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An evaluation of the optical transition radiation (OTR) single particle image dimension is obtained using diffraction theory based on a realistic description of the radiation source. This approach allows the analysis of the effect of the finite size of the emitting screen and of the imaging system. The role of practical experimental conditions in treating the intensity tail problem is estimated. It is shown that, by exploiting the polarization properties of OTR, a considerable enhancement in the spatial resolution can be achieved, which becomes very similar to that of a standard point source.