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I'm printing some copies of the Declaration of Independence, at a smaller-than original size. When my local professional printer prints them, they look great. All the text is bold, solid and black. He uses a 1200 dpi laser printer (I asked him.) Here's a crop showing what his prints look like:http://g1.img-dpreview.com/29FE1B699C97404AA922E1E8134B7745.jpgAt my office I have a new 2400 DPI Brother laser printer. It's model MFC 9970 CDW. When I print the exact same document I sent to him (a 300 dpi PDF), it comes out looking like its been screened. Here's a crop of a scan of a print, as an example:http://g2.img-dpreview.com/149019A499274AADAA4BFEC31A6B5907.jpgI've tried changing settings in the printer driver, but I haven't found a way to fix it yet.The pro printer said it's a matter of changing the printer driver settings, but so far I haven't found out how to do it. How can I get my Brother printer to do as well with this image, as the pro printer does?
Optional Information: Make: Brother Model: MFC9970CDW Already Tried: Changing a few printer driver settings.
Greetings,Welcome to Just Answer.My name is Jason and I will be the expert working with you today to help resolve your problem.Please, follow the instructions below to solve your problem:- Open the PDF file- In the top menu bar, click FILE > PRINT- Click the Advanced button- Place a check in the "Print as image" checkbox- Click Ok- Click Ok to print.How did that come out?Thank you, Jason
Hi Jason,I'm on a Mac. I have Preview and Photoshop. Opening the file in Preview, I see a lot of options, but I don't yet see an "Advanced" button or a "Print as Image" checkbox. Is it available on the Mac?
I just opened the image in Adobe Reader and found the "Print as Image" checkbox. I checked the box printed it at 600dpi and at 2400dpi, but with no improvement in the output.
Thank you for the update.May I please, remote into your computer so that I can better help you resolve this problem?
Sure. How do we do it?
Thank you.Please, click the following link and allow the remote app to run: http://67.192.95.188:8040/?Session=a9998c7e-5a36-4c11-950a-f340e1b84228&SUPPORT=OSX
Please, keep me updated.Thank you.
I haven't yet found the installer CD. I'm trying to download the latest installer from the Brother site at http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us_ot/en/dlf/download_index.html?reg=us&c=us_ot&lang=en&prod=mfc9970cdw_all&dlid=&flang=English&os=94&type2=-1But it just has drivers and utilities to download. Nothing is labelled "Installer". Do you know where I can download the full installer?
Please, download and install the CUPS driver.
Okay, I have downloaded and installed the CUPS driver.
Very good. Thank you.Please, bring up the print window, click Advanced, choose the "Print as Image" option, and print it out.How does that look now?
No change in the printed page
Please, bring up the print window, click Advanced, choose the "Print as Image" option, click Ok, click the Advanced button AGAIN, is the "Print as image" option checked or unchecked?
It is unchecked after checking it, closing the Advanced options, and re-opening the Advanced options.
I have run out of ideas.For this reason, I am opting out of the question and allowing another expert the chance to help.I wish you luck, - Jason
Fair enough. Thanks for looking into it. Do I need to do anything to send the question to another expert?
Another expert will pick up this question. You do not have to do anything.
Jason, JustAnswer charged us $24, even though you did not answer the question. I appreciate your efforts, but my understanding is that we are not to be charged unless the question is answered. Can you reverse this charge?
It's okay - I just called JustAnswer support and they explained it is a refundable deposit.
Hi, I’m a moderator for this topic and I wonder whether you’re still waiting for an answer. If you are, please let me know and I will do my best to find an Expert to assist you right away. If not, feel free to let me know and I will cancel this question for you. Thank you!
Thanks very much, Michelle. I do still need an answer to this!
Sometimes, finding another Expert can take a little longer than expected and we thank you greatly for your understanding. We’ll be in touch again shortly
Thank you very much for your help!
Here's additional info. I tried printing the same document to the same printer using my wife's Windows computer. We were able to check the "Print as Image" button in Acrobat Reader, and it stayed checked. However, there was no change in the printed image. Sample files in .pdf and .psd format are available at this link in case they may be helpful:http://www.market-research-services.com/starpowermedia/for_distribution/test_images-Declaration.zip
Hi, I'm Mary and I'll do my best to help you solve your printing issue.If you're willing to bear with me and back up a bit (I have read the original thread, but I'd like to take a different path) I think we'll be able to solve your problem.I've looked at the JPG files you posted and I do see the problem you are having.So, as I back up a bit to familiarize myself with the situation - you are printing from Acrobat, correct?What version of OSX are you using?What version of Acrobat are you using?Could you also upload your original PDF file to me so that I can look at it on my end? Easiest to upload via sharesend.com.Once the file is uploaded, you'll see a link highlighted in grey. Copy that link and paste it back here to me so I can download the file.
And I've just seen the download link you gave for the PDF and PSD files.Downloading now.I'll let you know what I see from them.
Just looked at your files and I do have some ideas.So let me know your versions of OSX and Acrobat and we'll go from there.
Great! I'm am using OS X 10.6.8. I have Adobe Reader 9.5.0.
P.S. I also have Photoshop CS3 and am fairly familiar with it. I tried increasing the document resolution to 1200dpi and it had little if any effect on the printed output. I tried increasing the document resolution to 2400dpi and my printer couldn't handle the file. As a test I then did a small crop of the document and increased the resolution for it to 2400dpi and printed that. It printed but showed little or no change in the printed output.
