How do I make it so that when I save as .pdf it is a 300dpi .pdf?

Do you have anything thats non vector? cos if not then its vector, so doesnt have resolution...

Hi,

Sorry, I am inturrupting, but it is not off topic.

When we save in PDF format the resolution does matter because PDF is not vector format.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks

rajub

Do you have anything thats non vector?

It is all vector. I know that I could transfer it all into scribus then save as .pdf @300dpi, but I figured if I have the ability to save as .pdf in Inkscape I should also have the ability to determine the dpi of the .pdf. But I am going to assume that this is not currently possible in inkscape.

rajub wrote:When we save in PDF format the resolution does matter because PDF is not vector format.

PDF's support both vector and non-vector information. When saving as PDF from Inkscape the resulting PDF is vector. Illustrator will allow you to specify the resulotion for the PDF because it rasterizes effects that can't be represented as vector in PDFs.

capnhud wrote:But I am going to assume that this is not currently possible in inkscape.

It's not possible probably because it's not necessary. Because it is pure-vector you can specify the resolution when you print it.

Are you experiencing problems because you can't specify the DPI?

If all of your objects are vectorial (defined by Bezier curves), the DPI are irrelevant: the curves are mathematically defined, so you can print it on a postal stamp or an airplane, it will be flawless.

Otherwise, if you happen to have imported raster images (composed of pixels), you should go to

File > Inkscape Preferences

Then go to the last option in the left column of the popup menu.
There, you should be able to set the default export resolution.
When Inkscape was installed, it should have been preset to 600 dpi.

Ok I figured since in Scribus you would save .eps images @300dpi you would need to do that same when saving as .pdf in inkscape. See figure below which corresponds to pdf export in Scribus

Thanks microUgly,

I got new and relevent information

rajub

capnhud wrote:Ok I figured since in Scribus you would save .eps images @300dpi you would need to do that same when saving as .pdf in inkscape.

I'm guessing that because EPS files can be embedded into PDF's (without file format conversion), it's print resolution can be different to the overall documents resolution (i.e you could specify the PDF to print at 150 dpi but the embedded EPS will come out at 300 dpi).

I should say, whilst you more than likely can specify the resolution for a PDF that contains only vector information, it's only meta data and shouldn't impact the quality of the file (same with the EPS example above). It's only when the file contains raster information will it impact the quality.

Ok guys thanks for the clarification. I mean I can zoom in on the .pdf and still see the vector objects as being crisp I just was not sure for printing purposes if this was a necessity.

Not sure if this post was answered sufficiently, and I have a similar problem. Specifically, I am trying to save my SVG as a PDF with the linked/imported raster graphics at either 100dpi or 300dpi (max). The export resolution seems only to work for bitmap exports, not saving as a PDF (correct me if I am wrong, but PDFs saves with 100dpi and 600dpi settings were identical in size). It is possible to specify this for a PS save, then convert the PS to PDF, but it would be nice to have a choice for PDFs.

If this is not possible, I will file a bug to request it.

I haven't seen the option, so you might like to log a request.

Having said that, I don't see that the option is required unless it's rasterising some vector elements.

I noticed that this is still not adequately answered. Sometimes one needs to specify the DPI so that things work well when you print them. I could not figure out how to do it through the GUI, but there is a command line way to do this with inkscape:

"c:\program files\inkscape\inkscape.exe" --without-gui --export-dpi=1600 --export-pdf="output.pdf" inputfile.svg

i'm cutting a pdf and eps so my question applied to a 300dpi for any file format. these two phrases from above make sense:

1. It's not possible probably because it's not necessary. Because it is pure-vector you can specify the resolution when you print it.
2. If all of your objects are vectorial (defined by Bezier curves), the DPI are irrelevant: the curves are mathematically defined, so you can print it on a postal stamp or an airplane, it will be flawless.

i found the setting to change in inkscape 48.2:
File > Inkscape Preferences > Import/Export

EDIT: to better understand Inkscape and DPI see also
Save as PDF with Filters and Blurrs, Inkscape FAQ (DPI in the Export Bitmap dialog), Why do images 'grow' when imported into Inkscape?, PDF, PostScript, and EPS export
BTW: There seems to be much confusion about DPI and size in Inkscape Exports. The PDF exporter in Inkscape should be Cairo-based (like PS and EPS exporter)

cressman wrote:"c:\program files\inkscape\inkscape.exe" --without-gui --export-dpi=1600 --export-pdf="output.pdf" inputfile.svg

Thanks for that hint. Sadly not really usable when working on dozens of files for a scientific publication.

For good workflow between screen size (px rendering and presentation) and DTP-Software (exact printing, font size) I think the PDF-Export needs a setting for the paper-size or scale (dpi/in/mm/cm/etc.).

Example: I like to use a SVG with 130 mm width in the exported PDF and on the screen (in Inkscape) with 800 px width (also PNG-Export).
As I understand it, this is not possible over the Inkscape-GUI (hardcoded 90 dpi)?
I can set up a document with 460,63 px width, to later receive a PDF with 130 mm, or I work with 800 px in Inkscape and later receive a PDF with 225,78 mm. Scaling the document proportionally would be a solution, but this is not doable easily and in one step by Document Properties.

Is there a workarround without using command line (inside Inkscape GUI) or maybe a GUI-tool that can quickly convert Inkscape SVG's to PDF's with a DPI/size setting?