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Daven
10-05-2011, 03:48 PM
When you export a diagram, what is the actual resolution of the file size? In future versions will one be able to adjust the resolution? Also, under "kind" of export, is it possible to save to an Adobe file type?

Thanks,

Daven

Justin
10-05-2011, 04:27 PM
For image type exports (PNG, JPEG) the resolution is as you see it on the screen. It maps to 72 DPI (which is what the operating system uses to represent the screen), so the actual resolution will depend on your page size.

It's easy to get an idea of what it'll be - just look at the rulers along the left & top edges of the page - the numbers you see along there are in pixels.

Export allows you to also save as a PDF which is actually an Adobe created (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobepdf.html) file format. It's actually a vector based format so if you need to increase/reduce the size it'll scale perfectly, unlike with pixel based image formats (which don't!)

I'm aiming to add to some future release the ability to save pixel based images to higher DPI resolution files, as some folks would like to be able to use them in proper print situations (e.g. books, magazines, ...) and 72 DPI doesn't cut it for that.

Daven
10-10-2011, 05:22 PM
Thanks...Yes i'm looking for print quality images!!

Daven

Justin
10-10-2011, 07:20 PM
PDF is probably best at the moment.

Just remembered though that there is a kind of "workaround" to get large images! This'll work for new diagrams, but if you've got loads of them already though it'll be a bit of a pain..

You know you can set a custom page size? You could change the page size to be double the usual size then you'd get diagrams double the size! For example if you usally have the page size set to US Letter 8.5" x 11" then you can set the custom page size to 17" x 22" so you can create jumbo pages and so much higher resolution images when exporting.

You can use the zoom function on the editor toolbar and set it to 75%, 66% or whatever to make the page manageable on screen. You can set a custom page size on the New Diagram Page wizard and the template will size the fretboards to fit the page. And you can set the default page size in preferences if you want to create super sized pages without having to re-enter the size loads of times...

Not ideal, but might be useful in the meantime... :o

Daven
10-12-2011, 09:42 PM
Yes, I've already been working with page sizes...but I didn't think about going to a bigger size to get a higher resolution. Any thoughts on when this might be resolved in a future version/release? 1.9?? lol

Thanks,

Daven

Justin
10-17-2011, 01:38 PM
Won't be in 1.9 unfortunately Daven! Maybe after that though, perhaps December with any luck, or more likely January.

Once this feature is ready I could maybe give you early access to a pre-release version so you could kick the tyres and test it out?!

Justin
10-21-2011, 06:31 PM
Mark Stefani (of Vision Music (http://www.visionmusic.com/)) just pointed out a really neat & simple solution for anyone using Photoshop!

I wasn't aware Photoshop had any PDF support, but it can open PDFs. Mark exported a page from Neck Diagrams, opened it in Photoshop - which asks you what DPI you want (defaults to 300 dpi):

http://www.neckdiagrams.com/forums-imgs/open-pdf-in-photoshop.jpg


Mark created this page (http://www.visionmusic.com/samples/diagrams.html), (<- that's a link!) which you can also download as a 300dpi PNG file (http://www.neckdiagrams.com/forums-imgs/lessondemo.png) (<- and so is that, but you might want to right click & Save Link As..) to see just how crisp and large the image actually is! :cool:

I wonder if freeware like Gimp provides similar capabilities? :confused:

Obviously I'm still planning to implement a high-resolution export feature so there's no dependency on other software, but for those that can't wait there's a simple workaround.

Daven
10-24-2011, 09:15 PM
Outstanding!! Thanks once again guys.....

Daven

playgood
01-18-2012, 10:19 PM
I usually need single diagrams, not whole pages, to incorporate them into my education stuff, worked out with the notation program Sibelius (which by now doesn't allow copy/paste from the clipboard). A way to do that is:
- copy the diagram to the clipboard
- in photoshop elements go to file>new>image from clipboard, which imports the diagram
- go to image (picture)>scale>image largeness (in German: Bild>Skalieren>Bildgröße)
- here you can choose resolution and picture dimension
- I do quite fine with resolution 500 dpi and a picture hight of 2 inch (200 pixes/cm, 5 cm hight).
I could not attach an example in pdf format, because it is more than 250 kb.
But the quality, I guess, is like that of Mark Stefani

Justin
01-21-2012, 12:29 PM
Thanks for the tip! How big is the file? Will it fit if you zip it? Or save it as a PNG?
Maybe I can increase the size limit - would be good to have an example here.
Will try out your steps myself I think! :)

ithinkitsnice
12-20-2012, 06:28 PM
There's actually no need for any extra software to do this on OSX.

If you open a PDF in Preview (OSX's native viewer for PDF), select [file] > [export] in the menu, then choose JPEG from the dropdown. You'll now see a box to input your desired DPI. Change to 300, save and that's it.

