Printing on Inkjet

[bdowns]

I have a Lexmark 3200 and I will be printing Word documents that will have
both text and graphics files on them. My questions to the group is, One:
what graphics file,( jpeg, bmp, tiff, etc,) should I use to get the sharpest
picture on a inkjet printer. The other question is after I create my page
that has both text and graphics, should I convert this Word document to
another file to get the sharpest image on my inkjet?

 

[Eric Gill]

I have a Lexmark 3200 and I will be printing Word documents that will
have both text and graphics files on them. My questions to the group
is, One: what graphics file,( jpeg, bmp, tiff, etc,) should I use to
get the sharpest picture on a inkjet printer. The other question is
after I create my page that has both text and graphics, should I
convert this Word document to another file to get the sharpest image
on my inkjet?

I believe you have a misapprehension of the term "prepress," and hence are
posting to one group too many.

 

[Baeowulf]

That doesn't mean we can't help him, Eric.

For your purposes, BD, bmp and tiff are exactly the same and it doesn't
matter which to use. The only advantage they would have for you over Jpeg
is the fact that they're uncompressed so they won't show any artefacts in
them and will generally give you a better image. However, a jpeg can be
just as good as a tiff or a bmp if the compression is fairly low, so it
really doesn't matter.

If you can see errors in the image, they'll print, but otherwise, you're
fine with anything you decide to use.

Pretty much the only format you couldn't use would be EPS, but if you had a
postscript compatible printer that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Taliesyn]

I have a Lexmark 3200 and I will be printing Word documents that will have
both text and graphics files on them. My questions to the group is, One:
what graphics file,( jpeg, bmp, tiff, etc,) should I use to get the sharpest
picture on a inkjet printer. The other question is after I create my page
that has both text and graphics, should I convert this Word document to
another file to get the sharpest image on my inkjet?

I don't mean to sound critical, but it is my view that you are placing
far, far too much emphasis on the picture file type and document file
type than with the actual piece of printing equipment you expect to
use - the Lexmark 3200. Don't expect too much print quality from a $70
(US$) printer, and no black magic fixes (file types) is going to solve
your problem. Invest in a higher quality printer. I have a Lexmark Z55,
a rather high quality line from them. But I only use it to print junk
stuff (emails, grocery lists, etc), it cannot compete with a real
printer. The important work gets done on my Canon i850. Just my opinion,
you can choose to ignore it. But I think most people here might agree
with me.

But I will give you a tip. When using photos (I like .jpgs), use as
large an image as possible for the original, it'll give you a far better
result when you reduce it in size in Word for your actual needs. This is
the same principal used in digital cameras. The actual picture your take
is quite huge - you need all those bits of information for a good,
sharp, detailed image, suitable for printing.

PS - If a photo isn't sharp to start with, you can sharpen it using
inexpensive and free photo editing software, easily found on the
Internet.

-Taliesyn

 

[Waldo]

Aaargh! Are there still Word users on this planet???

The original will do for the sharpest image on your Lexmark, also depending
on the compression rate and the image dimensions. It doesn't make sense to
print a 1200 DPI image on your inkjet printer. 300 DPI will be enough for
color and grayscale images.

I wouldn't recommend converting to another format for printing to your
inkjet (if you want to read your document next year, you may need
conversion...).

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

I have a Lexmark 3200 and I will be printing Word documents that will have
both text and graphics files on them. My questions to the group is, One:
what graphics file,( jpeg, bmp, tiff, etc,) should I use to get the sharpest
picture on a inkjet printer. The other question is after I create my page
that has both text and graphics, should I convert this Word document to
another file to get the sharpest image on my inkjet?

I've printed Word documents with all three graphics formats you've
mentioned on my HP5550; I may not have the best eye, but the
difference isn't worth mentioning.

 

[mac]

the formats you list are all bitmap formats. given the same resolution,
there should be no difference in the printed page.

be aware that increasing resolution beyond that which is needed (and the old
prepress song of "twice the lpi" has absolutely no application for you or
any inkjet) will not improve the output quality, but it will dramatically
increase the times needed to print a page.

experiment with resolutions in the 100-150 dpi range. This is calcualted at
the actuall size of the graphic as used in the document you are printing.