Settings to export PDF scores, monochrome or not

[nicmon91]

Hello,
I was wondering if, when you export scores, you set the pdf printer on monochrome or not and also if for you the 1200 dpi High quality printing preset of acrobat pro is ok.

Thank you

[mmike]

I use PDF Creator, black&white, 600 dpi, which looks very good (both on screen and paper)
1200 dpi does not improve anything as far as I can see (and Print Houses seem to prefer 600 dpi as standard)

P.S.: in the past there have been many discussions regarding "true black" pdf printing versus, well, not ....
Personally, I have never actually seen what difference it makes.

[nicmon91]

I use PDF Creator, black&white, 600 dpi, which looks very good (both on screen and paper)
1200 dpi does not improve anything as far as I can see (and Print Houses seem to prefer 600 dpi as standard)

P.S.: in the past there have been many discussions regarding "true black" pdf printing versus, well, not ....
Personally, I have never actually seen what difference it makes.

Thank you, I also noticed that if you open scores using acrobat reader if you don't deactivate 'smooth line art' you will notice problems with the beams (they got joined). But this only with that software.
For the rest I am quite happy both with acrobat and bullzip Thank you for your dpi advice.

[Peter Thomsen]

… I was wondering if, when you export scores, you set the pdf printer on monochrome or not …

If I understand you correctly, you need a PDF file in true Black-&-White - right?

To get true Black-&-White, do not “print” to a PDF file.
Instead, use the Graphics Tool to export as PDF.

… also if for you the 1200 dpi High quality printing preset of acrobat pro is ok …

This is a misunderstanding.
When you create a PDF file from a Finale document, you get a vector graphic.
This means that the layout is described in mathematical formulas, and it will always print at the best resolution the printer can give.
A vector graphic does not have resolution (like e. g. a resolution of 1 200 dpi).

[nicmon91]

… I was wondering if, when you export scores, you set the pdf printer on monochrome or not …

If I understand you correctly, you need a PDF file in true Black-&-White - right?

To get true Black-&-White, do not “print” to a PDF file.
Instead, use the Graphics Tool to export as PDF.

… also if for you the 1200 dpi High quality printing preset of acrobat pro is ok …

This is a misunderstanding.
When you create a PDF file from a Finale document, you get a vector graphic.
This means that the layout is described in mathematical formulas, and it will always print at the best resolution the printer can give.
A vector graphic does not have resolution (like e. g. a resolution of 1 200 dpi).

Thank you The question was more generic, I just need a pdf file and was wondering if selecting black & white when using the pdf printer will make any improvement or change.
Ok so the dpi resolution will affect the pdf only if there are images included, right?

[nicmon91]

I was also wondering if any of you has also experienced the issue with acrobat reader that i solved deactivating the 'smooth line art'
Here a sample of what i mean... (Look at the beam)
Same file same zoom settings, here it is how it shows in Nitro PDF and other PDF readers, which is ok.

Here how it shows in acrobat without deactivating the smooth line art:


Anyway the printed file is perfect and I experienced this problem with lots of scores of different composers...
Also if I deactivate that option the any PDF score is ok (so I think it is more an Acrobat issue).

[MikeHalloran]

… I was wondering if, when you export scores, you set the pdf printer on monochrome or not …

If I understand you correctly, you need a PDF file in true Black-&-White - right?

To get true Black-&-White, do not “print” to a PDF file.
Instead, use the Graphics Tool to export as PDF.

Thank you The question was more generic, I just need a pdf file and was wondering if selecting black & white when using the pdf printer will make any improvement or change.
Ok so the dpi resolution will affect the pdf only if there are images included, right?

What hasn’t been mentioned is that, on a Mac, in Finale 25 or 26, you cannot “print” true B&W PDF from the Print menu — only greyscale. You must use the Grphics/Export menu.

This is one area where Windows is different.

[HaraldS]

This discussion on different methods how to produce a PDF might be of interest: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18916