image quality on scaled and printed document

[carterdawson]

I have a large (44"x34") PDF file that is being printed using the PDF-XChange Viewer SDK. The file is being scaled down and printed to 17"x11".

When this is done, we get serious image quality issues. You can see what I mean in the images that I've put in the .zip file that is attached to this topic. In many cases, the text is undecipherable. In comparison, Acrobat seems to print the document just fine in this same scenario.

It looks like it comes down to antialiasing when scaling. Any idea what I can do to get better results here?

Thanks!

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

Thanks for your report. Can you please provide us with original document or at least with one page of this document ?

[carterdawson]

Unfortunately, these are proprietary documents and cannot be shared. Is there a private way of getting you the documents?

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi carterdawson

you can send them by email to support@pdf-xchange.com and we will honour the confidentiality of the documents.

hth

[carterdawson]

Done.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Thanks carterdawson

we have received the file and are investigating. I will post here developments as I get them.

regards

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi again carterdawson,

can you tell us what is the make and model of the printer you are using? The exact driver version would help too if possible.

regards

[carterdawson]

I am using the Adobe PDF printer driver that comes with Acrobat 8. Does that help? My client (for whom I am reproducing the problem) is using an actual printer. I have asked them for their information as well.

Thanks!

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

OK carterdawson,

So to summarize you are creating the large PDF (44"x34") Using Adobe's printing driver, then you are sending it to your client, and they are trying to print it using our Viewer on their hardware printer and get the results shown above.

We are now awaiting the information about the printer model from you then.

Regards,
Stefan

[carterdawson]

No.

The PDF file I sent you (34x44) is the original source PDF from the client. I do not know how it was created. When the file is printed, you get the quality reduction that I mentioned, and illustrated in the screenshots. The client reported the problem to me when they tried to print that file using the printer driver that I'm still trying to chase down. I was able to reproduce the problem using the Adobe PDF print driver.

So, the file that I sent you is the input file. I never sent you the output files, which I'll do momentarily. These files will be 17x11.

Thanks!

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

HI carterdawson

thanks for the output files, we got those OK. Now my turn to summarize...

You (or your client) noticed a drop in quality when printing the original large format files from PDF-XChange Viewer to a printer/plotter.
You do not have the details of the printer/plotter that displayed this so:
You "Printed" the file from Adobe Reader to the Adobe PDF print driver - 127E7650_C.adobe.pdf
You "Printed" the file from PDF-XChange to the Adobe PDF print driver - 127E7650_C.pdfx.pdf

That is the 2 files I just received and see a difference in quality on, you just used the Adobe PDF print driver as a replacement for the original physical printer because it showed similar quality loss.

Am I right?

[carterdawson]

Exactly! Sorry if I was unclear before. That's what I get for posting late at night .

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Great,

now that we are clear it's up to the dev team. I'll keep you posted.

regards

[carterdawson]

OK, thanks!

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi carterdawson,

it appears that the 2 files were printed at different DPI settings. This from the dev team:

The quality of printing from our Viewer and Adobe is different, because
the printing process from the Viewer was with 300 DPI while from Adobe - 600 DPI

Can you test this and get back to us?

please and thanks

[carterdawson]

I am able to get a decent print if I use 600 DPI, as suggested. I am surprised that Acrobat would have printed at the higher DPI even though I had the printer set to the lower one.

I will do some additional troubleshooting with the actual printer driver that is in use and get back to you.

Thanks!

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Mostl welcome carterdawson.

We would be awaiting your comments!

Kind Regards,
Stefan

[carterdawson]

Thank you again for your help. I have done some additional testing with the printer driver, and believe that I can illustrate the problem a little better now.

We used the printer driver in question (driver version details are in the email I sent you) to create some .ps files. There are only slight quality differences between the two files, but in many cases, it makes the difference between being able to read the text, and not.

Thanks!

Shaun

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

For the benefit of those reading this post the issue is being investigated through our Support System. Results of the investigating will be posted here when available.

[carterdawson]

Any word on the progress of this?

Thanks!

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

There are only slight quality differences between the two files.

The Original file contains images and we print this image to the printer. For printing the PDF-XChange Viewer uses the Windows GDI, Adobe Acrobat generates postscript for PS-capable printers.
and this can (for some image types) make a difference.

Also, for sure, two different applications will produce different results on printers - even if the printed image will be, say, 1 pixel wider, it will look different.