How to convert PDF to uncompressed 400 DPI TIFF

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How to convert PDF to uncompressed 400 DPI TIFF

Dear Forum,

I have access to music in PDF format that I wish to scan into Finale PrintMusic. I have found that the following process gives the best results.

1. Print out a hard copy of the music.

2. Scan the hard copy, saving in uncompressed 400 DPI Greyscale TIFF format.

3. "Recognize" the TIFF files with SmartScan Lite into Finale PrintMusic.

It seems silly to me to have to print a hard copy to do this, and I hate having to have access to the printer/scanner to do this.

But whenever I've saved PDF to TIFF format using preview, It seems that I can only get screen resolution (72 DPI).

Introductory question: How can I tell whether a TIFF file is compressed or uncompressed, and what its DPI is?)

Main question: How can I convert the PDF into a higher (400) DPI uncompressed TIFF file?

Thanks,

Russ

Posted on Jun 6, 2011 8:36 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 7, 2011 12:00 AM in response to RussRoan

I tried a few experiments and discovered if I do a "Save as" and select TIFF it says I can choose the resolution (there is a place to do this at the bottom of the save dialog box). The default on my machine is 150 dpi, but I changed that to 300 dpi. However, when the file was saved it was at the default 150. Next I tried doing a save as of the same PDF, but this time as PSD file. Choosing 300 dpi again actually worked--the PDF file was converted to a PSD file at 300 dpi. I could then open and save the PSD file as a 300 dpi TIFF file, no problem.

Why you are getting 72 dpi while I get 150 dpi as the default PDF->TIFF I don't know. Trying saving the PDF as a PSD file instead, and then convert that to TIFF and see if you get what you need.

Francine

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Answer 2

RussRoan Author

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Jun 7, 2011 8:13 AM in response to Francine Schwieder

Francine,

AWESOME - Thank you for that tip.

In 10.6.7 I don't see PSD as an option in the "Save As" format pulldown, but when I select TIFF with resolution of 400 DPI it seems to work. (In finder the "size" given is 3400 x 4400, which is (8.5 * 400) x (11 * 400).

The file is quite large as might as you might expect. (270MB!). I see it is saved as RGB. Do you know how to force the format to B&W or greyscale from preview when saving?

Thanks again for your answer - I tried a trial scan with Finale and it came in GREAT - better than the physical scan.

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Answer 3

Jun 8, 2011 12:51 PM in response to RussRoan

Glad that method will work for you.

I see it is saved as RGB. Do you know how to force the format to B&W or greyscale from preview when saving?

I wish I knew! Sometimes my printer is running low on one ink, but I need to print something like a boarding pass, that only needs to print in grayscale, color is irrelevant. What I have done in the past is bring up Tools->Adjust Color in Preview, and then drag the Saturation slider to 0, and then in the print dialog box get the Color Options for my printer and drag all 'em (except black) as low at they'll go. This works to fool the printer, and the thing looks like it is grayscale, but it is still occupying RGB color space. I keep thinking there ought to be a way to do this, but so far the only way I know is to use Photoshop (even the MUCH cheaper Photoshop Elements will do a proper conversion). And if you do convert it, it will be about a third of the size.

Oddly this topic came up at a recent Users's Group meeting, everyone was convinced you ought to be able to do it in the print dialog box, but no one knew of a method!

Francine

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Answer 4

RussRoan Author

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Jun 8, 2011 3:23 PM in response to Francine Schwieder

Well, I thought that maybe I could apply a Color Sync filter to get greyscaling (or B&W), but none of the ones that come up are for that purpose.

I notice that when I click on filters in the Color Sync utility, there is a selection for Greyscale and B&W, but they are greyed out. They certainly don't come up as an option when I try to apply the filter in preview. :-(

Maybe there is a site somewhere where I can download Color Sync filters (for greyscale / B&W)?

In any case, thanks again for your help. I can use the RGB TIFF file, though it is wasteful and slow.

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Answer 5

Jun 8, 2011 4:23 PM in response to RussRoan

You can also bring your pdf file into photoshop. Just drag and drop over the photoshop icon and a window pops up with settings for resolution and color. We do it all the time here at work.

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