I imagine whatever opens PDF by default on windows could do the same thing but I've not used windows in years.

ithinkitsnice
12-20-2012, 06:40 PM
Another point — graphics professionals using the diagrams for print would be happy with a PDF since (assuming they contain vectors - I don't own the software yet to be sure) it could be resized infinitely regardless of the original size. If they needed a raster for any reason they could generate it easily from the PDF, but not vice versa.



- I do quite fine with resolution 500 dpi and a picture hight of 2 inch (200 pixes/cm, 5 cm hight).

There's unlikely to be any reason for you to need 500dpi, 300 is adequate for any printing.

If there is a special reason just ignore me, but otherwise you're just making files bigger than they need to be.

Justin
12-23-2012, 07:34 AM
If you open a PDF in Preview (OSX's native viewer for PDF), select [file] > [export] in the menu, then choose JPEG from the dropdown. You'll now see a box to input your desired DPI. Change to 300, save and that's it.

Oh wow - FANTASTIC tip! Just tried this out and works a treat. Here's the sort of thing you get:


http://www.neckdiagrams.com/forums-imgs/preview-export-dpi.png

I always prefer to use PNG over JPG as it's not compressed/lossy like JPG, but I guess the type you need depends on the people you're working with!



I imagine whatever opens PDF by default on windows could do the same thing but I've not used windows in years.

I don't believe there is anything default on Windows! I imagine 99% of Windows users will have Adobe PDF Reader installed - no idea if that lets you export in this way though...

Justin
12-23-2012, 07:38 AM
Another point — graphics professionals using the diagrams for print would be happy with a PDF since (assuming they contain vectors - I don't own the software yet to be sure) it could be resized infinitely regardless of the original size.

Yes, Neck Diagrams exports PDFs with vectors so fretboards/text will scale perfectly! But images added to pages stay as rasters because they can't be vectorised, just like you say :)

caglayanyildiz
01-22-2013, 09:15 PM
I've been struggling with the high resolution export issue in Neck Diagrams, since I had drawn hundreds of diagrams for my book, only to find out later that I cannot simply copy/paste them in other Applications such as Word, Pages or Adobe InDesign etc. And I've been waiting for this issue to be fixed for almost two years now.
Today, after a desperate mail exchange with Justin, I suddenly realized that I hadn't tried one of the simplest solutions, and when I tried it, bingo, it worked:
On Mac OSX, simply "Command+Control+Shift+4" will let you make a selection on your screen with cross-hairs and copy the selection as a screenshot to your clipboard.
So make your diagram as big as it fits on the screen, then "Command+Control+Shift+4", and the result is almost like 300dpi when you paste it in another application.
This is the quickest work-around for me, until it is ACTUALLY solved in Neck Diagrams itself.
I hope this helps some of you out there :)

Justin
01-28-2013, 12:00 PM
..I cannot simply copy/paste them in other Applications such as Word, Pages or Adobe InDesign etc.

Not strictly true Caglayan ;) You can copy/paste at the screen resolution. Do word processors like Word or Pages cope with hi-dpi images? I've always found that if not set to 100% scaling those kinds of apps just butcher the image quality..

Anyways, just to fill in others interested in this topic here's the current plan:


we'll bump up the priority of this and will start investigating end of Feb or in March
we'll aim to add a scale factor option to the Export dialog - e.g. 2x, 4x, 8x (4x 72dpi on a Mac will be almost 300 dpi) - is Windows 96dpi? might need to add 3x
there's already a ticket to export facility to export just a selection from a page; we'll also add an option for exporting all fretboards on a page individually - which would save selecting each of 7 fretboards and then exporting each one! Seeing as you can export multiple pages in one go already, this would be quite a time saver!

Justin
07-10-2014, 12:25 PM
Wanted to quickly update this thread as I've just found another great FREE solution, at least for Mac users ;)

It turns out that Preview in Mavericks (Mac OS X 10.9) allows export from PDF with control over the DPI!
Not sure if this was supported in Mountain Lion or earlier, could've been..

So, just export to PDF and then open the PDF in Preview, then click on menu File > Export... :


http://www.neckdiagrams.com/images/forums/Preview-Export-menu.png

Now if you select e.g. PNG format you can specify the DPI in the Resolution box like this:


http://www.neckdiagrams.com/images/forums/Preview-PNG-export-DPI.png

And so you have it, quick, easy and cheap!

We'll also have the ability to do this directly in ND in v2, and to export just a selection (e.g. a fretboard) rather than the whole page.. :cool: Which'll make things easier, especially for Windows users!

Jopheza
08-05-2014, 03:04 PM
Hi there, I'm reading this thread with great interest. I love your software and it is paying for itself over and over again.

I desperately need the ability to get a 300dpi for printing off my PC for an upcoming book project. Are we any further along with this yet? I can't see a tangible solution for exporting/copy and pasting into word right now. I'd be very grateful of a clear solution that doesn't involve going via photoshop etc.

Thanks :)

Dean
08-05-2014, 09:14 PM
Hi Jopheza

v2 will see new export options as per previous posts in this thread, but that's not planned for release until end of 2014 (all being well that is).

