a bit and you will get a good feel for zooming in on the exact ppi needed. you'll see your info window immediately updated each time. in the end, you will have an image that is like 500" x 350" @ 8.2ppi. all scaled. you can later upsample the file to what ever dpi you will be printing and doing real file creation for.
When I'm trying to bring an image down to a specific size, the first thing is to have a known measurement of an area on the photo (which I'm interpreting 36" to be). Maybe even several, for comparison after you scale it down. As suggested, it's good to make sure you have straight lines on your image in order to get the best accuracy.
Then, I place the image Illy and measure the area of the known measurement. For the sake of this example, let's say that Illy measurement is 15". I then take this measurement and divide it by the known measurement (36") and that gives me the percentage to increase or decrease the image by (be sure to move the decimal point two spaces to the right for the amount to input in your scale tool).
This method is good for scaling up or down. Just take the measured size inside your Application and divide it by your desired size. This will give you the percentage to scale up or down. Of course, you need to move the decimal point two spaces to the right for the exact amount.
This is the exact same way Phototec is describing.
jc
Then, I place the image Illy and measure the area of the known measurement. For the sake of this example, let's say that Illy measurement is 15". I then take this measurement and divide it by the known measurement (36") and that gives me the percentage to increase or decrease the image by (be sure to move the decimal point two spaces to the right for the amount to input in your scale tool).
This method is good for scaling up or down. Just take the measured size inside your Application and divide it by your desired size. This will give you the percentage to scale up or down. Of course, you need to move the decimal point two spaces to the right for the exact amount.
This is the exact same way Phototec is describing.
jc
MikePro
New Member
i have a CADtools plugin for Illustrator. Import a photo, draw a box of a known dimension in the photo (i'll usually use a storefront window) and manually scale the image to match.
Its never 100% accurate, considering you're picture always ends up being at an angle that throws off your perfect square, but it should be close enough for proposals/permit applications.
Its never 100% accurate, considering you're picture always ends up being at an angle that throws off your perfect square, but it should be close enough for proposals/permit applications.