Question about printing logo on paper from Web page

SF
Posted By
Steven Foley
Sep 12, 2003
Views
351
Replies
5
Status
Closed
Hello all:

If you are printing a web page with a black and white logo on it, will the logo ALWAYS be fuzzy-edged on paper due to the fact that you are printing from a 72 dpi web page, or is there a trick (in Photoshop or Illustrator) to making it print out crisp and clear? I’ve tried .gif, .jpg, and .wmf, to no avail.

The reason why I’m asking is because my company is switching to a new on-line billing system. The IS department is complaining to me about the fact that the logo looks "fuzzy" whenever they print the web page on paper. I’ve tried to explain the 72 dpi thing, but they are not satisfied. (PDF is not an option due to the nature of the billing system). I’ve even printed out several web pages (including Adobe’s) to show them that logos always look a little fuzzy when you print them. (Not to mention the fact that people at home will have a wide range of printers that range in quality from professional on down to cheap and crappy).

I’m asking for help here as a way to confirm that what I’ve told them is true — or perhaps there’s something I missed, and one of you wonderful, talented people can educate me.

Thanks in advance!

– Steve
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Y
YrbkMgr
Sep 12, 2003
Steve,

If it’s black and white only, use GIF – there’ll be no JPG artifacts that way and usually, for a b/w graphic, you’ll get crisper edges. Use Save For Web when you do it.

Having said that, ask the IS department if they would expect the same quality from printing in Draft Mode as they would by printing in High Quality Mode. My sarcastic point (to IS) is, that it depends on how they are printing it as well.

That’s my two cents…

Peace,
Tony
SF
Steven Foley
Sep 12, 2003
Thank you, Tony.

I used "Save for Web" in Illustrator (directly from the .ai logo), and tried all the GIF settings.

Then I put them all on a Web page and printed them using "Best Quality" mode (trying both PS and PCL print drivers on my HP LaserJet 5000n black & white laser printer). I got different results from each print driver, but nothing that will satisfy the IS department! In short, both versions look awful when printed, but in different ways. On-screen, they look just fine.

At least I know that I have tried everything possible!!

Thanks again for your help.

– Steve
L
LenHewitt
Sep 12, 2003
Steven,

The only way round your problem would be to keep the logo vector.

There are two ways you could do this:

1) As a Flash .swf file
2) As an SGV file

In either case the browser would require a plugin, and the Flash plugin is a LOT more common than the SVG plugin (and much smaller to download if it isn’t present on the browser)
JM
John Mensinger
Sep 12, 2003
Steve,

Though many IS "professionals" don’t know a thing about the economies of image resolution, they SHOULD. I’d demonstrate to them the effects of posting a print-resolution version of the logo on the page, and let them choose what they think is the lesser of two evils. After all, they know everything…….don’t they?
Y
YrbkMgr
Sep 12, 2003
Steve,

72 PPI is an Urban Legend about web graphics – you can read more about it at:

<http://www.scantips.com>

Create your logo at 150 ppi, and then re-enter the correct image dimensions in pixels from the Image|Image Size… dialog. See if that helps.

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