One for the techno boffs... vector graphic question..

[Arch]

ok, i realise this may be completely over you guys heads... but i thought id ask this here to see if any of you guys happen to know or have read anyting about this.

I posted this in a few graphic design forums and well, lets just say it didn't go down too well... im so glad our lovely forum here isn't full of elitist jerks.. well even if we have a few, i know who they are! :mrgreen:

So here goes... in short, a vector object which i have created in Illustrator needed a few photoshop effects, so i dropped it in PS. The vector shows as a 'vector smart' object in PS.. as it should... but i have a problem.
The object will scale up... i can make it as large as i want and it still retains it vectored edge, however when i try and downscale it to say a few inches, the vector seems to have rasterised edges and looks awful.

I found that this is true of all objects which you transfere from Illustrator to PS... Illy always keeps the object looking crisp at any size... PS looks fine at mid or large scale... but awful in small scale.... why is this?... is PS still using pixels to form the logo? Is there a way around this problem or is PS always going to make small images whether bitmap or 'vector smart' look crap?

If anyone can answer this, i will be (apart from impressed) grateful.

If not, no biggie, this is a photography forum after all!

 

[johngpt]

Have you tried printing after downscaling? Does it print as if it were rasterized by PS?

It could be that PS isn't mathematically able to handle the vector graphic at the down-sized scale, and shows as rasterized, while it still really is a vector smart object.

Something else which might give you information as to whether it was rasterized, is to 'Save As,' giving it a slightly different name, to protect your original file. Then open it in illustrator to see whether it has retained its vector-ness lol.

I seem to remember reading something along these lines some time in the last year in Layers magazine. PS CS3 may be better able to handle vector graphics from AI, than any previous version of PS.

I'll see if I can find what I think I remember in Layers.

 

[johngpt]

Been googling. Does this link have any bearing on your situation?


And another.

Found another one which seems like the second one, above.

I keep finding stuff which may or may not be applicable to your situation, so here's the last.

I hope that I'm not just muddying the waters.

I'll still look through my Layers mags to see if I can find something elephant. I mean, relevant.

 

[Arch]

you are a legend! Thankyou.

With a combination of info on one of the links you gave, and what my business partner found out about using shape layers instead of vector smart objects, i have worked out how to export the finished design into a high res PDF, with no loss of quality.

Great job finding that info and thanks again. :thumbup:

 

[johngpt]

Glad you got it sorted out.