Photoshop 7 and double sided printing

help needed

[nigel_b]

Hi, I have a canon pixma 4000 and photoshop 7. I want to print my portfolio of images on double sided paper, which the printer calls "duplexing".

I cant figure out how to program double sided printing from Photoshop. I can do duplex printing from MS Word 2003, by dragging one image from Photoshop to page 1 of my word document and the second image is dragged to page 2 in Word. Then I duplex print. However, the quality is not at all as good as when I print from Photoshop.
How can I get great pics printed without loosing quality?

Thanks so much!

nigel_b

[PatrickDeese]

Maybe I am missing something, but can't you just reinsert the page into the printer for the back, and print the second image as if it was a single sided print?

[katana_one]

Problem number one - you are using Word.

Problem number two - you are dragging Photoshop images directly from Photoshop to the Word document.

Try SAVING the Photoshop image as a JPG or TIF and then insert the image into the Word (Insert > Picture > from File).

Even better, get a REAL page layout program like Adobe InDesign or Quark XPress.

[nigel_b]

yes I can reinsert the pic on the other side, but that defeats the purpose of duplexing. What I want to do is layout 20 pages of photos on my computer and hit print, and grab 10 pages off the printer and insert them into a presentation folder.

Thanks

[nigel_b]

BTW, I do save the images as a jpeg, perhaps I need to save them as something else. If I could retain the quality, saving them in Word works for me, because it is possible to duplex the pages from there.

Thanks

[katana_one]

What resolution and compression are you using for your JPG images?

300 dpi is the rule of thumb for best print quality on photos, and you will want to use as little compression as possible to maintain highest quality.

[smokeyb]

I'd drop the use of Word in the middle of the process, and just flip the pages one by one (no matter how many there were, if it was for my portfolio), and let Photoshop handle the printing. 300dpi is a little rich for a domestic printer, and I test a couple at 150 - 200dpi first, to see if there is any marked improvement.
HTH

[nigel_b]

I appreciate the suggestion of flipping pages manually. But the printer does that perfectly well, its the reason I bought it. Does Adobe InDesign or Quark XPress create 2 sided prints?

Thanks

[smokeyb]

Yes but will it flip the page if you weren't duplexing?

[nigel_b]

smokeyb I dont understand your question....

I dont think the printer does both sides unless asked.

[katana_one]

They do indeed handle two-sided page layouts, but that's not the reason I suggested those programs. I personally do not like the way MS Word (or any MS Office application) handles images. Word embeds the image(s) into the document, and I suspect tries to "help" by optimizing the image.

InDesign and Quark XPress are professional page layout programs used by publishers. They do not embed the images in the document, instead they link the images to the document until you are ready to print.

If the prints are just for your portfolio, then you should just do the output from Photoshop. I don't think the cost of investing in the software I mentioned is worth your while in this case.