How to scale images using percentages?

[timme]

Hi,

Does anyone know how to scale images using percentages? How to move a picture inside a frame?

Thankx
 

 

[Alfred]

You can type a percentage in the W or H controls in the Transform panel. Linking the two beforehand will mean that you only need to type the value once.

The new absolute values will be treated as 100% for the next transform, so there’s no easy way to get back from (say) 43% to the original 100%.

[timme]

Thanks for the quick response. This seems to work. Not preserving the percentages entered in the text fields is very frustrating. I hope this will get fixed in the final release...

[fde101]

"Preserving" the percentages doesn't make any sense logistically in this context.  If the width were actually set to 43% (to borrow the above example), what would it be 43% of?

 

[timme]

43% of the total width or height of the size of the image. If an image has a width of 100cm, and you would like it be placed in Publisher as an image using a width of 43cm, the image should be placed as 43%. Knowing the images is placed in 43%, will allow us to quickly identify the potential of an image, allowing us to enlarge it again, if required.

[carl123]

You can find the original image size and the paced image size in Document > Resource Manager so you can already...

"quickly identify the potential of an image, allowing you to enlarge it again, if required"

[timme]

Hi,

Indeed, using the Resource manager you can also check the resolution of an image. But it's only displayed in 1 dimension. If an image has been resized disproportionately,  there is no way to check it. What is the default workflow to check for disproportionately placed images and to restore them to proportions?

[walt.farrell]

13 minutes ago, timme said:

What is the default workflow to check for disproportionately placed images and to restore them to proportions?

I don't think there is one.

Wouldn't it be easier to not distort them in the first place? Or to notice distortion as you cause it, and Undo?

[timme]

Maybe yes. But what if you work in teams? There is no way you can be sure what you colleagues should have been doing....

[carl123]

If you know the original image size and the placed image size ( as shown in the resource manager ) you can work out if the image has been "distorted".

It's basic maths

[timme]

I don't think using math on each image, is user friendly way of handling this issue. By adding 2 extra fields next to the W and H fields in the transform pallet, displaying the actual percentage of the placed image, would be very very very usefull... And will solve all issues of users which would like to use percentages on images... 

[MikeW]

4 minutes ago, carl123 said:

If you know the original image size and the placed image size ( as shown in the resource manager ) you can work out if the image has been "distorted".

It's basic maths

Might be basic math, but it is a whole lot nicer/faster to simply know that information.

I don't work in teams anymore. But I do receive files from others where an image might have been manipulated to fit a given space. Happens all too frequently.

[walt.farrell]

25 minutes ago, timme said:

using the Resource manager you can also check the resolution of an image. But it's only displayed in 1 dimension.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Here's a screenshot from the Resource Manager, and I see both dimensions. Of course, you have to examine each image individually, which for a large document with many images could be time consuming. And it's annoying that the units aren't the same (necessarily) between original and placed sizes.

[timme]

The "Placed DPI" column uses online one dimension. The information panel located on the right doesn't display actual size in DPI.

Where is the "image info" panel located?

Just another small detail: DPI should be replaced by PPI. DPI (Dots per inch) is only used for output devices (Printers, plotters, ...), and PPI (pixels per inch) is the default unit for resolution in graphic files ... :-)

[carl123]

16 minutes ago, MikeW said:

I don't work in teams anymore. But I do receive files from others where an image might have been manipulated to fit a given space. Happens all too frequently.

As a designer I can look at any image when placed in my designs and know if it looks OK or not.  I do not need the program to tell me it's been "distorted".  In fact, on many occasions, I may choose to "distort" an image deliberately if I feel it would look better than the original.  For me, designing is about what the final output looks like. It is not about what the program tells me has been done to the images.
 

[MikeW]

1 minute ago, timme said:

...Where is the "image info" panel located?...

Sorry, that panel is one I have displayed in QuarkXPress. It's an XTension I added to QXP.

Mike

[MikeW]

2 minutes ago, carl123 said:

As a designer I can look at any image when placed in my designs and know if it looks OK or not.  I do not need the program to tell me it's been "distorted".  In fact, on many occasions, I may choose to "distort" an image deliberately if I feel it would look better than the original.  For me, designing is about what the final output looks like. It is not about what the program tells me has been done to the images.
 

Well, good for you, Carl.

I do, however, want to know all that information at a glance--as well as the effective PPI, be able to swap out images/vector work etc. from that little palette.

[timme]

I agree with Mike. A designer should have all the information available to them, easily displayed, allowing designers to use images in the best possible way, to make sure the client has the best possible result ... 

[timme]

This would be awesome ...

 

[MEB]

1 hour ago, timme said:

Hi,

Indeed, using the Resource manager you can also check the resolution of an image. But it's only displayed in 1 dimension. If an image has been resized disproportionately,  there is no way to check it. What is the default workflow to check for disproportionately placed images and to restore them to proportions?

Check the top left corner of the interface with an image selected. It should display the placed dpi right after the resolution. If the image was distorted it should display a dpi value for each dimension instead (width and height).

[MikeW]

6 minutes ago, MEB said:

Check the top left corner of the interface with an image selected. It should display the placed dpi right after the resolution. If the image was distorted it should display a dpi value for each dimension instead (width and height).

Yes, but it can lie to you--at least using Windows.

Place an image. Note the DPI as a single value. Stretch it vertically. Note the horizontal DPI remains fixed.

Now undo. Now stretch it horizontally. Note the change to the vertical DPI. Here it is a consistent 1 DPI off.

But the main issue for myself is getting it back to 100% without fiddling around.

[timme]

Again, I agree with Mike. Change the size to another value using percentages should be made more easy.
If the "resource manager" is the main location to display all image related information, also this information should be displayed in the same window... 

[MEB]

5 minutes ago, MikeW said:

Yes, but it can lie to you--at least using Windows.

Place an image. Note the DPI as a single value. Stretch it vertically. Note the horizontal DPI remains fixed.

Now undo. Now stretch it horizontally. Note the change to the vertical DPI. Here it is a consistent 1 DPI off.

But the main issue for myself is getting it back to 100% without fiddling around.

 If that's the case, that's a bug on Windows. It works fine on Mac. Currently there's no way to reset the image dimensions. I agree it's useful but a button is enough to reset them. Any particular use case for percentages?

 

[MikeW]

1 minute ago, MEB said:

... Any particular use case for percentages?

You mean beyond the information at a glance so the user can take action or not?

Or easily reset the dimensions to 100% H/W or whatever the scale is proper for the image frame (in the case the image is larger than the image frame and one only wants the dims an even percentage?

Nope. Not that I can think of right off.

[MEB]

If the question is knowing if the image keeps the original ratio or was distorted the dpi on the left corner should give you a hint. A button to reset it to the original dimensions should be enough. If you really also need to resize it an even percentage (or whatever) you can do so through the Transform panel.