*Terrible* Print QualityWith PM

[Anonymous]

I finally figured out how to get my file saved to PDF in PM 3.1, and found myself needing to go to Kinko's to print it. The ortho drawings came out reasonably well (I need to learn how to deal with line weights so they don't look like I've been using a big Sharpie to draft with), but the rendering quality orthe JPGs I had saved as I was working was absolutely *horrendous*! Not only were the colors not even remotely correct, but worse, textures were smeared practically into puddles of the different colors that make them up (picture brown and orange streaked and patchy walnut), and a lot of critical detail was simply smooshed out of existence.

My stairways and atrium, which are central to the design, have just about completely disappeared into the texture of the floors in some views - the treads by blending in because the lower ones are made of, oh, about three pixels each, and the handrails by simply becoming nearly invisible against it - and it's apparent that there's just about zero actual detail there in any of it.

Then the shaded parts of stairs above the present story have turned up with this huge dotted pattern that would lead one to believe that Roy Lichtenstein had been turned loose on the drawings (ArchiStair stairs, FWIW).

Because my printer is broken, I wasn't able to test print anything, so given that I've *got* to turn this thing in tomorrow, I am simply going to have to hope and pray that my instructors will be kind, and remember how much sharper it looked on my laptop screen. It's a *major* embarassment to have to turn something this dreadful in. The only saving grace is it isn't going to a client.

Does anyone have any idea how to make things render more smoothly and accurately? I don't remember it being this bad in the last project I did. It looked OK on the screen, but dear lord, the printout is a nightmare!

What am I missing?

Wendy

[Anonymous]

Wendy wrote:
I finally figured out how to get my file saved to PDF in PM 3.1, and found myself needing to go to Kinko's to print it. The ortho drawings came out reasonably well (I need to learn how to deal with line weights so they don't look like I've been using a big Sharpie to draft with), but the rendering quality orthe JPGs I had saved as I was working was absolutely *horrendous*!....
....What am I missing?

Wendy

Wendy,
Check to see what the printer/driver you're using to create the PDF has for resolution settings. For example, the Amyuni PDF Converter has settings for 72,150,300,600 and 1200dpi...also check to see what Image Compression setting you might be using.

These settings will definitely make a difference in the quality of your "printed" output.

Keep in mind that the highest resolution settings in your driver can't overcome a lack of pixels in your rendered images...make sure you render the individual images with enough pixels in the first place. Likewise, low resolution settings in you PDF driver will degrade even the highest resolution image you might print with it.

You should do a side by side comparison on your screen of one of your pdfs and one of the image files to see if this degradation is taking place.

Dan K

[Anonymous]

Dan wrote:
Check to see what the printer/driver you're using to create the PDF has for resolution settings. For example, the Amyuni PDF Converter has settings for 72,150,300,600 and 1200dpi...also check to see what Image Compression setting you might be using.

Where would I look for this setting in the Acrobat driver? I can't remember if I saw it or not. I do recall seeing the settings on the Amyuni converter (maybe it was the Acrobat one; I'll have to double check). I remember setting it at 300, though, when I came across it. I would have thought that would be high enough, no?

I also tried printing directly to Kinko's fancy high speed color printer (with no noticeable change in results), but I don't recall coming across resolution settings in its driver.

Keep in mind that the highest resolution settings in your driver can't overcome a lack of pixels in your rendered images...make sure you render the individual images with enough pixels in the first place.

Where and how do I control that? Is that the various subjective quality selections in the rendering engine selection screen (the "better, best, draft" kinds of settings? I tend to run into problems with the programs crashing when I get into the higher levels there.

Likewise, low resolution settings in you PDF driver will degrade even the highest resolution image you might print with it.

That makes sense.

You should do a side by side comparison on your screen of one of your pdfs and one of the image files to see if this degradation is taking place.

Thanks much for the suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Wendy wrote:
Where would I look for this setting in the Acrobat driver? I can't remember if I saw it or not. I do recall seeing the settings on the Amyuni converter (maybe it was the Acrobat one; I'll have to double check)....

I dont use acrobat..maybe some else reading this thread can offer some suggestions where to look.

Wendy wrote:
...Where and how do I control that? Is that the various subjective quality selections in the rendering engine selection screen (the "better, best, draft" kinds of settings? I tend to run into problems with the programs crashing when I get into the higher levels there...

In the top of the PhotoRenderings Settings you can set the number of horizontal pixels and the number of vertical pixels. The more the better for crispness in your final image. ArchiCAD does have a limit though...somwhere around 4098 pixels max for either horizontal or vertical.

[Anonymous]

Dan wrote:
In the top of the PhotoRenderings Settings you can set the number of horizontal pixels and the number of vertical pixels. The more the better for crispness in your final image. ArchiCAD does have a limit though...somwhere around 4098 pixels max for either horizontal or vertical.

Ah, I never knew anything about that part. Thanks for the tip, Dan.

But doesn't number of pixels affect the dimensions of the image somehow as well as the resolution? I get this stuff so confused.

Wendy

[Anonymous]

Wendy wrote:
Ah, I never knew anything about that part. Thanks for the tip, Dan.

But doesn't number of pixels affect the dimensions of the image somehow as well as the resolution? I get this stuff so confused.
Wendy

Wendy,
Don't feel bad many users are perplexed about this area of ArchiCAD...Just try not to confuse the number of pixels in an image with the DPI resolution.

Here's an example:
If you render and image that's 3000 pixels wide and you have the resolution set to ArchiCAD's default of 72 dpi, the resulting image will be 3000/72 = 41.67" wide...or if the resolution is set to 300dpi the resulting image will be 3000/300 = 10" wide.

I typically don't worry about setting the resolution in ArchiCAD because I always adjust it in Photoshop...Its up to you where you prefer to set it.

hope this helps,
Dan K

[Anonymous]

Dan wrote:
Don't feel bad many users are perplexed about this area of ArchiCAD...Just try not to confuse the number of pixels in an image with the DPI resolution.

Here's an example:

Thanks very much for that example, Dan - it makes the relationship very clear.

So AC's default resolution is only 72 dpi? No wonder these images look so crappy!

I would imagine that rendering time will increase substantially if I increase the resolution a lot, though, am I right?

Wendy

[Anonymous]

Wendy wrote:

Thanks very much for that example, Dan - it makes the relationship very clear.

So AC's default resolution is only 72 dpi? No wonder these images look so crappy!

I would imagine that rendering time will increase substantially if I increase the resolution a lot, though, am I right?

Wendy

Wendy,
You're welcome - I'm glad its starting to make some sense for you. RE: rendering time - yes it will increase, but it won't be too bad. It really depends on the complexity of your model's geometry, rendering settings and the rendering engine you choose to use.

I notice you're curenntly using 8.1 - if you upgrade to 9.0 it will definitely be faster and you can use the new lightworks rending engine as well.

What constitutes a long rendering time is a subjective area and different for everyone. Would 30 mins or an hour be too long?...It wouldn't be for me...i try to keep it all in perspective by remembering back 15 years ago when I would need to let a "single" rendering process over night - today i can do the same rendering in acouple of minutes.

Dan K