Sorry, I bet this question has been asked before, but I need help with printing on the HP Photosmart. I've tried using Photoshop 5 as well as the included picture it 99, but the output consistently comes out grainy (especially in the whites and grays). I start out scanning in a 9 x 8 inch photo at 1000dpi (I have no idea what dpi I should start out with), and then resize and crop the picture to about 3 x 2 inches. The output is no better than what I can get on my old HP Deskjet (aside from the more expensive glossy photo paper).

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

-- anselm hii (ants@jps.net), May 18, 1999

Answers

Are you using HP PhotoSmart Paper? HP has done a disservice in thier paper lines in that people seem to confuse the photosmart paper with their Premium Inkjet Photo Glossy Paper, or Premeium Inkjet Glossy Paper. If the paper you have is in a predominantly BLUE box then you have the wrong stuff and the results will be pretty poor. If you have a box of paper that actually says Photosmart on it then you have the right stuff. The Photosmart paper is in a predominantly WHITE box. So, now assuming you have the right paper try:
1. Running through a complete cleaning cycle
2. Buying new cartridges (Expensive - but you get new print heads with each cartridge)
3. 300 DPI should be sufficient - as that's all this printer will do, but I always prefer to double my resolution for scanning - so 600 is what I would suggest. This is assuming you are printing the same sixe pix. If you are enlarging then scan higher.
4. If you have a pix that prints badly send it to me in email - I'll print it on my printer so see if it's something wierd in your system.
5. Maybe you just have really great eyes. Their are dots in these pictures, but they're not discernable at "normal" distances (12 to 16 inches from your eyes) They become more pronounced under a lot of light - like sunlight for instance.

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), May 18, 1999.

Hi Ants, I have an HP PhotoSmart printer and haven't had this problem. I've tried several papers (mostly glossy) and have had great results. I even refill my cartridges and I cannot detect any color shift. The printer is pretty versatile.

One idea might be to scan at 25% (or less) to have the image reduced in size by the Scanner rather than the software (although again, I've not had this problem). Another might be the Print Quality you have selected (either explicitly or implicitly). In PI99 you are pretty much asked and it's simple. From other programs you may want to check Printer Settings to see if, by accident, quality was set to a Lower default.

Good Luck

-- Ted (ted_schwabenbauer@ameron-intl.com), May 19, 1999.

You might try looking at Dave's article: http://www.imaging-resource.com/TIPS/PRINT1/PRINT1A.HTM and seeing if that gives you any ideas.

I'll Take a blind stab at it and hope it helps: You don't mention what the final resolution of your image is after resizing and cropping? If the printer is set up for 300 DPI(dots per inch) and you're trying to print too many PPI(pixels per inch) or too few you'll get poor output. If you print a picture sized so that it's printed with a final resolution of something less than 200 to 300 PPI you'll probably get the best image. If you print an image at a size larger than it should be (too few PPI) it'll appear blocky or grainy because the printer is using too many printer dots (DPI) to represent the number of pixels in the image. The Image's pixels end up too large and are very obvious. The other extreme is when you try to print an image too small. If you try to print too many pixels in too small an area your printer can't properly represent the color of each pixel (because it has too few primary colored ink dots to properly depict the shade of a pixel) which leads to images that also look grainy, but in a different way, since they are composed of pixels with very little color range.

For instance, I have a printer that prints at 720 DPI, and I've found that it's pretty good at printing images at 128PPI. That means I get a decent 8x10" print from a 1024x1280 pixel image.

1024 pixels / 8" = 128 pixels/inch or 128 PPI 1280 pixels / 10" = 128 pixels/inch or 128 PPI

It follows that a 512x640 image would make a nice 4x5" print.

If I try to print a 1280x1024 image at too small a size(too large a PPI), I get a dark image with very small, very obvious, pixels.

If I try to print a 1280x1024 image at too large a size(too few PPI), I get a nicely colored image(great tonal range) with very large, very obvious, pixels.

What you might want to try is determining the resolution(size) of your final image (1280x1024, 640x480, etc.) and then try printing it at different sizes that yield a PPI less than 300 and see which looks best. You could, for instance, do the following:

Print a 640x480 image at 100 PPI, 6.40" x 4.80" or maybe a 6x4" Print a 640x480 image at 150 PPI, 4.25" x 3.20" or maybe a 4x3" Print a 640x480 image at 225 PPI, 2.84" x 2.13" or maybe a 3x2"

Label, then compare, the outputs and see which you like best. You can then try further narrowing down the ranges until you find the PPI that you like best for your printer. For example, if you liked the 150 DPI image the best, you might try bracketing it with a 125 and a 175 PPI image to see which looks best of the three. A page or two of paper and a bit of ink will yield the best PPI number for your printer. All you need to do then is to print the images at a size that that yields that PPI or resize them to the right number of dots for the size output you'd like.

I hope that helps, if not, keep plugging away and you'll get it.

I like the HP's output, it looks a lot like a developed mass produced print, but there is noticeably less detail due to the relatively low resolution of the printer. I really loved the sample at first glance, but was slightly amused by the fact that the same sample picture printed in the brochure that accompanied the print sample actually had noticeably more detail than the print sample. If they made a printer that used the HP's method, but was able to print at higher DPI it'd probably be an end all, be all, solution to printing digital photos.

-- Gerald Payne (gmp@francorp.francomm.com), May 19, 1999.