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Author Topic: Best Print Resolution  (Read 3738 times)

Wil

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Best Print Resolution
« on: February 23, 2011, 12:41:25 pm »

I don’t understand all I know about this.

1.  There is a large body of “experts” who postulate that the resolution of a file sent to a printer should be some multiple of the printer native resolution (Canon, HP - 300, Epson -360).  The argument is that the print driver will resample the file to its native resolution before actually doing the printing, and that a better result is obtained if that resampling is done by the software (LR, etc.) instead of the print driver.

2.  The Lightroom opinion from the Lightroom 3.3 Help file:
In the Print module, the Print Resolution setting specifies the pixels per inch (ppi) of the photo for the printer. Lightroom resamples the image data if needed, depending on the print resolution and the print dimensions. The default value of 240 ppi is satisfactory for many print jobs, including high-end inkjet prints. Refer to your printer’s documentation to determine its optimal resolution.

3.  Note that the last sentence in 2, above, refers the user to the printer documentation.  I use Canon printers and can’t find any such recommendations in those documents.

4.  In the Lr 3 videos by Mike and Jeff, the issue was discussed, but I am not able to completely understand this whole thing.

5.  Question: What does the print driver do when the resolution of the file is different than the native resolution of the printer.  It seems that there are two cases here (1) where the file resolution is a multiple of the printer resolution, and (2) where it isn’t a multiple of the printer resolution.

6.  Inquiring minds want to know.  Where is the best place to start with resolution sent to the printer?

Thanks!
Wil
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Costas

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Re: Best Print Resolution
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2011, 01:56:14 pm »

There is another factor at play here - output sharpening

You should try and do this at the printers input resolution, for Canon printers this could be 600dpi and for many Epson printers its 720dpi - depends on the model. Reason for that is, if for example you sharpen the image at a resolution of 240dpi then the print driver may resample that to 720dpi so magnifying all the sharpening halos/artifacts that may have been introduced.

just another thing to keep in mind
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NikoJorj

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Re: Best Print Resolution
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2011, 03:47:08 pm »

A good read might be
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/05/more-on-printer-sharpness.html (for the native resolution, executive summary : valid for resolution target but not for photos)
and
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/01/how-sharp-is-your-printer-how-sharp-are-your-eyes.html (executive summary : test it for yourself, to see which resolution still conveys details you can see on the paper).
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Nicolas from Grenoble
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