CompuServe Messages

John: It's NOT true that quality output cannot be obtained from inkjet or laser printers. What is true is that you will have to decide if it meets your particular requirements. Quality of output can be objectively discussed but in the end it is your subjective opinion which matters. With that in mind you can obtain quality results from an Epson Stylus, A Canon color copier hooked to a Fiery interface, an HP Designjet plotter or an Encad Novajet just to name a very few. All of these devices offer completely different results and may do the trick for you. Thermal Wax, Dye Sub and other technologies offer a different look which is often superior but can also cost a bit more. With the above in mind you can gear your image resolution to max out the devices capability. Often there is a diminishing return when you approach the devices maximum res. For instance, your eye may not be able to detect enough difference in a 200dpi image vs. a 400dpi image which is printed via the Fiery box. The image size for a 400dpi image could be in the hundreds of mb's vs. a 200dpi image which may only be in the twenty's. The more pixels you render the sharper the image will be in general. There's no reason to render an image larger than your ouput device can handle as all of the extra information will be resampled down and consequently lost. JPG format can help you get smaller true color files but know your output devices limitations for color. Some can only print 256 colors simultaneously which can make for banding to show in gradual color changes. You can ZIP your images to span several diskettes thus avoiding the 1.44mb ceiling. I love WinZip for this as I don't have to remember the PKZIP switches, just make sure Disk Spanning is enabled when you run it. – Bob Ritger