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alizoy
alizoy
Participant
July 22, 2023
Question

Images blurry when printed

  • July 22, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 277 views

I have created a Book in InDesign, but I recently had it printed, and all of the pages turned out somewhat dull and blurry, as though the images had been low resolution.
I don't know how this happened because all of my images are large and of more than adequate resolution. When I saved the Book for print, I made sure to save everything at as high a resolution as possible. Is there something I missed? I went back over all of the settings and I cannot find anything unusual.
Is this a common problem with InDesign???

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    2 replies

    Frans v.d. Geest
    Community Expert
    Frans v.d. GeestCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 22, 2023

    Are they all linked? No yellow or red icons in the corner of the images but a chain icon?

    Is the effective(!) resolution of the images high enough (>150 ppi at least)?

    What are the print/pdf settings used?

    Which version of InDesign?

    Which OS?

    E
    Community Expert
    Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 22, 2023
    quote

    Is this a common problem with InDesign???


    By @alizoy

    Guaranteed not a problem with InDesign - it's a professional page layout tool used by millions of designers around the world. 

     

    Problem is either with your images, the resolution and colour, and/or the Print Settings.

    Even if all these things are good - you are then relying on reliable print services - and who knows how they are handling it.

     

    First thing to know is checking the images - you can check the Effective Resoltuion
    Found in Window>Links and select one of the images that didn't print correctly and see what it says for Effective PPI.

     

    The other things to know is how was it printed - was it Digital or Lithographic printing? Do you know? 

    Digital printing can be a bit more forgiving than traditional offset printing (lithographic printing) - in that the resolution doesn't need to be 'as' high for digital print.

     

    Another thing you may need to check is the image colour and colour space.

    Another thing we need to know is the PDF settings that you used. 

     

    And did you get any instructions from the Printers on what PDF settings to use.

    Did you send them a printed sample of any pages that you wanted them to replicate the colour/image quaity? 

    Or did they send you any proofs/samples?

     

    One quick way to check this once and for all is to speak to a local print shop and ask can they print you some sample pages of a document you're working on.

     

     

    There are alot of things to check - I know I'm throwing a lot at you.

    But there are even more reasons.

    Paper quality, printing method, was it an online printing service or a bespoke printers etc.

    -----------------

    Do you have a sample document you could share with us with some sample links? 

    Can you share a few pages of the PDF or the whole pdf with us?

     

     

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