Hi Vik, and thanks for your patience. I had an internet outage yesterday so am not just back online.The files you provided were crops of the original (as you said). However, could you please upload to me the exact copy you sent to the printshop (that printed perfectly)?There are a lot of things that can happen to a file when cropping or saving/converting, and I want to be able to rule out those variables.What file type did you provide to the printshop? Please make sure to send that exact one to me.I did notice you have your own upload source, but if you need something with more space, sharesend.com works well.
Thanks, XXXXX XXXXX a link where you can download the complete file:http://www.market-research-services.com/starpowermedia/for_distribution/FINAL_FOR_PRINTING-Declaration_Engrav_Pg1of1_AC-1_on_transparent_*_2.pdfThe printshop requested a 300dpi pdf, so that is what this file is.
Thanks, I've just downloaded it.I'm going to try a quick experiment and send a cropped part of the file back to you to test.Are you near your printer so you can print the sample? I think I might know what's going on, but I'm still not certain...
Ok, I ZIP'd this file to make sure that nothing in the uploading process would possible have an influence. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TESTPrint it using your usual settings and let me know what you discover.
Will do.
Interested to find out what you discover.
I opened it in preview and printed it at 100% scale. No change yet in the printed output. It has a "screened" look as if it is trying to print grayscale.
Ok, what I did do was change the file to pure greyscale, so that (in theory at least) your printer wouldn't try to print this using colored toner.Could you also now try reprinting the same file I send, but in your print driver, make sure that your printer uses black toner only. I don't have access to the driver, so I can't tell you exactly where, but you should find an option somewhere to choose to print in greyscale.Or, if that's the setting you've already used, let me know.And also, could you also try printing from Adobe Reader, rather than Preview and let me know what happens?Mary40991.8187864583
Okay. I'm printing in Adobe Reader. In the printer driver:- I've set Color/Mono to Mono- Print quality to 2400 dpi- Advanced color settings - I've run contrast up to the maximum of 20Now printing... let's see what we get...Hmmmm.... it's slightly better but it still has a screened, gray look to it, instead of being crisp solid blacks like I get from the printshop. Trying it again, but putting "Contrast" back to default 0....No change. Still has screened, gray look.
Thanks for trying those contrast settings, as if you hadn't set it back to the default, that would have been one of the things I'd recommend.I'm going to print this now on my printer. I can't replicate exactly the same environment, but let me give it a try and see what I find.I'm curious about that screened look you mention.At the same time, I'm going to prepare a test file (not from the file you sent me) to see if your print results are the same.Be back to you in a few minutes.Mary
Ok, please download the following two files (just silly samples I created to test the variables).Print them as you did your Declaration file and tell me if you still see that strange screening issue:VECTOR SAMPLERASTER SAMPLE
They both have nice solid black letters. The Vector has a much cleaner edge around the outside of the letters.
And another thing - I found a super high resolution copy of the DOI that you might want to try.It's not the original file you have been using, but download this one and see if it might work for your needs:http://www.mediafire.com/i/?4fvnbdf4g26bpbsCrop a bit to print and test this one out and let me know what you find.Mary40991.8548802083
Experience: 25+ years experience supporting color and b/w digital printing equipment
I received you message "And another thing - ." -- was there a previous message I missed regarding how to apply the Vector format to the PDF of the Declaration?
In my message just above yours to me, download the high-res copy of the DOI I uploaded and let me know how that one prints for you.
I think this is a good answer! I uprezzed my original image to match the resolution of the image you found (thanks!) - 72dpi and 5000px wide. I printed it at 7% scale just to do a quick test, and it printed just about identically to the image you found, and yields results that are very very close to those of the printshop! I had previously tried uprezzing the image without success, but this shows me a lot more about how to do it. My previous attempt to uprez to 1200 dp had made no change in the printed output. For some reason uprezzing to 72dp and 5000px wide and printing at 7% works much better!I'm going to click the "Accept Answer" button in a second - I just want to ask, is there's anything I should know about applying Vector format to a psd layer prior to printing? Would that make any difference in a case like this?
Thanks for the accept and the bonus, I really appreciate it!As far as the results you are getting, I think I have an overall strategy for you. Let's see if I can explain it and make sense. If it doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try again...The key to getting good output when resizing an image, is to make sure the ENDING resolution (after resizing) is directly divisible into the resolution of your printer.For example:You your printer is 2400 dpi. So, when you finish resizing and resampling, the finished resolution you want should be 2400, 1200, 800, 600, 400, 300, 200 or 100 dpi.Simply reducing the size, you might end up with a resolution other than one of the above listed. This is why you should also downsample (reduce the resolution) to reach the nearest value. Don't bother upsampling - this is where the image can be damaged, as you're using the program's "best guess" to add pixels to the image.So to get the best from your DOI file, use the highest resolution original possible and then do the resizing/downsampling until you match one of these numbers.In most photos, you won't really see the results if the resolution isn't directly divisible; however, with some images, especially those will diagonal lines or hard edges (such as the DOI text) it is very noticeable.My guess is the printshop did this without even thinking and naturally didn't even consider mentioning how it was done.It sounds like what you've done is achieve a happy accident through trial and error.Try my method here and see if you can achieve the best output possible.As far as a vector image overlay, unless you want to laboriously trace every character to create a vector mask (TOO MUCH WORK!) you won't see any improvement.I hope that made sense. If not, I'm happy to actually do it to the file I uploaded to you yesterday and you can try out the results and see the numbers for yourself.Mary