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Scribus => Beginner Talk => Topic started by: patrickvh on May 13, 2012, 09:18:03 PM

Title: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: patrickvh on May 13, 2012, 09:18:03 PM

Till today I have always been using a simple inktjet printer to produce some a flyer. I have just purchased a colour laser printer (Brother HL-4150CDN) was was expecting soem nice results.

unfortunately I have ran into some problems.

1st problem

The text (black) that appears in the print-out is not sharp. When trying to print the same text (with same fonts) through either MS-Word or InkScape, the results is very sharp. What printing options/setting are suggested to get the optimum result?

2nd problem

In the past I have always printed flyers on the InktJet printer. The text color for these flyers was always 'Brown' and very nice printed through the (cheap) InktJet printer. (even with small pt. characters).
I was very disappointed showing the result on the laser printer. Instead of sharp brown text, it became more or less rastered (don't know hoe else to explain  :) )

I hope some of you would be able to give some advice on the issues above.

Many Thanks!
Patrick
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: Nermander on May 13, 2012, 09:46:50 PM
Are you printing directly from Scribus? Or from PDF?

If printing from PDF, are you exporting For printer or For screen/web? And from what PDF viewer?
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: Wena on May 14, 2012, 11:28:09 AM
I had a similar result, I use a Samsong SCK4600 mono laser printer for my small jobs. They turned out very poor. I investigated, and used a different paper stock and found that the work was great and sharp.   

The difference was that the first paper hadn't a smooth surface but the other was smooth. We were rather disappointed at that as we wanted a rugged look to the job.

Hop this will help

Wena   
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: patrickvh on May 14, 2012, 09:19:05 PM
Quote from: Nermander on May 13, 2012, 09:46:50 PM
Are you printing directly from Scribus? Or from PDF?

If printing from PDF, are you exporting For printer or For screen/web? And from what PDF viewer?

I'm printing directly from Scribus.

Would it make a difference to print to PDF first?
While reading your question exporting for printer or screen i would assume 'printer' would be the option to choose.
Does it make any difference from what PDF viewer is being printed? I my case I would use Adobe as it is the only one that I have.

Thanks!
Patrick
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: patrickvh on May 14, 2012, 09:22:12 PM
Quote from: Wena on May 14, 2012, 11:28:09 AM
I had a similar result, I use a Samsong SCK4600 mono laser printer for my small jobs. They turned out very poor. I investigated, and used a different paper stock and found that the work was great and sharp.   

Thanks for the tip.

I my case, printing from e.g. InktScape was ok with pure black text, so I would assume the paper quality is sufficient.
The same text with the same fonts in Scribus gave the problem.

The brown colored text however does also not look nice through InktScape

Thanks!
Patrick
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: a.l.e on May 15, 2012, 11:19:53 AM
try to print from pdf.

scribus is optimized for pdf creation not for printing.
some pdf readers are optimized for printing.

ciao
a.l.e
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: Nermander on May 15, 2012, 03:18:05 PM
Quote from: patrickvh on May 14, 2012, 09:19:05 PM
While reading your question exporting for printer or screen i would assume 'printer' would be the option to choose.

"Printer" in this case does not mean "office printer" but "offset printer" or "printer" as in the profession, not the device.

"For printer" creates a PDF with CMYK colors.

"For screen/web" creates a PDF with RGB colors.

In most cases you want RGB colors because office printers are made to take RGB as input (because that is what most office programs will send to them). Many printer drivers can not handle CMYK data, so any CMYK data will first med converted to RGB, and then in the printer converted to CMYK.
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: patrickvh on May 15, 2012, 08:29:37 PM
Quote from: a.l.e on May 15, 2012, 11:19:53 AM
try to print from pdf.

scribus is optimized for pdf creation not for printing.
some pdf readers are optimized for printing.

Thanks! Which PDF reader would you advice for printing the PDF to the laser printer. Just adobe other something else?
Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: patrickvh on May 15, 2012, 08:34:25 PM
Quote from: Nermander on May 15, 2012, 03:18:05 PM

"Printer" in this case does not mean "office printer" but "offset printer" or "printer" as in the profession, not the device.

"For printer" creates a PDF with CMYK colors.

"For screen/web" creates a PDF with RGB colors.

In most cases you want RGB colors because office printers are made to take RGB as input (because that is what most office programs will send to them). Many printer drivers can not handle CMYK data, so any CMYK data will first med converted to RGB, and then in the printer converted to CMYK.

Thanks! This is new information for me. I will stick to "For screen/web", assuming that my Brother printer might better handle RGB.

I did however tried some "For printer" PDF's (from InkScape) and printed these using the postscript driver. It seemed to be ok, although I have not compared the difference with "For screen/web".

Title: Re: Text not sharp on laserprint
Post by: a.l.e on May 15, 2012, 08:39:33 PM
yes, adobe's pdf reader is the reference.
ciao
a.l.e