Printing graphics in a Word doc

[BeccaPrice]

I've asked about this at The Other Forum where I tend to hang out, but I get the feeling people here are somewhat more technical, and I need a technical solution.

I create my book in MS Word for PC and then convert to PDF for submission to CreateSpace.

In my latest book, Fairies and Fireflies, I have a 2-page map. The maps were drawn at 300 dpi. When I submit the files to CreateSpace, I get an error saying that the graphics are 150dpi and won't print well. The graphics are not enlarged in any way; in fact, they are shown on the page somewhat smaller than the original graphic size.

When I looked at the electronic proof at CreateSpace, the maps looked OK, but I've ordered a print proof just to verify that, in spite of the CS error message, they'll print all right.

Nobody at That Other Forum seems to have had this issue, but I've read that decreasing dpi is one of those things that Word just does.

I'd rather not have to learn InDesign to layout my books, but 2014 is going to be the year I add graphics to my stories, and I want them to print well.

Has anybody here had experience with printing graphics that have been inserted in a Word doc and the dpi gets reduced? and is there a solution to this?

[gmw]

Check your convert to PDF. (I don't have MS Word so can't tell you want options it has.) Some have a specific option for "Reduce image resolution" (that's what LibreOffice says), others have a simple tick box that might say something like "Print Optimised" or similar, and when this is not ticked the conversion will reduce graphics (or it may be a reverse logic "Screen Optimised" tickbox).

(Maybe someone that actually has MS Word can be more precise than this vague offering. )

[Penforhire]

Word doesn't give you much control over its built-in PDF conversion (just "Standard" or "Minimum Size"). This is not a case of needing to use Adobe InDesign but you may need to employ a different PDF converter. Adobe Acrobat gives best control over PDF creation but it is expensive and has a learning curve of its own.

I suggest trying one of the free or lower cost PDF conversion tools. I had good results with PDF995 (free, installs as an alternate Windows printer) and Nuance's PDF tools (inexpensive). You need a PDF conversion tool that specifies the DPI resolution of graphics.

[gmw]

An alternative (free) PDF conversion tool might be to install LibreOffice or OpenOffice. Both of these can read MS Word documents - open up, check that the formatting is still correct (they're good but they're not always perfect), and then export.

[Lazer]

I got the same message with book 2, the image was a pen and ink map. It looks fine.

Word. Hmmmmmff!

[BookCat]

Just a thought... I wonder if Scrivener would make a better job of the conversion? I'm not sure how Scrivener handles graphics. I use Word, but only insert graphics when I'm doing the printing myself, such as in a letter. A techie friend once told me that once you've put an image onto a Word document, the original image is still a picture, but that the one on Word has been converted from a jpg, png, or whatever into a Word format, so is no longer seen as an image. I don't understand this either!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I've asked about this at The Other Forum where I tend to hang out, but I get the feeling people here are somewhat more technical, and I need a technical solution.

I create my book in MS Word for PC and then convert to PDF for submission to CreateSpace.

In my latest book, Fairies and Fireflies, I have a 2-page map. The maps were drawn at 300 dpi. When I submit the files to CreateSpace, I get an error saying that the graphics are 150dpi and won't print well. The graphics are not enlarged in any way; in fact, they are shown on the page somewhat smaller than the original graphic size.

When I looked at the electronic proof at CreateSpace, the maps looked OK, but I've ordered a print proof just to verify that, in spite of the CS error message, they'll print all right.

Nobody at That Other Forum seems to have had this issue, but I've read that decreasing dpi is one of those things that Word just does.

I'd rather not have to learn InDesign to layout my books, but 2014 is going to be the year I add graphics to my stories, and I want them to print well.

Has anybody here had experience with printing graphics that have been inserted in a Word doc and the dpi gets reduced? and is there a solution to this?

Hey, Becca:

Listen, I don't want to freak you out, but I play a real live bookmaker on TV. Okay, no: I got confused. I am a real live bookmaker, and I'm NOT on reality TV. In any event, 150dpi is really, really low. Now, depending on the image/graphic, it might be fine, but 150dpi will almost always look pretty good in the online proof, due to the reality of how computer screens display graphics. We usually try to use 600 here, for high-detail graphics (now, everyone remember, we're talking print here, don't climb my glutes) like pen-and-ink drawings, pencil drawings, and the like, and not less than 300ppi/dpi for anything like jpegs/pngs.

Don't flip out until the proof shows up, just in case it's great, but you should look for something like..I think PrimoPDF does a decent job with graphics. And IIRC, so did PDF995; I used to use that and their FTP, for that matter. Do you have a buddy with Acrobat and Word? They could simply take in your Word file and export it to Adobe. That would solve half your problem right there. Well, actually, all of it. Can you tell us what PDF-maker you're using?

Or, do you have MS Publisher? I don't remember, it's been so long since I used it, but it might give you the kind of fine-grained image resolution control that you need. But you might want to be prepared for the possibility that the Proof mightn't be the quality, image-wise, for which you are hoping.

Hitch

[mr ploppy]

Use CutePDF writer, it works as a printer driver and you can set whether to resample images, embed fonts, etc.

[BeccaPrice]

In the proof print the map came out looking just fine, but it's a sort of "hundred acre woods" type map.I have an InDesign template a friend made for me, and in February I'm meeting with someone who teaches InDesign. She says she can teach me most of what I need to know to create a book in about an hour. I took a course on InDesign, but it was geared to advertising not making a book. I think this will do a better job for me than using MS Word.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

In the proof print the map came out looking just fine, but it's a sort of "hundred acre woods" type map.I have an InDesign template a friend made for me, and in February I'm meeting with someone who teaches InDesign. She says she can teach me most of what I need to know to create a book in about an hour. I took a course on InDesign, but it was geared to advertising not making a book. I think this will do a better job for me than using MS Word.

Becca:

If you're doing print, and you can afford INDD, then yes, that's a better way to go. Word does many things quite well, but, it's not a print-layout program, not for books.

Hitch

[altworld]

You have to check out Word PDF engine you set it up in preferences to make sure it outputs all images at 300dpi. The default is 150dpi - if you cannot find the controls see if you can force them by selecting the PDF to print and working the settings in the print window.

Depending on the image and size Createspace will print it fairly well as they use a Digital press to print your pages and not a traditional litho printer where dpi becomes much more important as it refers to the dots on the films (that make the plates.)

I've had images down to 72 dpi and they came out fine.