Rasterize resolution in Designer

[SteffenF]

how come there is no way to specify the resolution when rasterizing in Designer?..  The menu option is "Rasterize..." and the elipsis is supposed to indicate a dialog box with options will appear, yet when selected, it simply rasterizes at 300dpi.  Is there really no way to specify resolution?..

[R C-R]

Since a document can have only one DPI setting, I believe the Rasterize command uses whatever one is set for the document.

 

I know of only one instance for which there is a dialog box when you choose the Rasterize option, that being if you choose to rasterize a layer with fx applied. The dialog box has only one option, that being to rasterize the fx or not. Apparently, that is why the ellipsis appears for that option.

[MEB]

Hi SteffenF,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Go to menu File ▸ Document Setup... and set the resolution you want for the document in the DPI field. All vector objects, layers effects etc will be then rasterised using this value.

[SteffenF]

Thanks to the moderator, that helps a bit.  Not sure why both Designer and Photo are limited to a maximum raster resolution of 400dpi though, wish it were higher.

[R C-R]

Not sure why both Designer and Photo are limited to a maximum raster resolution of 400dpi though, wish it were higher.

They aren't, at least as far as I can tell. The dropdown just has a few preset values to choose from, but for example I can type 2400 in the DPI field & that is what the document will use.

[RichRooster]

On 2/20/2017 at 0:47 PM, MEB said:

Hi SteffenF,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

Go to menu File ▸ Document Setup... and set the resolution you want for the document in the DPI field. All vector objects, layers effects etc will be then rasterised using this value.

Hi MEB, I have tried this and it does not seem to change the dpi of the rasterized image. Here is what I just tried:

 

1) I created two new Designer files. One with the document DPI set to 72, the other set to 3000.

2) I dragged a jpg file with high resolutoin into both designer files.

3) I rasterized both images. The resolutions of the end results are the same. 

 

Is that how it is supposed to behave?

rasterized_at_72dpi.afdesign

rasterized_at_3000dpi.afdesign

[carl123]

Your 2 documents are different

If you print them you will see the effect of the different DPIs

If you have no printer you can use File > Print and look at the (rather small) preview and see the difference

[R C-R]

59 minutes ago, RichRooster said:

1) I created two new Designer files. One with the document DPI set to 72, the other set to 3000.

2) I dragged a jpg file with high resolutoin into both designer files.

3) I rasterized both images. The resolutions of the end results are the same. 

But the sizes are not. You do not have to do as carl123 suggested to see this. Just change the display units in each of them to something other than pixels. This is easily done in the Context toolbar when the View (hand) tool is selected. So for example, with both set to display inches as the unit, the pixel layer in 72 DPI version is about 5.3 x 3.5 inches, while in the 3000 DPI version it is about 0.13 x 0.09 inches.

 

Even simpler: from the View menu choose "Actual Size" or "100%." Depending on which "Actual Size" option you used in the new document window, you should see a very big difference in the display.

 

Also consider that DPI really only applies to printing, & that various print driver options can override the document's DPI & print at a different effective DPI.

[toltec]

1 hour ago, RichRooster said:

Hi MEB, I have tried this and it does not seem to change the dpi of the rasterized image. Here is what I just tried:

 

1) I created two new Designer files. One with the document DPI set to 72, the other set to 3000.

2) I dragged a jpg file with high resolutoin into both designer files.

3) I rasterized both images. The resolutions of the end results are the same. 

 

Is that how it is supposed to behave?

rasterized_at_72dpi.afdesign

rasterized_at_3000dpi.afdesign

 

The resolution (pixel size) is set by the size you entered in Pixels in document setup. The DPI has no effect at all on resolution.

 

If you used a page size (like A4) the dpi would affect things i.e. If you create a bitmap inside Designer at two inches wide, it should be 800 pixels wide if the document is set at 400 dpi. It should be 600 pixels wide if the document is set at 300 dpi. That is the theory.

 

That is the only time the dpi affects the size.

 

The dpi does affect how Designer sizes the image when you import (place) it. If you set a 4 inch wide picture at 300 dpi, it should be placed in your 300 dpi affinity document at 4 inches wide. If you set it 72 dpi, even if it is the same pixel size, it would be placed at a different size. See the picture.

 

Exactly the same file, but the top one is set at 300dpi and arrived at 4 inches wide (place), the bottom was changed to 72 dpi (at the same pixel resolution). and arrived much bigger.

 

 

If you set the pixel size of your document to 6000 x 4000 (or much, much bigger) the file would be much, much larger, no matter what you put in the dpi. box. That only applies to bitmaps. Vector files will be the same.