Elfstone
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File: Card-design.jpg (22.4 KB)
Downloaded 81 times.
License: Public Domain

I have a strange (to me) problem with the printing of a file. I designed my own Christmas cards and one of the designs does not print as it appears on the screen. I have emailed the tech people at the support part of the site of the software involved, (Print Explosion) but a week later I have had no reply, so I am turning once agin to you good people in the hope that someone here understands what is going wrong with this (and can help me to make it right ).

I will attach an image of what the card looks like to this post and make another post for the resulting print.

____________________________
Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

Elfstone
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File: Card-print.jpg (31.8 KB)
Downloaded 68 times.
License: Public Domain

I scanned a print to show what the print looks like - the colours are wrong and in distinct bands, rather than just gradually altering form light to dark.

____________________________
Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

Stephen4Louise
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I've never used the software you mention, but check if you are printing in draft mode. You should find a checkbox somewhere in the print settings.

Steve.

Elfstone
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Thanks Stephen, but I printed the copy which I scanned in High/best quality mode, on 120gsm paper.

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Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

Briareos
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Stephen4Louise wrote:
I've never used the software you mention, but check if you are printing in draft mode. You should find a checkbox somewhere in the print settings.

Errr... I don't think printing in draft mode will change the orientation of the gradient in the background by 90 degrees - in her original, it's oriented left/right, while in the scan it's up/down...

(Then again - is that gradient meant to look as in your first image? Looks a bit strange...)

What printer do you have, Elfstone? And is that your only card with a gradient in the background, or are there others where a left/right gradient comes out fine?

If the gradient's orientation is different in print vs. on screen, I'd hazard a guess that the postscript code that's generated to render the gradient on the printer is faulty (which would explain the wrong orientation and colors), but that's a software problem only fixable either by updating the software, the OS' printer subsystem, the printer driver or (if it's a postscript printer) the printer's firmware.

But also - Elfstone, does that software have an option to export the cards as an image? Exporting your card to a high-res (300 dpi or more), uncompressed image then printing that with a different application might work around the problem.

____________________________
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
R.I.P. Robert Feldhoff (1962-2009)

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[Last edited by Briareos at 11-16-2007 12:57 PM]

bandit1200
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It looks suspiciously like the printer has run out of a particular colour, (green possibly?), or a the nozzle(s) for that colour are becoming blocked.

(But what do I know? I refuse to pay the price of a new printer for a colour cartridge for my own printer.)

Elfstone
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Thanks bandit and Briareos.

My printer is printing all colours on other documents so I don't think that is the problem.

"(Then again - is that gradient meant to look as in your first image? Looks a bit strange...)" - yes, although in the file I attached (I panicked when I read what you had said and downloaded it from here to check it) there is a kind of "grainyness"(?) which isn't in the original. The colour fades from darkish blue on the right to pale blue on the left and in the original file that is a completely smooth transition - no bands. Does it look strange? - something about them walking towards the Light I thought? . . . . oh well, no matter

"But also - Elfstone, does that software have an option to export the cards as an image" - I don't know, but I'll go and look. You should know me well enough by now to know that I know nothing about the insides of computers, but if I'm given step by (idiot-proof) step instructions by you dear people I can usually work round a problem and sort it.

____________________________
Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

Briareos
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Elfstone wrote:
Does it look strange? - something about them walking towards the Light I thought? . . . . oh well, no matter

Nah, I was just not sure...

Anyway, as you can see the gradient is also oriented wrong on the scan of your print, so it has to be some software problem.

I don't know, but I'll go and look. You should know me well enough by now to know that I know nothing about the insides of computers, but if I'm given step by (idiot-proof) step instructions by you dear people I can usually work round a problem and sort it.

I'm afraid someone else will have to give you step-by-step instructions for printing images under Mac OS X - all I've got here are Windows and Linux...

np: Kid606 - King Of Harm (Resilience)

____________________________
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
R.I.P. Robert Feldhoff (1962-2009)