Dymo 320, 310 User Manual
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Enhancing image quality output using a LabelWriter 300 series printer
Chapter 1
Enhance Your Image
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to outline the many steps that can be taken to ensure the best possible output quality of images and graphics when printing on a LabelWriter 300 series printer. These printers include the LabelWriter 300, LabelWriter 310, LabelWriter 315, LabelWriter 320, LabelWriter 330 and LabelWriter 330 Turbo. The document assumes that the LabelWriter printer is functioning properly and that the most current version of DYMO LabelWriter Software (DLS) is installed on the host computer.
Paper and Print Head
Two things that are very easy to overlook when examining the factors effecting print quality with a LabelWriter are the paper and the condition of the print head. First, make sure you are using new label stock that has been properly stored. Labels that are old and/or have been exposed to heat or direct sunlight will adversely affect the quality of any printed information. Similarly, the condition of the print head will also have an effect. The print head should be clean and free from dust and dirt. To be sure a print head is clean, a DYMO LabelWriter Cleaning Card should be run through the printer before printing.
Format of Graphic
DLS supports the importing of several different kinds of graphic formats. The most common are: JPG, BMP, TIF and GIF. While all of the different formats yield similar quality when printing, there are certain attributes of the graphics that are preferable. First and most important is that the graphic or photograph is not color, they must beconverted to black
and white. Graphics that are not converted will always decrease the overall quality of the output. Therefore it is recommended that graphics be monochrome ex: line drawings (See Figure 1) or greyscale for photographics (See Figure 2).
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Figure 1. |
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Figure 2. |
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Optimizing graphical output
The second most important attribute is graphic size. A graphic should always be imported as actual size where possible. Whenever a graphic is resized by the software, a lessening of
the output quality will occur. Thus, to print a graphic that is 1" wide x 1" high on the LabelWriter, the ideal size of the image should be 300 dots (or pixels) x 300 dots.
Application Settings
The Windows version of DYMO LabelWriter Software (DLS) has a setting to optimize the output of graphical images. The setting can be found under the Preference menu in the “General Settings” tab. It is called “Optimize Graphic & Bar Code Printing for Best Quality” (See Figure 3). Utilizing this option will always place the LabelWriter printer into Bar Code and Graphics mode when printing complex graphical images. This reduces the amount of dot “blooming” and results in sharper and more detailed graphics. Note that this setting slows down the print speed of the LabelWriter by approximately 50%.
Figure 3.
Print Driver Settings
Both the Mac and Windows versions of the LabelWriter print drivers also have a similar setting for Print Quality. Again, Bar Code and Graphics mode is preferred when printing any kind of complex graphic. On the Mac platform, this setting can be found in the “Page Setup” dialog box (See Figure 4) and replaces the application setting that is present in the Windows
software. While the Windows print drivers have a similar setting, it is only utilized when printing from non-DYMO versions of software. Additionally, the Windows platform offers some OS-level controls for printing graphics.
Figure 4.
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