Print quality 1

[Arjay418]

I have a simple question about some artwork I printed out earlier today. My artword contains a .tiff at high resolution, a gradient, and some black text among other things. I printed it out on a Xerox laser printer (I don't recall which model).

When I looked at the printout up close, I noticed that there were small spaces of white between the dots that made up the artwork. I assume that a dpi setting controls how solid the color is when it prints out.

If so, where do you change the dpi setting, or can you change it at all? Is it in Illustrator? On the printer? Both? Neither? Are "professional" flyers and brochures printed on laser printers? If not, what do they use?

Thanks for your knowledge.

--RJ

 

[PixelMasher]

If your looking to change dpi in Illus.



Try raising your attributes to higher resoluton, the default is 800 dpi, also recomend doing the same under Doucment Set up - - go to printing and export - -change your output resultion. If your using Illus. 10 you can only change it in printing and Export.

http://www.prepress-online.com

 

[blueark]

It sounds like a line screen issue, rather than a resolution issue.

The two are linked: each of the 'dots' that you see is rendered by several dots on the printer. For example, if you have a 300dpi printer, and the line screen is set to 60 line per inch (lpi), each 'dot' that makes up your tiff and gradient is drawn within a 5x5 matrix (300/60 = 5). The more of that matrix that's colored in, the darker that part of the image will be.

Because it's 5x5, in that case you can print a total of 25 shades of gray on that printer. If you want finer dots, it can be reduced, but the number of shades will be reduced with it, so there is a trade off. Of course, 300dpi is considered very low these days, and a higher resolution printer will give you a much higher line screen (usually about 150 lpi in professional printers).

Generally, it's a subject you don't need to know too much about. It's a printer setting, so consult your printer's documentation if you really want to figure it out. The only thing you need to know is to make sure your image is twice the resolution of the line screen you intend to output to (which is why people say 300 dpi for professional printing), and don't worry if your laser proofs are too dotty.

 

[Foamcow]

* for bluark for explaining that in a fairly clear way.

 

[blueark]

Thanks foamcow. Next time I'll try and do something about the 'fairly'