Printer Quality

[rskehan]

Hello! Please take a look at the two screenshots. One is a screen capture from a CAD/CAM type program I'm using and the other is a screen capture of how the image looks when printed to a PDF format using PDF-Exchange. I have tried messing with the resolution settings but nothing gets me closer to an accurate graphic. Any suggestions on how to improve the outcome?

CV Render.jpg

Output Result.jpg

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello rskehan,

Welcome to our forums!
Please check whether your CAD software has options for rasterizing content when printing - and try to turn those off. That way you will ensure that the CAD software sends a print job to our printer as vector objects, and this should result in the PDF file being created and looking exactly as your original project on screen.

Then please also make sure that your CAD software uses at least 300 DPI (and you could even try 600 or 1200) when 'printing' as this could also have effect on the resulting PDF.

If you can attach a sample PDF page to this topic - we will be happy to take a look.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[rskehan]

Hello Stefan - glad to be aboard. Really enjoying your software product. To be honest I am unclear what file format is used to by our CAM software. We use a product for commercial millwork manufacturing called Cabinet Vision. Hexagon is the parent company. I am trying to ascertain the file type now and will report back once I have confirmed.

Meanwhile, I have tried changing the resolution settings inside PDF-X and while the image quality improved it was only marginal. Here is an example.

Setup File 2022.pdf

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello rskehan,

Thanks for the sample file! I see that the objects inside are actually vector ones, but because your objects are actually quite "small" in absolute terms when compared with a 100% zoom of the file - your CAD software is vectorizing them with a few objects and with a specific size that it thinks will print good on paper. Your screenshot from the first post seems to be taken at about 400% zoom, and your CAD software thinks it is printing to paper where at 100% zoom those objects would look fine.

Please try increasing the DPI when printing to 1200 DPI - and see if you get a better result (your file size should not increase significantly, but the smoothness of objects should improve).

Kind regards,
Stefan

[rskehan]

Stefan - thanks for the quick response. I believe I am following your commentary. On the sheet I last uploaded, the images (called scenes) are all scaled differently to fit inside the allowed space / block. Some are 1/8" others 1/4" and still others 1/2". I'm using 11 x 17 paper size in landscape orientation. By virtue of changing the resolution to 1200 inside the PDF printer utility document settings here is the result. In some ways it's better but in other ways worse.

Setup File 2022a.pdf

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello rskehan,

There should be DPI settings in your printing software as well. Make sure those are also set to 1200 DPI.
And can you please point out which areas are "worse" in the new sample so that I can compare the two?

Kind regards,
Stefan

[rskehan]

Hi Stefan - I'm confused which admittedly isn't hard for me...LOL. Is my 'printing software' not PDF-Xchange? This is the only place I can find a setting to change the DPI value. I have limited print/image control settings inside my Cabinet Vision software.

[rskehan]

Stefan - no matter the printer utility I use the results are more or less similar. Cute PDF produces the best or most accurate results as compared to PDF-X, Microsoft, or Adobe. My guess is where I am scaling down my drawing scenes to 1/4" or 1/2" from 1' this is part of the issue. That said, I don't feel I should be seeing some of my results. For example, architects jam all sorts of information onto a drawing scaled down to 1/8" = 1'on a page that is 24" x 36" from programs like AutoCAD and there's not the level of distortion I am experiencing.

[rskehan]

Hi Stefan - additional fodder here. As just explained, I printed drawings keeping my scene scaling unchanged and did so using four different print utilities with DPI set to 300. The results were more or less the same with Cute PDF producing the best results. I then changed my scene scale to 1" and printed again using four different printers; the results were basically the same so this tells me scaling settings are not the cause. I then increased the DPI value to 600 and then 1200. Results were again more or less the same. Not sure where to turn from here. Thx in advance. - Bob

[rskehan]

Stefan - to help narrow this down I am posting the following for your review:
1. Screen Capture - CV Print Settings
2. Screen Capture - Cabinet Section View Detail - from Inside the Program
3. 3 PDF Files - from PDF-X with 300-600-1200 DPI settings
4. 3 PDF Files - from Cute-PDF with 300-600-1200 DPI settings

Let me know please if you find this information helpful or need something else.

CV Printer Settings.jpg

PDF-X 1200 DPI.pdf

[rskehan]

...here are the other files.

Cute PDF 1200 PDI.pdf

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello rskehan,

I see pretty much the same issues - the dots are not 'square' and the circles from your original design are broken down into other segments. This is due to the scaling and "simplification" the initial tool is doing before sending the project to the printer.
Other than trying other settings in the original software where it will not try to simplify objects before sending them to printing, and using 1200 DPI - I really do not think anything else would help much.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[rskehan]

Understood - thanks.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]