Find useful tools and answers to your questions on printing

Clean files: A clean and simple file will print faster and be less likely to encounter problems. Even if it looks okay on your screen, it still may not print correctly. If you can't see it on your screen, it may still print. Instead of covering up things you don't want to print, make sure you delete them. Details which are too fine or complicated masks may be difficult for the printer to process. If you're having trouble printing on your printer at home or work, we will probably have the same problem.

File Packaging: Some programs allow you to package your file for a printing service provider. This will, if done correctly, package all the fonts and any images linked in the file together to be put on a disk. This will provide your printer or other post design service provider with all that is needed to use the file the way you intend.
For further information on how to do this and what programs we can accept that will create this kind of package for you, please contact us at Humphrey Printing.

File linking: When you import or place a graphic (photo or illustration) into your page layout program, the computer establishes a link to that graphic file. The image is not always stored in your layout document. The computer looks up the link and finds the original document you placed for printing.

If you move or rename the linked graphic, you break the link, leaving the computer looking for that file. Make sure to send copies of all your graphics with your file to be printed, in case we need to make the link or open a graphic for corrections.

Cropping & scaling: If you crop images in a page layout program, remember the printer must process the whole image first and then throw away the part you have cropped out. This can waste a lot of time. Also, remember anything you scale down maintains all its detail. This packs a lot of data in a small area and can slow down or crash the printing.

Font usage: Each PostScript font has two parts, the screen font and the printer font. To design a page on your screen, you need the screen font. To print the page, the printer needs the matching printer font. When the page prints, our printer must look for and find the exactly matching printer font. It does this by the font's name and ID number. Unfortunately, different fonts can have the same names or ID numbers. If a different printer font is used, the letter widths may not match and cause unexpected line breaks.

Scans: Most everyone scans at too high of an image resolution. This captures so much detail that files become too large to work with, slowing or crashing your computer. Generally, a good rule of thumb is to scan at 2 to 2.5 times the line screen you will print at (for an image at 100%). We usually print at 133 line screen, so if you scan a picture and don't stretch or shrink it in your layout program, 300 ppi (pixels per inch) is a sufficient scan. Scaling the picture adds in another factor. If you stretch your picture from a 3 inch square to a 6 inch square (doubling its size), you reduce your image resolution by half. Three inches of information gets stretched out over six inches. Likewise, if you shrink a 6 inch scan down to 3 inches, you double the resolution. Six inches of data is compressed into three inches. So, either try to scan at exactly the size you'll use your image or remember to increase or decrease your scanning resolution as needed. If you want a 6 inch photo to eventually print at 3 inches and 300 ppi, scan at 150 ppi because your resolution will increase when you scale the photograph down.

Internet images: It has become more and more common for clients to bring files to us for printing which contain images downloaded from the internet. These images are generally in one of three formats, GIF, JPEG, or PNG. Although these images may look clean and clear when viewed on a monitor, they will most often appear bitmapped or fuzzy when printed. This is due to the low resolution (72 ppi) which is all that is needed to be able to view on a computer monitor. Although we will print such documents if the customer requests, we discourage it, due to their poor image quality.

Don'ts:
Don't forget, borders count too. Crop the photo in your retouching program. Also, if you wish to rotate a photo, do it in your retouching program, not your layout program. This will make it easier for the printer to process.

Don't cover up a mess with a white rectangle. Delete it or start a new file.

Don't nest files. An example of nesting: You scan and alter a photo in Photoshop. Then you place this file into FreeHand to add some text and a logo. Then you export this completed image and place it into PageMaker for printing. This is called nesting and is asking for trouble.

Don't scale down photos or illustrations by large amounts. This packs an enormous amount of data into a small area, slowing or stopping the printer. Use graphics at the size you need and include only the details you need.

Don't make a habit of cropping down big files. Make it the size you need before placing into your final document.

Don't place a file of many images just to crop it down for one image. Copy the single graphic into its own file and then import only it.

Don't use many tiny images on a page that are just scaled-down copies of a large file.

Don't use a high-res scan scaled down to a tiny size. Sample it down to the size and resolution you need first.

Don't forget, you will need to include fonts even for nested files. If you designed a logo in Illustrator and then placed it into Quark, the printer will still look for the fonts used in the original Illustrator document.

Reminders: Include your name and phone number. Include a proof of your file for reference. Include the fonts you used. Include your graphics files. Include the exact name of the file you want printed and any special instructions for printing. To avoid confusion, only include the files you want printed and their related files.