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Annamaria Profit reports: <<When I put gif graphics in a Word document, they
display clearly on screen, but print poorly.
Other times, the screen resolution is poor, but they print clearly. How do
I get them to display AND print clearly?>>
The problem is that GIF is designed primarily for display at 72 to 96 dpi
(i.e., onscreen resolution), not for print. You can make GIFs look better in
print by bumping up the resolution, but then that can compromise the screen
display. In general, you'll encounter the same problem if you're trying to
make one graphic work well in two very different media (onscreen and paper),
with the exception of solutions such as Acrobat that are designed
specifically to help you compromise between these two goals--but even then,
compromise is the operative word. The best solution for the problem depends
entirely on what your goals are (single-sourcing? online help vs. printable
documents? maximum resolution or minimum file size?) and on the type of
graphic (bitmaps, line art, or photos?). Can you provide more information so
we can make better recommendations?
"Technical writing... requires understanding the audience, understanding
what activities the user wants to accomplish, and translating the often
idiosyncratic and unplanned design into something that appears to make
sense."--Donald Norman, The Invisible Computer