Are you saying the pages you're printing from ND aren't a high enough quality? Or are you trying to export and put into MS Word or another program?

Regards
Dean

Jopheza
08-06-2014, 02:34 AM
Hi, It's the quality of copying and pasting into word that is the issue. I really need these to be 300DPI.

Is there any easy way to get these images out of ND and into word at 300dpi on a PC?

Thanks :)


Hi Jopheza

v2 will see new export options as per previous posts in this thread, but that's not planned for release until end of 2014 (all being well that is).

Are you saying the pages you're printing from ND aren't a high enough quality? Or are you trying to export and put into MS Word or another program?

Regards
Dean

Dean
08-11-2014, 08:51 PM
Hi Jopheza

The most effective way to get better quality diagrams in the current version is to either:

1 - Zoom right in, take the best screen shot you can, paste and crop out what you don't need.

2 - Create bigger diagrams and copy and paste these into word.

Granted it'll take a bit of tweaking and you might not get the hi res export of individual diagrams like we have coming in v2 but should get you near it. ND has been used in several publications, in both print and the digital realm so it can be done.

And I know it no good to you right now but v2 will also bring rich text formatting so there won't be any need to use a third party application like Word.

Thanks
Dean

mylesinfront
09-20-2014, 06:26 AM
Hi Jopheza

Can you point me to any examples of ND being used in the "digital realm"?

Thanks, Myles

Dean
09-22-2014, 09:12 PM
Hi Myles

Here are some links to pages / videos / ebooks / kindle books where ND is being used.

David Wallimann uses ND in a lot of his videos / online lessons as in the example below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmp5NnHdf7o&list=PLH8SpmhtFbBugObt48pN2ukoZ-IM1JhyN&index=2

Doug Marks uses ND in his Metal Method series over at www.metalmethod.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy1Kc_uSSbI

ND user Dirk Laukens has written loads of stuff using ND in both print and over at www.jazzguitar.be
http://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/17-essential-jazz-guitar-chords-beginners/

Rob Silver ahs loads of diagrams up on his blog
http://robsilverguitars.blogspot.co.uk/

John Wallace used ND extensively in his two Kindle books 'Exotic Guitar Scales' and 'Exotic Pentatonics'.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exotic-Guitar-Scales-Arpeggios-Around-ebook/dp/B00HY0GWSS

Premier Guitar uses ND to place diagrams in their online articles
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/19955-fretboard-workshop-non-chord-tone-soloing

Hopefully there's enough to get you started but let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards
Dean

mylesinfront
10-12-2014, 02:02 AM
Hi Dean

Thanks for those links. I've looked at them all now and was wondering if you are you considering improving the image output quality of your fretboards? So that when they're copied from ND to another program, or website, that they are crystal clear as they are scaled up in size. I guess I'm talking SVG or similar for just the fretboards, not the whole page...

Cheers, Myles

Dean
10-14-2014, 08:31 AM
Hi Myles

More than considering it, it's already in process for ND v2. In fact, we recently gave a little sneak peak of v2 at the Registry of Guitar Tutors, showing off all the new export options (and more) and without giving to much away all of what you're asking for is in there ;)

Hope that answers you question

Thanks
Dean

Jopheza
10-12-2016, 09:19 AM
Hi Myles

More than considering it, it's already in process for ND v2. In fact, we recently gave a little sneak peak of v2 at the Registry of Guitar Tutors, showing off all the new export options (and more) and without giving to much away all of what you're asking for is in there ;)

Hope that answers you question

Thanks
Dean

H there, any news on this? Basically the new updates to ND have screwed my workflow. Now when I'm copying and pasting big diagrams from ND to word, the files are pasting in at around 8mb! Word won't render a PDF if the file size is anything more than 20mb!

All I want to do is get my images into word without a load of cutting in photoshop and via a copy and paste. ND just got unusable :-(

Shouldn't be so hard to get a 300dpi image from one program to another?

Justin
10-12-2016, 04:10 PM
Hi Joseph,

I'm pretty sure we haven't changed anything relating to fretboard copy or even the exporting nitty-gritty in the 1.11.x releases so I'm a bit surprised about the issue.

I can try out and copy/paste to a couple different programs with v1.10 (that's what you had before , right?) and also 1.11.3 and see if there's any difference in file sizes created by the target apps.

Could you give me some more details so I can follow a similar pattern.. Windows or Mac? How big are the fretboards in ND, e.g. looking at the horizontal & vertical rulers will give you an idea of pixels. I'll ping you an email also actually, maybe you could paste a fretboard or two in when replying!

Perhaps something else has also changed on your setup - new OS install, Word upgrade, something like a monitor change could trigger colour depth change and bigger images, or switching to a Retina Mac etc.. Have you tried pasting in other images or just grabbing a section of the screen? We can test the ND side at least to verify there's no changes there!

ND2 has been a long time coming, but there's a lot more in there than export changes!