Vector artwork printing as bitmap

[Emil Jabo]

Dear all,

I have a Brother HL1212W Mono Laser Printer and I am trying to print some vector artwork from Adobe Illustrator 27.2. However, the prints are being output as bitmap by the printer:

The artwork comprises of a spot colour and I have also tried it as 100% Black (K), but it prints as above.

In the print settings (Advanced), when I uncheck the 'Print as Bitmap' option, the checkbox is visibly unchecked

However, when I go to the print summary, the 'Print as Bitmap' option is showing as being activated:

When going back to the Advanced print settings the 'Print as Bitmap' option is still unchecked, but for some reason Illustrator sends the artwork to the printer with the 'Print as Bitmap' option selected as per the print summary.

I have saved the artwork as a pdf file and then tried to print that, but the artwork still prints as a bitmap. I tried to access some of the printing options in the pdf to see if I could access the separations section, but anything other than composite is not accessible:

I simply cannot work out how to print to the printer while retaining the vector/Postscript quality instead of converting to bitmap.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Monika Gause]

That is halftone screening.

Although 100% black should work. Are you sure you do not send RGB data to the printer?

[Emil Jabo]

Yes, thank you, because the vector artwork is being sent to the printer as a bitmap by Illustrator.

It is a CMYK document and the colour is a spot colour:

It will not send the file without 'Print as Bitmap' option being enabled, even when it is unchecked.

I have attached a file to see if the issue can be replicated.

Thanks!

[Emil Jabo]

Sorry, it won't let me post a .ai file... 😞

[Emil Jabo]

Here is a WeTransfer link:

https://we.tl/t-Qf0TQnbfz3

[Monika Gause]

Halftone screening is normal for a PostScript enabled device. 

This is not bitmap. It's halftone screening.

[Emil Jabo]

Thank you!

How do I get the pink spot colour to print as a solid when output, instead of a halftone estimation of the colour?

Are you able to replicate the situation where the 'Print as Bitmap' option is unchecked, but, the print summary states 'Print as Bitmap: On'

[Emil Jabo]

The pink spot ink as a solid separation on the film, so to speak.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

For that you need to print separations. Your printer driver needs to support that. In the print dialog go to "Output" and there you can select to print separations. If it's not there, then your printer driver doesn't support it.

[Emil Jabo]

Thank you for your help Monika! 🙂

[Monika Gause]

You're welcome. Glad you could solve it.