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Printing tips: working with PDFs
| This article
first appeared in the PaperWhimsy newsletter in January of 2009, with lots of great tips for printing PDFs. And since you're grabbing a handful of those cute kids in download, it seemed timely to do a redux. A shout out, once again, to Rande Hanson for sharing some tips with me so I could share with you.
Printing different sizes:
One
way to change the size of your image is to change your paper size in
your print menu. An example would be to change the paper size to 4x6. When you do this your printer will print a smaller version of the
entire sheet. You can also change where the image will print on your
paper. This allows you to print more than one resized sheet to a page
should it be small enough to print two to a page.
Another
way to adjust the print size of the images is to change the size of the
Acrobat window. This is a great way to enlarge an image. You do that
by dragging the edges of the window to isolate just the image(s) you
want to print (fig. 1)
Then
in the print window, select "Current view" in the Print Range option.
If you want to print one image larger, such as a full page background,
then after selecting the "Current view", select "Print to Fit" or "Fit
to Printer Margins" in the Page Scaling option. Doing this will enlarge the image even further and print right to the margins.
Isolating an image for printing is a great way to get a full size of one of the backgrounds and print a fabric sheet. Or you could print the full page image to paper and then overprint with one of the Chameleon sheets. (One thing to note is that by enlarging the print size of the original image the quality of the print will be slightly diminished).
Printing different colors:
Your printer should have a
Properties button and this is where you can have fun with the colors of
your image. By adjusting color intensity or color balance, as well as tweaking contrastand brightness, you can adjust the colors of your images pretty
dramatically. Make them more red, blue, green, yellow... more intense
and darker or softer and lighter.
Test
print your image when playing with the color options. When you want to
change the color, isolate a small image such as an atc size, and print
that to get a look at your adjustments before printing the whole digi
sheet. This way you're not sucking up a lot of ink on prints that
you'll never used because the color isn't quite right.
Another
twist would be changing the color setting in the Effects tab. Print sepia tone, or monochromatic. Really give your Printer Properties a good look-see... you'll be amazed at what you'll find!
You can also change the colors of your prints by printing on colored paper or scrapbook paper. Bear in mind, though, that most colored papers are not treated for inkjet printing so print quality may not be at optimum levels, though this doesn't necessarily mean that you won't end up with some interesting effects.
Printing on different papers:
Try
printing the images on a colored paper such as parchment, or
light-colored scrapbook paper. If you select an image with light areas
in it, the color of the paper will show through. Just remember, any
colored paper will make the original image a bit darker. A good
example would be printing a black and white or sepia toned digi sheet
on parchment that's made to be used on an inkjet (or laser) printer.
Remember
to use the proper paper setting and print quality setting (more on this, below, in More Printer Tips: Printer Settings & Whatnots). For
printing on scrapbook paper, generally you can use a plain paper
setting.
Try overprinting the black and white or sepia images on other digisheet backgrounds for some interesting effects.
Once you get going, no doubt, you'll find new ways to print and new techniques. I'd love to hear them! You can join us at the new PaperWhimsy Ning Group to share or get help. This is a great group of talented and dedicated artists who are not only supportive but also very happy to answer questions and provide guidance when needed. |
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More printing tips - paper settings & whatnot
| I thought I'd share my particular printing habits in the hopes that it will help you get the best print possible from your downloaded collage sheets. Paper and printer settings go a long way in getting optimum results.
For printing on matte paper my paper of choice is Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte Double-Sided. I love this paper. It prints brilliant color (when using the proper printer settings) and once printed, the ink becomes virtually waterproof. This makes a print on this paper particularly good if you like to use mediums when putting together your collages (i.e. Perfect Paper Adhesive, Golden Matte Medium, etc). With that said, I've heard that this paper also provides for a great gel transfer and some have used the tape transfer method with good results. I've not tried transfers, myself, but this is what I've heard.
Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte Double-Sided is not expensive (click on the link embedded in the paper name to go to Atlex.com for pricing) and it's a great paper. But no matter how great the paper, you have to get those printer settings right. And when you're changing media make sure that your printer settings reflect the type of paper you're using. I use a Canon Pixma Pro9000 but every printer has a printer properties box - become familiar with it - it is your friend!
What you're looking at, above, is the Adobe Acrobat print box so it should look familiar to you. At the top is the Printer Properties. This is where you're going to set the media type and print quality, but first let's take a look at Print Range and Page Scaling. I just want to make sure that you don't print the instructions/TOU you get with each PDF download you purchase.
The default for Print Range, when this box is first opened, is "All". Nah... you don't want to print "All". Maybe the first time so you have a hard copy of the instructions/TOU but, at most, you only need one of those. Make sure you change the Print Range from "All" to "Pages from: 1 to 1". The default here is "Pages from 1 to: 2" so you'll change the 2 to 1 (this stuff is also mentioned in the printing instructions included with each download). The other thing you need to change is the Print Scaling. You don't want Adobe to Fit to Printer Margins - I've already done that for you when I created the sheet. Be sure to select None in the Page Scaling options if you want to print the page true-to-size.
Okay! For printing on the Epson Matte or any matte photo paper - use a Matte Photo setting. All the media types you see listed here in this properties box are being taken from my printer. You may not see all of these various media types but you certainly will see a setting for Matte Photo or similar if you're using a photo printer.
As for print
quality, you can set that to Medium or High. The difference is so
negligible between the two that the medium setting will produce a great
output while using less ink. As for inks... I'll share my views based on personal experience: DO NOT USE GENERIC. Yes, generic ink will save you money in the short run but you get what you pay for when it comes to cheap. I ruined two printers in a very short period because I thought generic was the way to go. That was several years ago and I've not looked at another generic since. I use OEM inks (manufacturer's inks) and yes, they are more expensive but I have never had a problem using the real deal. And speaking of deals, you can find them out there for inks. I purchase my papers and my inks at atlex.com. Fast, lightning fast shipping and great prices. If you're near a Staples, most of them have a recycle program where they'll give you three bucks for every empty ink cartridge you recycle. Amazon.com also has ink deals that are worth looking at.
Other media: I love Jacquard's cotton fabric for inkjet printers - great output. My particular printer settings for fabric are:
Media Type: Plain Paper
Print Quality: Custom ---> Fine
Color/Intensity: Manual ----> +8 to +12 (ish) for intensity but this will depend on the file you're printing and how saturated or bright you want the colors.
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