Logos are grainy when printed

A
Posted By
Alex
Oct 7, 2006
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1234
Replies
3
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Closed
Hello everyone,

I’m trying to create a logo in Photoshop CS (Mac OSX), and no matter what size or resolution it still look grainy when printed out.

My experience is with graphics for web, so first thing I did was create a new graphic 640×480 and 700dpi. I made the logo using antialias for everything — it’s mainly just two lines and some text. I found that a print preview showed my logo at about 2 inches by 1 inch on the page, so I changed the size to 5 inches by 3 inches (or something close) and kicked the resolution up to 1200. It looks better, but solid colors are still grainy when printed. Kicked it up to resolution of 2200 and same thing.

How can I make a logo I create come out crisp on the printer? What resolution and size should I use? I even kicked up the resolution to 2000 and tried to recreate the logo with the same results. It looks great on screen, so just wish the printer showed the same thing.

Thanks —

Alex

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T
Tacit
Oct 7, 2006
In article ,
"Alex" wrote:

I’m trying to create a logo in Photoshop CS (Mac OSX), and no matter what size or resolution it still look grainy when printed out.

That’s your first mistake. You don’t create logos in a paint program like Photoshop, but rather in a drawing program such as Illustrator.

Paint programs work in pixels. When you make an image out of pixels, it can not be scaled without loss. Vector programs are not made of pixels and print smoothly at any size. Photoshop has some limited vector capability, but nothing on the order of what you need for logo design.

My experience is with graphics for web, so first thing I did was create a new graphic 640×480 and 700dpi.

Your second mistake. You do not make images for print at pixel sizes. You should make the image the size in inches you want, at an appropriate resolution. If you wanted it, say, 3 inches by 3 inches, then you create a new image that is 3 inches by 3 inches at an appropriate resolution. For color images on a home printer, 300 pixels per inch is generally an appropriate resolution.

I made the logo using antialias for
everything — it’s mainly just two lines and some text. I found that a print preview showed my logo at about 2 inches by 1 inch on the page, so I changed the size to 5 inches by 3 inches (or something close) and kicked the resolution up to 1200.

Your third mistake. Once you have made an image in Photoshop, you can not change the number of pixels without degrading the image.

It looks better, but solid colors
are still grainy when printed. Kicked it up to resolution of 2200 and same thing.

Yes. Resolution does not affect solid colors.

What kind of printer are you using? Inkjet printers are incapable of printing smooth shades of color. They create the illusion of smooth shades of color by mixing tiny dots of solid color. What you are calling "graininess" in solid color is probably dithering–the making of a color by mixing dots of solid color. Depending on the model of printer you are using, you may not be able to do anything about this.

How can I make a logo I create come out crisp on the printer?

Do it in Illustrator, not Photoshop.

What
resolution and size should I use?

In Illustrator, there is no "resolution," because Illustrator images are not made of pixels. In Photoshop, if you are printing on a consumer-grade printer, 300 pixels per inch is plenty of resolution.

I even kicked up the resolution to
2000 and tried to recreate the logo with the same results. It looks great on screen, so just wish the printer showed the same thing.

If the problem you are seeing is in fact dithering, then no changing of resolution in Photoshop will help.


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A
Alex
Oct 9, 2006
tacit wrote:
In article ,
"Alex" wrote:

I’m trying to create a logo in Photoshop CS (Mac OSX), and no matter what size or resolution it still look grainy when printed out.

If the problem you are seeing is in fact dithering, then no changing of resolution in Photoshop will help.

Thanks for all the tips and such on this… I’ve never used Illustrator before, but I can see your point on why it’s better then Photoshop for printed logos. This logo was mainly for a school project, but for future such graphics I’ll stick with Illustrator.

Take care,

Sam
J
John
Oct 10, 2006
"Alex" wrote in message

Thanks for all the tips and such on this… I’ve never used Illustrator before, but I can see your point on why it’s better then Photoshop for printed logos. This logo was mainly for a school project, but for future such graphics I’ll stick with Illustrator.

Sometimes, if the image is largely an outline of two colors, you can salvage it by bringing it into Illustrator and then take the Object – Trace – Make option. It does a good job of removing the jaggies. Then fill it. Save as ..AI (native Illustrator).

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