Print quality text settings??

[luv to scrap]

Hi,

I'm new to psp and digital scrapbooking, I was just wondering what settings I should be using for my text if I want to print.

Thanks!
Marissa

[Jane]

Hello Marissa, I'm a digital scrapbooker so let me see if I can help you out.

The big key to clear printing is to understand resolution and what you see on the screen. You will already have learned that digital scrapbooking usually works with a resolution of 300 pixels per inch, or sometimes 200 pixels per inch. This next step is something that is crucial, and it transformed my scrapping.

Don't think that viewing something at 100% will show you what it will look like printed; it doesn't. In General Preferences>Units set the unit to inches. Open an image and turn on the Ruler; it's in View>Rulers. Now view your image at 100%, and look at the Ruler; does that look like an inch measurement? A friend told me that to see how something will look printed, view it at 30%. Do that on your open image, get a ruler and hold it up to the screen; it should almost match - you might need to go to 33%. To confirm it worked I did all that, and then printed out a test square. I held that up to the screen, and what I saw on paper was exactly the same as I saw on the screen. It might not be scientific, but it never fails and my priniting looks much better now I use it all the time.

So to answer your question about text; make it a size you can read at 30% and you'll be able to read it when printed.

[MichelesPaintShop]

Excellent answer Jane, thank you very much and I think this should be pinned!

[luv to scrap]

Thank you for your reply! That helped a lot! I also want to ask.. what is the difference between "smooth" and "sharp"? Which one do you use for printing? And what is the Miter Limit? Jane.. I just bookmarked your blog, I'm so excited to start learning! Thanks!!

[Jane]

I'm glad you're finding my site helpful.

The Smooth and Sharp options do exactly that: your text can have smooth lines or sharp lines. The option used most often is Smooth, you don't want your text looking jagged around the edges.

As for the Mitre; I have to admit I've never changed this at all, and have no idea what difference it makes. Perhaps Michele knows? It's never been a problem so I've just left it well alone.

[MichelesPaintShop]

Hi Jane,

I do not do much printing these days due to various reasons. However, when I do print ... The rules I follow for printing text is I use points and not pixels.

I rarely use the miter limit on fonts, but when I do there is not much difference (my use). It wasn't something I investigated deeply, but it seems when a font supports it and allows us to have pointy or straight edges, I can easily set the miter limit. I just assumed it did the same as it would in the real world ... corner cuts, and how the corners meet up.

I've used it more with shapes, and I use it with the rule that the the higher the miter limit, the sharper the corners of the object will be.

Here are some quick examples:





I found a list online that had a description: The miter limit is the maximum allowed ratio of the miter length to the line width. The miter length is the distance from the inside corner of the join to the outside corner. If a Miter join exceeds the limit value, the point is cut off at the limit.