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Answers to printing questions

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Getting the best prints

General tips

  • Microsoft Publisher—It is difficult to print correctly from Publisher, and Publisher will not print to very large sheets. If you have Adobe Acrobat or similar software such as the free DoPDF, choose file and print, and print your document to a PDF. Open the PDF in Acrobat Reader, and you will be able to print to any size of paper, and you will have more printing options.
  • Adobe Illustrator—Large files can be saved as PDF and printed from Adobe Acrobat. This reduced the likelihood that the printer will drop some of the images from the final print.
  • Adobe Photoshop—To print more quickly, the document resolution should be a maximum of 150 DPI with the images dimensions matching that of your final print. See the Adobe Photoshop printing instructions for more information.
  • AutoCAD—If you want to put multiple AutoCAD drawings inside of a poster layout, the best method is to export each drawing as a EPS file (From AutoCAD: File -> Export -> Files of Type, Encapsulated Postscript). Import these files into Adobe Illustrator and place them on your layout. The advantage of using EPS over JPG is that all of the line weights are retained and that EPS is a vector format.
  • FormZ—Many of our students have found it difficult to print from FormZ. You may either choose file -> export image -> export as Illustrator file, or export the document as an image and print it from Photoshop. To set up the document before exporting, turn off the grid, and zoom in so that the area you are exporting fills the screen.
  • Phaser 850—This printer prints 8.5x11, and of all of the small-format printers, the colors will match your screen but a little darker.
  • Phaser 7750—The colors are warmer than your screen.
  • Color Laser—The colors will be cooler than your screen.
  • HP1055 Bond—Grayscale and black lines look fine. Color images are a bit darker than the screen. Increase the brightness of images by %20 to better match the screen.
  • HP1055 Coated Bond—Same as the 1055 Bond, but contains thicker paper. The thicker paper can handle images that are ink-heavy. The thinner paper in the 1055 Bond will warp and buckle when large quantities of ink are applied.
  • HP4000—Unless the black ink only option is chosen when printing grayscale, there will be a warm color cast to the image. See the HP 4000 printing instructions on how to print in grayscale. Color tones match the screen but appear a little lighter.
  • KIP 2000—Print quality is similar to the HP 8150 black and white printer. This printer is intended for printing line drawings only. When printing solid blocks, the image may be faded in some areas. Use the HP 1055 or HP 4000 with the grayscale printing option instead.
  • HP 5500—Has the best print quality, and the best paper. Due to the cost of printing on this printer, choose it only for your production work. Because of the high print quality, the printer takes between 15 and 45 minutes per sheet which varies with the size of the document and its complexity.