Advanced > Printing

Printing

Real-Draw isn't exactly a tool where the printout is the major output format. However we prepared few types of printing:

Draft printing

This will print in the same resolution as you design it. Unless your document is larger size the printout on full page will be rather blocky. You will notice it especially in text objects. However the printing will be fast.

Set Draft Size

In this dialog you can specify the actual size of the document to be printed - for example full page or fit into predefined size.

You can use one of 3 options:

•	Stretch to fit - will stretch the image to fit on the sheet of paper. If you need to change paper orientation then you need to go to Print Setup (File menu)

•	Set DPI of image - Here you can set what resolution the image should be printed at. Note that in draft printing the DPI would be fairly low. If you enter higher DPI, the result image will shrink in size - in draft printing the only way to create higher DPI is to lower the printed size.

•	Fit to Format - here you specify into what size it should fit. If you specify for example 6x4 then the image will be resized so it all proportionally fits into that specified size.

Fine printing

This option uses the MegaRender feature to prepare a higher resolution print. You can specify your desired DPI and the MegaRender will prepare corresponding image. This will clearly improve the quality of output, however it will take much longer.

Desired DPI - here you can specify the desired DPI of your image. A value of around 300 is recommended for most printers. While many inkjet printers report much higher DPI, please note that DPI of image and DPI of printer are two different things. A printer creates image dithering, using dots. Each dot in Inkjets can have just a few colors created from 3-4 inks while each dot of digital image can have millions of color shades. That's why true color image resolution around 300 is enough for most of the inkjet printers.

MegaRender - The size and DPI of an image will change the needed MegaRender magnification. The two values, DPI and MegaRender magnification work together - changing one of them will adjust the other one.

Exact DPI - because MegaRender will resize integer steps, the actual (exact) DPI printed may not be exactly as requested, but will be a be bit higher or lower. You don't have to worry about that since the deviation is small.

Stretch to fit and Fit into Size - here you set the size of the image on paper. Changing the size will adjust the MegaRender magnification. For example, for larger print size the magnification must be also be higher if the DPI should stay constant.

Textures - Use Original DPI or Resample to desired DPI

The image will look exactly as on screen if you choose Resample to desired DPI. In that case each texture will be re-sampled to meet the desired DPI. This is the default setting.

If the textures have just a secondary role in your image (for example a grain) you might try Use Original DPI. The textures will be not re-sampled, but will stay at their original resolution, and the desired DPI will be met by repeating the texture. That means you will get many small textural details in your printed image. In the case of grain this would look good as you'll get very fine grain texture on your printout.

Repeat Last - this button will appear next to the Print button if you previously printed in the session. If for example you need another copy of the same image or just to print a smaller size, adjust the properties, and use this button. The software will not go into the time consuming MegaRender but will print what was rendered last time.

With Fine print you can produce high quality output, but again this takes a considerable rendering time.