Poor Image Quality when plotting

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

Im new to the forum, so please bear with me..

I have a situation where i have created a set of alignment charts (Pipe Route for Subsea Inspections) that are using Geo Referenced images.  For some reason, the images in my charts are plotting out very distorted when plotted to both PDF and the plotter.

I have tried a number of things to using different compression rates and export variables..  I have tried various setting when plotting.. Including different packages, I.E Adobe, Nitro etc..

I have never had this problem before..

maybe someone has some other ideas i may be able to try?

Thanks

Details..

Autocad Map 3D 2015

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

welcome @Anonymous.autodesk.com!

The maybe most important statement was:

>> I have never had this problem before..

So what changed on your system? That's were we have to start.

>> I have tried various setting when plotting.. Including different packages, I.E Adobe, Nitro etc..

I would suggest to use the internal "DWG to PDF.pc3", raise the print resolution to 1200dpi and see if that presents your images better.

Also sometimes important when speaking about PDF: sometimes the display on the screen differs from the output to the printer, so plot the PDF 1:1 to the printer and compare the results.

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

Alfred many thanks for the reply.

The issue has been replicated on another machine here in the office and unfortunately we get the same results.

If i bring the image into a dwg using the Map-Image-Inset command.  Save this dwg and Xref into drawing.. It plots out fine.

When i Map-Image-Insert directly into the dwg, i have an issue

I tried upping the dpi as suggest, with no better luck im afraid.

Thanks..

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> Save this dwg and Xref into drawing.. It plots out fine.

So you mean when the image is inserted within a XREF it will plot in better quality compared to the image MAPIINSERT'ed directly in the current dwg?

Do you see a better plot result when you use _MAPCONNECT to get the image into your dwg?

The other (open) question is: what was changed on your system? (as you wrote "never had this problem before"

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

Yes thats correct..  Xref into Drawing is fine.. map-Insert-Image direct to chart is NOT..

FYI i get the same results from MAPCONNECT..

As far as im aware nothing has changed...........

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> As far as im aware nothing has changed

May I ask then what you have meant by "I have never had this problem before.."? If nothing would have changed I would think that plotting "before" would work the same way as today.

What time frame do you mean with "before"?

>> FYI i get the same results from MAPCONNECT..

That is strange, because by default the results are different.

When you create a viewport in the layout, which visual style does that viewport have assigned?

At least, any chance to get the data and play on our systems with that file(s)? Please upload a PDF too so we can see what your result is (compared then to our tests)

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

I mean this issue has never happened before in all the years i have been doing this.

With regards to MAPCONNECT, i should have said, im still getting poor results.

I have conducted a couple of tests and found the following.

If i Map-insert-Image directly into the drawing, all is good..  Once i IMAGECLIP the image to my panel/boundary i then see the poor image quality.

Attached is an example..

[Anonymous]

To add to the above..

• If I copy the image and paste directly into the chart -  It plots fine..
• If I Imageclip to the panel using POLYGONAL – Image distorts.
• If I imageclip using the RECTANGULAR option – Image plots fine…

Very Random

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> If i Map-insert-Image directly into the drawing, all is good..  Once i IMAGECLIP the image 

>> to my panel/boundary i then see the poor image quality.

Ok, so at least all is ok as long as you don't use the clipping function?

Can you reproduce that onyl with one image or one image-type (only PNG or only JPG or does that happen also with TIFF, ECW, ...?

If it happens only with one image then try to convert it to another format.

To your images: one image has a resultion of 557x182, the other one has 1306x626 ... how should we compare them?

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

We have tried with All file types that we can think of here in the office.. Bearing in mind they have to be Geo Referenced.

With regards to the attached images they were purely a visual to show you the difference in Quality.. (One was taken from a dwg and one from a PDF). Thats explains the size/resolution difference you are seeing.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

I find it great that you were able to isolate the issue to a polygonal clipping! This gives you an option to solve your issue, also the tip using the image within a XREF results in better plot-quality hopefully helps some readers here.

I by myself can't reproduce that (look to the attached PDF, all situations shown like xref and the two different clip options)

>> One was taken from a dwg and one from a PDF)

The problem with both is that a screenshot can only be compared when both screenshots are created with a 1:1 scale, zooming out or in can result in different screenshot quality.

I would try to recreate this in a new drawing, us an image you can show in the public here ... and in case you can again reproduce that with this new drawing then please upload the data, otherwise we can only guess and not test.

- alfred -

[scheel]

Hi,

here a Image where you have set a higher Resolution. You have to do that before you can set this higer Resolution in the main plot Dialog.

Sorry, I have no english Version, but the Buttons should be on the same places.

The question is, what is different against the past?

Are you using georeferenzed Image files or a WMS Service?

Thorsten

[Anonymous]

i know this question is years old, but hopefully this information helps those who, in the future, may visit this page as a reference.  i found that clipping large images will help dramatically with the quality of the plot.  in my particular situation, i was plotting a layout that had viewports centered on only mile long segments of an image i loaded into model space.  the image happened to cover the entire city. by clipping the image down to encompass only the area i was focused on, my plots were crisp!! this as opposed to blurred line segments plotted when the image was not clipped.