I am trying to find a solution for printing our marketing materials. These pages are made in Quark or InDesign and include Text, Photographs and Line Drawings that were made in AutoCad and Illustrator.
The main problem we have is getting the line drawings to look perfect. We have tried importing EPS files directly but the line weights look too heavy even when set at the smallest line weight settings in AutoCad. When the same EPS is opened in Photoshop then saved as a Tiff that is then imported into the graphics document the thinnest lines look grey not black, diagonals can become jagged, etc.
I found this page on printer resolution and found the 360 dpi does make a positive difference.
Right now we have an Epson 1400, CS2, and Quark 6. We are willing in invest in the best printer there is if it will make a difference. Overall the quality of the photos is fine on the 1400, we want very high quality photos but they do not need to be gallery quality.
The main thing is getting a printer that prints all 3 elements Photos, Text and Line Drawings beautifully from graphics programs.
Any tips on the printers or methods of exporting would be greatly appreciated. Also we are looking for consultants in NYC who can help us with graphics, printing and color management.
Are the eps files exported or plotted from AutoCAD? I believe the exported version creates a raster eps, whereas the plotted version creates an actual vector file with the correct lineweights.
there are at least two good ways to get AutoCAD drawings into a layout/image program: plotting to a PDF or plotting to eps, both ways require opening in Illustrator or Photoshop. I prefer plotting to an eps file, opening the eps file in Illustrator to color or tweak lineweights, then exporting an image from Illustrator. Also, lineweights below .25pt don't always print correctly, though this is printer dependent.
I have an Epson Stylus Color 3000 that I'd be willing to part with. I've only run three projects on it (two thesis documents and one portfolio)…
check the line weights in plot settings (make sure per each color you are using they are the width you desire) and print to PDF if you can not EPS(that's oldschool) and place those PDFs in Indesign, and (right click quality high)
if you don't have a PDF printer , pdf creator is free and open source
personally i would do it all in Rhino and forget about using all those separate programs ;)
Aug 1, 08 6:28 pm ·
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Best Printer/Software for Sheets w/ Images Text & Line Drawings
I am trying to find a solution for printing our marketing materials. These pages are made in Quark or InDesign and include Text, Photographs and Line Drawings that were made in AutoCad and Illustrator.
The main problem we have is getting the line drawings to look perfect. We have tried importing EPS files directly but the line weights look too heavy even when set at the smallest line weight settings in AutoCad. When the same EPS is opened in Photoshop then saved as a Tiff that is then imported into the graphics document the thinnest lines look grey not black, diagonals can become jagged, etc.
I found this page on printer resolution and found the 360 dpi does make a positive difference.
http://www.inkjetart.com/tips/ppi/
Right now we have an Epson 1400, CS2, and Quark 6. We are willing in invest in the best printer there is if it will make a difference. Overall the quality of the photos is fine on the 1400, we want very high quality photos but they do not need to be gallery quality.
The main thing is getting a printer that prints all 3 elements Photos, Text and Line Drawings beautifully from graphics programs.
Any tips on the printers or methods of exporting would be greatly appreciated. Also we are looking for consultants in NYC who can help us with graphics, printing and color management.
Are the eps files exported or plotted from AutoCAD? I believe the exported version creates a raster eps, whereas the plotted version creates an actual vector file with the correct lineweights.
there are at least two good ways to get AutoCAD drawings into a layout/image program: plotting to a PDF or plotting to eps, both ways require opening in Illustrator or Photoshop. I prefer plotting to an eps file, opening the eps file in Illustrator to color or tweak lineweights, then exporting an image from Illustrator. Also, lineweights below .25pt don't always print correctly, though this is printer dependent.
I have an Epson Stylus Color 3000 that I'd be willing to part with. I've only run three projects on it (two thesis documents and one portfolio)…
check the line weights in plot settings (make sure per each color you are using they are the width you desire) and print to PDF if you can not EPS(that's oldschool) and place those PDFs in Indesign, and (right click quality high)
if you don't have a PDF printer , pdf creator is free and open source
personally i would do it all in Rhino and forget about using all those separate programs ;)
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