Very Slow Quality Printing

[ttorgove]

I am trying to print contact sheets of 40 Nikon NEF selected images which are on a external drive but have been imported to Lightroom.
Using the print module all are laid out using the 2x2 template, everything is correctly selected using the Epson 2400 luster driver at 300 dpi. After I press print a message is displayed that lightroom is processing the images. It may take 20 minutes before the spooling is complete and the images begin to print.  Is this because Lightroom has to process each of the NEF files individually before sending them to the printer. Is there any solution other then selecting the draft mode to get high quality contact sheets.
I am using Windows XP Pro with an older (slower processor). Please Help!

[Wolf Eilers]

Is there any solution other then selecting the draft mode to get high quality contact sheets.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=118302\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Selecting Draft Mode Printing will get you "high quality" contact sheets. And, yes, if Draft Mode Printing is not selected Lr will need to process the original files before printing.

I'm not sure how large a print you can make in draft mode without sacrificing quality. For full page prints I would likely not use draft mode -- but it's more than OK for contact sheets.

[seanmcfoto]

Selecting Draft Mode Printing will get you "high quality" contact sheets. And, yes, if Draft Mode Printing is not selected Lr will need to process the original files before printing.

I'm not sure how large a print you can make in draft mode without sacrificing quality. For full page prints I would likely not use draft mode -- but it's more than OK for contact sheets.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=118724\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

If you have 1:1 previews, you can print quite large with Draft mode. Of course the quality will depend on your preview quality settings. Also you don't get any Print sharpening applied. But for contact sheets, it's fine.

[ttorgove]

Selecting Draft Mode Printing will get you "high quality" contact sheets. And, yes, if Draft Mode Printing is not selected Lr will need to process the original files before printing.

I'm not sure how large a print you can make in draft mode without sacrificing quality. For full page prints I would likely not use draft mode -- but it's more than OK for contact sheets.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=118724\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thank Your for your help!  TTorgove

[ttorgove]

Selecting Draft Mode Printing will get you "high quality" contact sheets. And, yes, if Draft Mode Printing is not selected Lr will need to process the original files before printing.

I'm not sure how large a print you can make in draft mode without sacrificing quality. For full page prints I would likely not use draft mode -- but it's more than OK for contact sheets.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=118724\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thank you for your help.  TTorgove