Introduction
Let me introduce 'User'. User is someone just like you and me, on a bad day he looks at
his computer and despairs. On a good day he wonders if there is more he could do - if he
could get better results...
So how does User print his carefully crafted images? He spends hours getting them looking
just right on his screen. He hits the print button, assuming the computer knows what it is
doing, and often wonders why his print is a disappointment.
Judging by how any computer, left to its own devices, seems to make a mess of his life,
he thinks surely there is a better way...
Well, indeed there is...
What does User know about the print he wants to make? He probably knows:
- how big he wants his print to be. Maybe he has a pack of A4 paper and the printer to
handle it and wants to get two pictures from this one sheet. Maybe he want four pictures or
just one. Whichever, he knows...
- how he wants his print to look. He has spent time and care both taking his photo and getting
it looking right on his screen. He wants it to look like that...
What does he do next?
Something along these lines...
A Printing Workflow
- Decide the Resolution you wish to print at and set the image's resolution to that figure;
(see print sizing and resolution web page for values to use)
- Decide the Print Size you wish the print to be (again, see print sizing and resolution web page);
- Having decided the Print Size and the Resolution, work out the Pixel Count using the Resolution
Calculator and resize the image to that figure
- Set the Print Size details in the Print dialogue (this means printing at 100% or 1:1);
- Set the colour printing details in the Print dialogue and the Printer's own dialogue (see the
Colour Settings page);
- Click on the Print button.
Let's define a few of these terms:
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Image Size |
All digital photos are composed of dots called pixels. Each can be measured by the number of pixels
it is horizontally and vertically.
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Print Size |
Any print has physical dimensions, often measured in inches although maybe in centimetres or millimetres.
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Resolution |
Resolution is a measure of the concentration of pixels present in a display showing an image whether
on a screen or in a print. It is normally measured in dots per inch (dpi) or, more rarely, dots per
millimetre (dpmm).
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An average screen will have a resolution of between 70 and 100 dpi. At this concentration User will
feel the image looks good. The average print will need to have roughly three times the resolution
to look as good. Before printing, User will have to decide what figure to use.
The mathematically inclined will have noticed that these three terms relate closely to each other.
To print any image requires that two of the three be known by the computer - the third it should happily
calculate on its own. However, left to its own devices, it is unlikely it will choose the best figures
so User needs to choose them himself to get the best out of the printing process.
So User knows what he wants to do with his print. The next step is to work the details out. The
next two documents explain in a bit more detail.
Firstly learn more about Print Sizing and Resolution...
and then about managing
the Colour Settings...
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