  We analyse the impact that spatial resolution has on the inferred numbers and
types of Wolf-Rayet (WR) and other massive stars in external galaxies.
Continuum and line images of the nearby galaxy M33 are increasingly blurred to
mimic effects of different distances from 8.4Mpc to 30Mpc, for a constant level
of seeing. We use differences in magnitudes between continuum and Helium II
line images, plus visual inspection of images, to identify WR candidates via
their ionized helium excess. The result is a surprisingly large decrease in the
numbers of WR detections, with only 15% of the known WR stars predicted to be
detected at 30Mpc. The mixture of WR sub-types is also shown to vary
significantly with increasing distance (poorer resolution), with cooler WN
stars more easily detectable than other subtypes. We discuss how spatial
clustering of different subtypes and line dilution could cause these
differences and the implications for their ages, this will be useful for
calibrating numbers of massive stars detected in current surveys. We
investigate the ability of ELT/HARMONI to undertake WR surveys and show that by
using adaptive optics at visible wavelengths even the faintest (Mv = -3mag) WR
stars will be detectable out to 30Mpc.
