How do I properly resize a smart object in Photoshop CS3?

[mPeror]

I'm trying to make a smart object smaller in photoshop, but the problem is that when I do so, the image's edges becomes a bit blurry and even remove a few pixels here and there.

How do I resize it so it remains perfectly the same crisp image but in a smaller size? is that even possible?


Your help is much appreciated

[Dark Tranquility]

Actually As you long as you're not trying to make it bigger you shouldn't have problems! to what proportions are you trying to resize it? Are you constraining proportions?
you should be able to resize the SO without any quality loss!

[mPeror]

I just pick "Free Transform", hold SHIFT and resize it to a smaller size. Is that how I'm supposed to do it? because it's not retaining its quality for some reason.

[Shaun(OfTheDead)]

I just pick "Free Transform", hold SHIFT and resize it to a smaller size. Is that how I'm supposed to do it? because it's not retaining its quality for some reason.

Are you sure it's not only appearing that way in your preview?

When you view at 100% zoom does it still look distorted ?

When you actually export the file does it still look distorted ?

Also... Is the "Vector Smart Object" really from a vector or was it made up of raster graphics too (such as if you paste pixeled artwork out of Illustrator) ?

[Dark Tranquility]

can we see it?

[mPeror]

Shaun, yes I'm sure. It's zoomed at 100%, and it still looks a bit distorted when I export the file. I'm not sure whether it's "really a vector" or not, how do I figure that out? all I know is that when I resize it to a bigger size, it looks pretty crisp and maintains its quality perfectly.

Here's a sample (from one part of the logo, because I can't show it yet) that shows the issue in some of the edges when the logo is smaller:



Can't the logo be just as crisp and sharp-edged when it's small?

[Shaun(OfTheDead)]

Wow, that's tiny!!

That's like 30 times as small (if so little).



Remember your images (your .jpg's, etc.) are made up of pixels and your eye's ability to see the image (to resolve the image) depends on how many of those little pixels you have in there.

The smaller the image and the lower the resolution... the fewer pixels you'd have.

Imagine trying to scale down a 600px square photograph of an aeroplane to just 3px square. All you're going to see are nine coloured pixels next to each other. There simply aren't enough pixels available to create a decent shape of the plane at that size.

Even if the plane was a vector illustration and had "infinite" scalability, at some point you're going to have to convert it to pixels when it's exported.

So I think that's your problem here.

You're shrinking down something gigantic into something tiny. It's so small that the edges cannot be properly resolved.

You might have better results if you used a vector program to scale the logo down, but even then it would look just fine in your preview but when you export it as an image file it would look just as fuzzy.

[Shaun(OfTheDead)]

Photoshop's preview shows things as though they were pixels, by the way.

So that's why you'd be seeing it fuzzy there, even if you magnified the zoom right up to it.



How big is the original logo in Photoshop and what size are you trying to scale it down to ?



Depending on if the final size is not too small, you might have better results scaling the logo in an external vector program and exporting it as a .jpg or .png or whatever back into to Photoshop.

[mPeror]

Shaun, the large sample I've included was part of logo AFTER enlarging it. The original size is much smaller.

Also, this seems different than the airplane example you've mentioned. My logo is fairly simple with minimal details (just some squares and a border), is shouldn't be hard to maintain it's quality when it's smaller.

All I really need is that photoshop keeps the logo crisp and not try to smooth anything. You know, like when you turn the font settings from "smooth" to "none".

[Dark Tranquility]

Wow that's tiny Mash!
Why don't you try to recreate it at that size instead of resizing?
Also if your not sure it is a vector you can always trace it and vectorize it!

[Shaun(OfTheDead)]

All I really need is that photoshop keeps the logo crisp and not try to smooth anything. You know, like when you turn the font settings from "smooth" to "none".

Yeah.

Well then as I said up there... try scaling it down to the desired size in an actual vector program, like Illustrator or whatever, then export an image back into Photoshop.

[mPeror]

Yeah.

Well then as I said up there... try scaling it down to the desired size in an actual vector program, like Illustrator or whatever, then export an image back into Photoshop.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

[Shaun(OfTheDead)]

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

Cool.

Let us know if it worked.