Importing Images

I feel pretty certain that this has come up before, but I did a search and I couldn't find anything that seemed to match my situation. I need to import two images into FCP: one is a map of the eastern US saved as a JPEG and the other is a graph created in PowerPoint that has been saved as a TIFF. Both these images look fine in Photoshop but horrible in FCP. Is it just impossible to make a downloaded image look good in FCP (even if it is a good size image) and should I just try to recreate them in PS?

Resize the image in PS to be closer to the correct dimensions for your project. Have a look under Image > Image size. If they are too big or too little, FCP has to do more work than necessary to adjust them, and they get blocky or jagged.

And be sure to render before you judge them, regardless of whether there is a green "no need to render" bard above them. And also judge on an NTSC or PAL monitor, not the canvas.

Scott