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  1. Member
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    For this type of image that is attached, what are the best settings to use in terms of compression (ZIP or JPEG), downsampling, etc for the best output as a pdf file which a printer will be printing for a book?

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  2. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Work backwards.

    Find out from the publisher/printer what page size and print dpi they're expecting for maximum quality, and then design your original document with that in mind.

    For the kind of graphics you have there, it's best to keep things as vectors rather than bitmaps. They'll retain the best smoothness and sharpness that way. If you're not doing this in Illustrator, and can't get a hold of one, try to use TTF or OTF fonts that generate the Notes & Staves and Embed/Supply the font with the document, since TTF/OTF is a type of vector graphic. Use cropmarks if the printer accepts/recommends it (usually).

    Example:
    8 1/2" x 11", with 1" margins all around and a 1/2" gutter. 600/1200/2400 dpi (dending on book quality - general paperback/textbook/coffeetable artbook).

    If you have to use bitmaps, use greyscale unless you ABSOLUTELY have to have color.
    Use LZW compression over JPG compression; printers should have the capability to handle them and BETTER have the capability to store the larger filesizes.

    You could also do this in Photoshop if that's available, and it will keep those fonts as vectors also.

    Scott

    edit: I'm assuming your sample above is just that - a web sample. Otherwise, web resolution graphics are going to look VERY FUZZZZY. (and low quality)
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  3. Member
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    Hi Scott,
    Thank you for your reply. A few notes about this situation. The music program the artist used to created these charts only has the option to export as a high resolution or low resolution PNG file. So I exported it as high res. and opened it in photoshop to make sure it layed properly into a 7.5x10" document at 300DPI. This will allow me to have a half inch margin all the way around. That's all fine and good. I saved them as PNG files from photoshop (greyscale). I was going to go to PDF directly from photoshop but something is wrong there and it keeps giving me a blank PDF. But I can do it from Fireworks. So with all that in mind, I really am just trying to figure out all the various options with downsampling, JPEG vs ZIP compression.. I could probably just select the "high quality print" preset and be fine, but this is just me wanting to know what everything means

    Oh, and the printer already told me that they just need an 8.5x11 PDF file and they will do all the imposition stuff..

    The sample is a cutout section from the actual PNG file, at the actual high resolution.
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  4. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    It could very well be that the PNG export function in Photoshop doesn't support greyscale colorspace. If so, you could convert it back to RGB (it's still a good idea to lose the chroma first) and try exporting again.
    If you can do it from Fireworks, that's ok too, though I don't remember if it has as many export options as Photoshop does. I'd recommend you still use ZIP compression rather than JPG compression. You won't get that "blockiness", nor any excessive banding (more than you'd get from the usual 8bit gradations). What other preset options do you want to know?

    I understand the clip you supplied is 300dpi, but at that resolution, that section is only 3.2x2.94 inches. So, assuming it's only say- a quarter of the image, when shown on a page at 300dpi it is going to have the effect the individual graphic elements pretty small. When they're small, you want all the fine lines to be seen, which is why I hoped the printshop would be using 600 or more dpi for that extra clarity. 300 it is then, no matter.

    BTW, if, in your placement of image(s) on the page, you need to do an upsize and you want to retain as much resolution as possible (because you can always do a downsize and maintain resolution). I recommend one of these to methods.

    1. Incremental small upsizes of non-primary-fraction nature (like 3.5%, or 7% increments)

    2. A 4x upsize, followed by a sllight gaussian blur, followed by a 2x downsize.

    Scott
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  5. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
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    You could try SuperPNG ( http://www.fnordware.com/superpng/ ) and see if that gives you better output than the built in png support
    Read my blog here.
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