Is it really true that exporting hi resolution images only upscales the export (same crappy image, just more pixels)

I’m only using this program because there’s no way to control the aspect ratio of an image exported from sketchup - it depends on your monitor size and toolbar arrangement?!

For controlling the aspect ratio you can try this extension.

@Wade that’s an SU plugin, this is the LayOut forum…

@cpeterson_com, you need to clarify, many people successfully export large scale high definition output every day…

getting the settings right can be tricky…

john

@john_drivenupthewall I was trying to help with this problem.

Actually there is a way. ThomThom has an excellent plugin called V-Ray Tools on the Extension Warehouse.
You don’t necessarily need V-Ray to use it. You can use it to export 2D images with the desired ratio, resolution size and more settings. :slight_smile:

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I’ve seen this extension which changes your window size. Although it will re-size your window along with your toolbar. (you can leave the toolbar floating)
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/eneroth-viewport-resizer

Just to clarify the terminology here. High-resolution image means that it has more pixels. So SketchUp is doing a correct thing. The edges will look thinner in high-resolution since they will get anti-aliased and other part of the model has become larger. (perhaps this will make it look “nicer”)

The Quality of the image really depends on your model, view settings, and other styles.
Thus, if you thought the image is “crappy” with your settings, it will still look “crappy” in high-resolution image.

As this thread seems to be about SketchUp, not LayOut, I’ll move it into a more appropriate category.
(the aspect ratio of image exports from LayOut is determined by your page dimensions, and the resolution by your output quality settings, with High exporting at 300 DPI).

When you add pixels to your SketchUp exports your edges and profiles become proportionately thinner as their width is determined in screen pixels.

An old trick to get better raster output from SketchUp is to export to a very high resolution (50…100% more than your final image needs) and then downsample the file in Photoshop or your preferred image editor. This gives you better antialiasing than what SketchUp is directly capable of.

Anssi

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I pretty much disagree with most of this. While edges may look thinner at higher resolutions, it isn’t because of anti-aliasing, which, if anything, makes edges look slightly thicker, since by feathering dark pixels with lighter ones the edge becomes “puffier,” albeit smoother-looking. Higher resolution generally results in thinner lines and smaller objects simply because the pixels are smaller, although, according to the OP, in this case the lines are apparently the same thickness, suggesting that the image was not resampled at the higher resolution resulting in a lower level of detail than is theoretically possible at that resolution.

Now, although “crappy” isn’t a very specific term, I think it is meant here to refer to the intrinsic image quality rather than as an aesthetic assessment of a model’s style settings. That is, whether you like edge extensions (for example) or not, they tend to look crappier at low resolutions than high. So higher resolution extensions may not look as crappy even though they still look just as ugly.

-Gully

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I stand corrected. It is not function of anti-aliasing, lines just become thinner because other things are larger relatively.
I’m not sure what other objects get smaller? Are you refereeing to extensions and endpoints of the line?
The faces and textures would not really get smaller though.

I wonder if we’re talking past each other. I never said “other objects.” I don’t even know what you mean by that. The OP seems to be talking about exporting 2D bitmap images from SU, so the entire image would be a single resolution, that is, a certain number of pixels by a certain number of pixels. The OP is saying, it would seem, that an image exported at a higher resolution appears to have no more detail–is just as crappy–as an image exported at a lower resolution. More pixels, but no more detail.

-Gully

I was referring to the “smaller objects”. Anyways, I don’t think its important. You were correct Gully.

wade, that was the answer I needed. it doesn’t improve my opinion of layout, but it does mean I won’t have to use it.

thanks!

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