How to Print Anything

Most homes with a computer have some kind of inkjet or laser printer. Preparing files and printing to a desktop printer is generally less complicated than commercial printing.

Some steps you may need to take before or after clicking on print:
• Calibrate your desktop printer for better color printing.
• Fix a paper jam

While commercial printing includes some inkjet and laser printing methods, most commercial printing methods usually require very specific file preparation or prepress tasks. This is especially true for offset printing and other methods that utilize printing plates and presses.

Use these commercial printing guidelines:
• Prepare a layout.
• Prepare digital files.
• Use PostScript or PDF color separations.
• Give camera-ready artwork to your printer.
• Use a preflight checklist.

Photographs can contain millions of colors. But most desktop printers and printing presses can only print a handful of ink colors. So how do you get all those brilliant colors of a photograph with only a few inks? Even if you only have one or two colors for graphics or text, color printing takes special preparation whether from the desktop or a printing press. And although commercial color printing can be expensive, there are ways to save money and still get all the color you want. Or, get color without color printing.

When it comes to print speed for your inkjet or laser printer, there are a lot of variables to consider. The PPM (print-per-minute) touted by the printer manufacturer is an approximation. Inkjet printers are slower than laser printers. Printing in a single color is generally faster than full color. The more photos on the page, the longer it will take to print. The higher you set the print quality, the longer it will take to print a page. If you're just printing out proofs of a document, set the quality lower for faster printing until you are ready to print the final version. One way you can print faster on any printer is to print in draft mode.

Also see:
Setting Word to print in draft quality.

What looks good on screen doesn't necessarily look good when printed. Text needs to be readable when it gets turned into little dots of ink on the page. Choose body text fonts that look good on paper. Take care when using knock-out or reversed type treatments. The words can be harder to read if you don't use the right fonts, colors, and size.

Also see:
• Use draft mode to speed up printing and save ink.
• Learn how to print text for rubber stamping projects.

A lot of the graphic images on the Web are low resolution GIF images. There are a few tricks you can use to print low resolution graphics. Some graphics on the Web are intended for printing. Learn how to print images from your browser window.

 

Also see:
What size to print artwork (giclee fine art prints).

You've got a picture. You want a print. Open it in your software and just hit the print button, right? Maybe. But if you want the photo to look good, need it in a certain size, only want part of the picture, or need to have it run on a printing press, then there's more you'll need to know and do.

You can print a PDF file like you print most any type of document. However, if you are preparing a PDF for desktop printing or for commerical printing there are certain settings and options you'll want to use.

See these tutorials:
• Print only the selected portion of a PDF file.
• Make PDFs from QuarkXPress to print on a desktop printer.
• How font subsetting affects viewing, editing, and printing a PDF fiile.
• Using PostScript or PDF color separations for commercial printing.

If you want everything on the page, you can print a Web page in 4 easy steps. But first, you might want to see if the Web site has a "print this page" link or button. This often creates a more printer-friendly version of the page and sends it directly to your default printer. If you want only a portion of the page, use print selection to print only what you want from a Web page.

Also see:
How to design a printer-friendly Web page.

The Print Screen (Prt Scr) button on your keyboard doesn't really send what you see on your monitor to your printer. It captures the screen (takes a screen shot) as a graphic. If that's what you need, it's easy to use the Print Screen Key in Windows. If you have Windows Vista, the Snipping Tool works even better. Now, before you hit the Prt Scr button or use screen capture software, if you intend to print your screen shots on paper there are certain steps you can take to make sure that your screen shots look good in print.

Sure, most printing is done on some kind of paper. But you can also print on fabric. There are some desktop printers that will let you print directly on a CD or DVD. If you're going to have a CD commerically printed, it's good to know how it's done and what limitations you face when designing for printing on a CD.

 

Also see:
• Tips for preparing to print on transfer paper.
• Create and print transparency rub-ons for scrapbooking.
• Advice and materials for printing on canvas cloth.

Intaglio printing is used for U.S. paper currency. But you can use most any printing method to print your own money -- sort of. There are certain steps you'll need to take to design with and print pictures of paper currency legally.

Also see:
What you need to print your own checks.