Images uploaded to CARS should have a minimum resolution of 300dpi to ensure the quality of exported figures in PDF documents. A validation warning will be displayed for all figures with images of a lower resolution. (DPI refers to the number of printed dots contained within one inch of an image as ‘printed’, or when exported to a PDF.)

CARS will scale uploaded images automatically to reflect the size as they will appear in the final PDF export.

Exported figures will be rendered in PDFs at their correct size as defined by the resolution (dpi) and pixel size of the uploaded image. For example, a 300px by 300px image, with a resolution of 300dpi, will be rendered as 1 inch by 1 inch (25.4mm by 25.4mm) within the exported PDF.

The maximum width and height of an image before it is automatically scaled by CARS to fit within a page is:

• Portrait: 150mm wide x 215mm high, or 1771px by 2539px @300dpi.
• Landscape: 215mm wide x 150mm high, or 2539px by 1771px @300dpi.

These dimensions can be used to set up ‘paper space’ within CAD applications to produced scaled drawings for inclusion as figures, ensuring line thicknesses and styling are as required and that embedded text sizing is aligned with MDD requirements.

Any image uploaded larger than the above dimensions will be scaled. This means that text included within the image may be smaller than expected and hence may not meet accessibility requirements.