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Author Topic: RFP (request for proposal) Printing of PDFs  (Read 7876 times)
Winfried
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« on: June 16, 2019, 02:30:54 PM »

Qimage does not support the printing of PDFs.
I understand the reasons why. And thats ok. Please no discussion about this.
But nevertheless sometimes I have the need to print PDFs (mostly PDF/X-4) on different papers.
What might be a good tool (as good as Qimage for jpg, tiffs, raws ) for printing PDFs using icc-profiles for the different papers?

Thanks
Winfried
 
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admin
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« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2019, 02:33:56 PM »

Qimage can print PDF's through the Photoshop plugin: open the PDF in PS and send to Qimage for printing.

Regards,
Mike
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Winfried
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« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2019, 02:43:02 PM »

Thank you for this "realtime" response.
But I don't use Photoshop (although I licenced the Qimage plugin).

Thanks
Winfried
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Terry-M
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« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2019, 08:55:01 PM »

Most PDF readers have an export feature which allows you export as an image, I use Tracker Software PDF-XChange Editor. There's no colour managent involved though.
Terry
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info@mystarphoto.com
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« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2021, 09:27:27 PM »

We recently started using Qimage for our new Epson 9570 and are really excited about the possibilities.
I have to admit, I just assumed Qimage would print pdfs directly.
We are a photo lab/graphics shop and print everything from fine art to posters.
If one of our clients sends us a design with graphics it's almost always a pdf. (Trying to do this now as I type)
It doesn't seem that rendering them first in Photoshop should be necessary.
I'm not a programmer but would this be a difficult feature to add?
This would be a very useful feature to have.
Thanks!
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admin
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« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2021, 12:44:02 AM »

Qimage is photo printing software that allows you to arrange and print/nest many photos in a job.  PDF is a document format that has its own formatting, etc. and Qimage doesn't go into that realm (a "document" printing tool that is akin to basically a word processor).  With that said, if you use Photoshop, you can open PDF's in Photoshop and "rasterize" the documents there and then print all pages through the Qimage PS plugin.  So... PDF's can be printed via the PS plugin.

Regards,
Mike
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info@mystarphoto.com
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« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2022, 07:34:04 PM »

Just bumping this again.

The longer we use Qimage the more we like it. It is so productive in so many ways.

Almost daily we have to print pdfs and have to convert them first.

For anyone who does much commercial printing, this would be an extremely valuable function to have.

We would be happy to do a paid upgrade for the ability to print PDFs.

Are we the only ones?
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admin
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« Reply #7 on: August 30, 2022, 08:57:32 PM »

Not much has changed here.  Qimage is for arranging and printing photos and I don't see the utility in making it a word processor.  What would be the advantage of printing documents in Qimage?  To be honest, I don't really understand.  PDF is a document so why wouldn't you use a document printing program like Acrobat or a PDF document utility for that... and print your photos in Qimage?

Regards,
Mike
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Gerry
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« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2022, 12:14:22 AM »

There are free online converters to convert from a pdf to, say tiff or jpeg.

Then you can print directly with Qimage.

Just do a web search for "convert pdf to tiff"
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atb
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« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2022, 10:06:11 AM »

I have in the past been asked to print PDFs and found it a little inconvenient that QI doesn't print them directly.

I think that PDFs can be seen in one of two ways:
1 it's a text document made into a convenient format that's easily shared.
2 it's a lossless vector* format that can't be modified making it perfect for graphic designers and illustrators to send to printshops or share with clients. (*I should say that it can be lossless and vector if saved in the right way)

Certainly, there are professional graphic designers and illustrators producing vector graphics who favour sharing images in PDF format to protect their designs/illustrations, which can also be viewed by everyone using any number of widely available PDF viewers.

For me, it's not a big issue as I'm not asked to print many and when I do I just convert it in PS (albeit one extra step in the workflow process that takes time). I can see if I was printing lots of PDFs every day it would get laborious!

Having said that, if I could print PDFs direct from QI that would be great - but for me, it's not a biggie.
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« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2022, 11:50:18 AM »

I'm still not seeing anything that is answering my question and I'm still confused why anyone would want a photo app to print documents.  What is the benefit of Qimage printing PDF's?  There are plenty of free PDF viewers, printers, Acrobat, etc. that are specifically designed to format your PDF to your printer.  Why would you want to rasterize it into pixels and have a photo application print a document when you can just double click the PDF file in File Explorer and print it straight from your PDF application?

Doesn't make any more sense to me than having Qimage print a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet.

Mike
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studio2107
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« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2022, 05:53:44 PM »

My 2 cents worth. I too would welcome the ability to print PDFs directly in QI. Here is why the PDFs I sometimes get asked to print are more like photographs in that they need to be printed in a variety of sizes on art paper. Just yesterday someone I print photographs for sent me a couple of PDFs to make into 8x10 and 5x7, they were created 8.5x11. I did exactly as you suggest, I opened in photoshop and exported to Qi and printed. I could have asked the creator to go back and save in some other format but me doing it was easier and more full service. So to me, I can easily work around and am not asking for major programming. I do get why some people ask.
Jason
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« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2022, 06:21:06 PM »

I can see how some people might fall prey to that line of thinking, but it is still not making sense.  If you format your document as a PDF, you are someone who is not serious about printing photos.  Photos are an afterthought for someone creating PDF's: they are just "illustrations" that they want to print as an adjunct to the document.  No one serious about photography would print photos out of a PDF file!  If you receive a PDF from someone who wants quality photos, you should ask for a photo format like TIFF or even JPEG because their PDF is likely to have low res photos embedded in the PDF, no ICC profile to even indicate the color space of that photo (or the wrong profile), etc.  This is just how it is: when the majority of people are creating PDF files, they are not thinking about photos, photo quality, color, profiles, and so on.

Mike
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CHoffman
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« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2022, 11:49:11 AM »

I've wanted to do this myself and the reason is simple. Qimage has me spoiled. I know my printer settings and color management are set up correctly. Working outside of Qimage it's always more of a guessing game- did I miss something important? That said, I don't even know if color management is maintained as a photo gets inserted into a PDF file, and resolution certainly gets trashed most of the time. The reality is that when I print a PDF nobody really notices or cares about the photo quality. So, even though it might be a handy feature, Qimage probably shouldn't try to be a document processor. I'd rather the focus remained on doing what it does best- printing photos!  Smiley
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Fred A
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« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2022, 12:04:03 PM »

Quote
I'd rather the focus remained on doing what it does best- printing photos!  Smiley

Ditto
Me too
Fred
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