Universal Laser Systems PLS3.60, Руководство по безопасности, установке, эксплуатации и базовому обслуживанию

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GRAPHICS SOFTWARE SETUP
Section 3-4
Monochrome Bitmaps
If you scan the image in monochrome (black and white) mode, set your scanner to at least 600 DPI.
The higher the DPI, the smoother the image will be. Scanning monochrome images at 300 DPI is the
minimum recommended resolution but scanning them at 600 DPI will provide a significant
improvement in the image quality. Clean it up in your bitmap image-processing program and save it
to your hard disk. You can now either print the image directly from your bitmap image processing
program, or import the bitmap into a graphics program and print it from there. Monochrome bitmaps
are engraved in the same manner as black filled text. The black area will turn the laser on and the
white area turns the laser off.
Grayscale Bitmaps
When scanning an image in grayscale mode, you should scan the image at no more than 300 DPI.
Scanning at a higher DPI does not improve image quality but it consumes more memory and will take
longer to print. Grayscale images cannot be printed directly to the laser system. Since the laser
system actually works like a black and white printer, grayscale images must be converted into black
and white images. To do this, either the driver will do it automatically or you can convert the
grayscale image to a black and white image in your bitmap image-processing program.
The two, primary grayscale image conversion techniques are Halftone or Error Diffusion. The printer
driver can print either one and it is selected in the driver under the Raster sub-tab. Please refer to the
section on the printer driver for more details on how to set these parameters. Since the driver has a
fixed method of conversion, you may want to experiment by using your bitmap image-processing
program to make the conversion. These software programs usually have more options for controlling
the size, angle, shape, and the amount of black and white dots (pixels) created when converting the
image. Experiment with all of the controls to see which looks the best. Big dots look good on some
materials and small dots look better on others. Once the image is converted by your program, save
and print it directly from that program or import it into your graphics program and print it from there.
Essentially, a Halftone image and an Error Diffusion image are actually both monochrome images
and can be treated as such. If you decide not convert the grayscale image to a monochrome image
in your bitmap image editing program, then the driver will do it automatically and will use settings
based on the Resolution settings in the driver.
Color Bitmaps
The printer driver handles color bitmaps the same as grayscale bitmaps. Since color bitmaps use
more memory, they are unnecessary and are therefore NOT recommended, however, you can still
use them.
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) Images
Bitmap images cannot be cut by the laser system only engraved. The only way to have the laser system
cut out or vector a bitmap is to first convert it to a vector file format such as an EPS. Raster to vector
conversion programs are available that trace the bitmap (this only works well with monochrome bitmaps)
and creates a separate EPS vector file. These EPS files can then be imported into the graphics program
and printed out from there. Since tracing programs have many adjustments, some practice with them is
necessary to produce desirable results.
The laser system does not support Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) printing directly. EPS files can only be
edited and printed if they are first imported into a graphics program. However, since EPS files support
engraving and cutting objects, they are therefore useful for transferring artwork from one graphics
program to another. Once an EPS file has been imported into a graphics program, the objects can be
outlined, stretched, rotated, mirrored, filled with different colors, or anything else desired just as long as
your graphics software can edit EPS images. Be careful when using EPS files in layout software as
opposed to true graphics software. Layout software may allow the placement of EPS files in the artwork
but may not actually import and convert the EPS file to a useful format for the printer driver and therefore
may not print correctly. Please refer to your graphics software’s documentation on whether or not it can
edit and print EPS images to a non-Postscript printer.