Save High resolution images/vector without aliasing

mikecj184

Hello, :) I really need help or suggestions for saving a hires image, I've been trying many solutions online to figure out this issue with no luck :( Code is simple, It's concentric circles but when saved as a pdf - circles look rasterized. Below is a snapshot of the pdf i saved.

import processing.pdf.*;

PVector[] circle = new PVector[360];
float translate_z = 0;
float radius = 200;

void setup(){
  size(1024,512, PDF, "hires.pdf");
  background(0);
  noFill();
  smooth();

  translate_z=0.8;
}

void draw(){
  translate_z += 0.01;
  if(translate_z > 1.5)    exit();
  translate(width/2, height/2);
  scale(1/translate_z);
  translate(-width/2, -height/2);

  radius-=0.5;
  for(int angle=0; angle < 360; angle += 1){
    float x = width/2 + radius*cos(radians(angle));
    float y = height/2 + radius*sin(radians(angle));
    circle[angle] = new PVector(x,y);  
  }

  noFill();
  stroke(255,50);
  strokeWeight(0.1);
  drawCircle(circle);
}

void drawCircle(PVector[] circle){
   beginShape();
   for(int angle=0; angle < 360; angle+= 1){
     curveVertex(circle[angle].x, circle[angle].y);
   }
   endShape(CLOSE);
}

Infact I'm really inspired by zenbullets work - http://zenbullets.com/prints/everypuddlegasolinerainbow.php Trying for a similar effect and resolution of the saved image.(I've been starring at this image for about a week infact. :P)

Things I've tried(without any luck): 1. Changing simple stuff i.e strokeWeight, stroke color w/ transparency, 2. calculating upto 3600 points for a each of the circle. 3. save as pdf with size 10240x5120. 4. Saving as a png with TileSaver

Thanks in advance. :)

-Mike

koogs

circles look rasterized

that looks ok here.

seen at normal size it looks a bit odd because it has to scale it all the way down for the screen and, yes, it uses pixels. but zoom in, like 1200%, and you can see all the lines are smooth as i'd expect.

mikecj184

Thanks for the reply koogs :) That's my question - How can i make it not look rasterized/scaled at 100% zoom level? Art forms http://zenbullets.com/prints.php by matt pearson's zenbullets have a really high resolution but, they don't look rasterized at 100% zoom!!! I'm hoping to get that level of quality...even if i have to post-process the output.

Thanks again! :)

-Mike

blindfish

I think you have a problem with your terminology: rasterize is what happens when you generate a bitmap image - as you are doing here - so it's not a problem. I suspect what you don't like is the moiré effect you're seeing. When I look at the rendered/rasterized image I see this at the poles - i.e. north/south/east/west.

Notice that the zenbullets example doesn't have uniformly parallel lines. Also notice fairly heavy blur on each line...

I suspect there's plenty of documentation online on how to mitigate against this effect. A similar issue occurs when you create linear gradients: noticeable 'bars' appears no matter how smooth you make the gradient. One common fix is to add some random noise across the whole image. That might work here...