Have you tried a test page with a halftone of an image and see the results at various resolutions?

On Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:26:15 -0500, Tim Doty <thoromyr@mac.com> wrote:

>
> I'm finishing up a book for printing at Lulu. Actually, the book is old (last revised 1999), but I'm adding illustrations to it. And herein lies my >problem. The art is grey scale and, searching lulu for information, it appears that they are using something like 60-80 lpi, but certainly not much more >than 100 lpi -- which is simply not enough to capture detail. Even my personal printer can manage 180 lpi so I'm not sure what gives.
>
> The thing is, none of this information is official. Lulu refuses to say anything about the printers they use, their specs or anything. I've put in a >support request and haven't heard anything from them. (It looks like they only provide support for paid-support accounts.) What they *have* said (on >their site) is nonsensical. For example, they tell people to save grey scale images as RGB to avoid the "pixelation" from low lpi. Users who have a clue >have suggested that line art be submitted as high resolution black and white, but that is only suitable for pen-and-ink line drawings.
>
> I know some people here have used Lulu and I'm hoping that someone has specific experience they can share. I've tested converting an image to black and >white. This loses a lot of detail, of course, but for the one image would be acceptable if I have to go that route. Even there, Lulu says they want >artwork at 300 dpi and it is always possible they'll just scale everything to that resolution, even if I provide higher resolution images. At 600 dpi >the black and white has acceptably minimal jagged edges on slanted lines, 300 dpi just doesn't look good.
>
> So, any information to be shared? Advice to give? Incidentally, I am deliberately doing grey scale -- color is not what I want for this.
>
> Tim Doty
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I tried on my printer, yes. At 180 lpi it is tolerable -- at only 1200 dpi that is supposed to be higher than the printer should do, but it is a preset in the PPD. On my first laser jet (a mere 600 dpi) I could get acceptable quality from 150 lpi depending on the graphic -- the loss in shades of grey was certainly a consideration.

The problem is knowing what lpi it will print with at Lulu. If they are truly at ~100 lpi then it is not acceptable for anything book-sized. Looking at a table of printer lpi I notice that the reported quality from Lulu printing is in the newspaper range. Not particularly good.

When I checked just now the printers I found were rated at 175 to 250 lpi. So I'm starting to wonder what kind of printer Lulu is using.

Converting everything from grey to black and white looks like the best option in the absence of any information from Lulu (they still haven't responded to my query).

Tim Doty

On Feb 28, 2013, at 11:32 PM, admfubar@gmail.com wrote:

> Have you tried a test page with a halftone of an image and see the results at various resolutions?
>
> On Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:26:15 -0500, Tim Doty thoromyr@mac.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > I'm finishing up a book for printing at Lulu. Actually, the book is old (last revised 1999), but I'm adding illustrations to it. And herein lies my >problem. The art is grey scale and, searching lulu for information, it appears that they are using something like 60-80 lpi, but certainly not much more >than 100 lpi -- which is simply not enough to capture detail. Even my personal printer can manage 180 lpi so I'm not sure what gives.
> >
> > The thing is, none of this information is official. Lulu refuses to say anything about the printers they use, their specs or anything. I've put in a >support request and haven't heard anything from them. (It looks like they only provide support for paid-support accounts.) What they *have* said (on >their site) is nonsensical. For example, they tell people to save grey scale images as RGB to avoid the "pixelation" from low lpi. Users who have a clue >have suggested that line art be submitted as high resolution black and white, but that is only suitable for pen-and-ink line drawings.
> >
> > I know some people here have used Lulu and I'm hoping that someone has specific experience they can share. I've tested converting an image to black and >white. This loses a lot of detail, of course, but for the one image would be acceptable if I have to go that route. Even there, Lulu says they want >artwork at 300 dpi and it is always possible they'll just scale everything to that resolution, even if I provide higher resolution images. At 600 dpi >the black and white has acceptably minimal jagged edges on slanted lines, 300 dpi just doesn't look good.
> >
> > So, any information to be shared? Advice to give? Incidentally, I am deliberately doing grey scale -- color is not what I want for this.
> >
> > Tim Doty
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Ok then PGS is outputting as expected, now it is just a matter of what Lulu's capabilities are.
Can you get them to run a page or two to see their actual results.. always nice to try before you buy.

from the tone of your text... you seem to be making a physical dead tree version... no ebook edition?

On Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:51:16 -0500, Tim Doty <thoromyr@mac.com> wrote:

> I tried on my printer, yes. At 180 lpi it is tolerable -- at only 1200 dpi that is supposed to be higher than the printer should do, but it is a preset in the PPD. On my first laser jet (a mere 600 dpi) I could get acceptable quality from 150 lpi depending on the graphic -- the loss in shades of grey was certainly a consideration.
>
> The problem is knowing what lpi it will print with at Lulu. If they are truly at ~100 lpi then it is not acceptable for anything book-sized. Looking at a table of printer lpi I notice that the reported quality from Lulu printing is in the newspaper range. Not particularly good.
>
> When I checked just now the printers I found were rated at 175 to 250 lpi. So I'm starting to wonder what kind of printer Lulu is using.
>
> Converting everything from grey to black and white looks like the best option in the absence of any information from Lulu (they still haven't responded to my query).
>
> Tim Doty
>
> On Feb 28, 2013, at 11:32 PM, admfubar@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> Have you tried a test page with a halftone of an image and see the results at various resolutions?
>>

dead tree is correct. I don't know if I'll do an ebook.

I agree with your suggestion, but lulu isn't forthcoming. I'd hoped someone on the list had experience with them on the matter, but it doesn't look like I lucked out. Oh well.

Tim Doty

On Mar 1, 2013, at 8:29 PM, admfubar@gmail.com wrote:

> Ok then PGS is outputting as expected, now it is just a matter of what Lulu's capabilities are.
> Can you get them to run a page or two to see their actual results.. always nice to try before you buy.
>
> from the tone of your text... you seem to be making a physical dead tree version... no ebook edition?
>
> On Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:51:16 -0500, Tim Doty thoromyr@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > I tried on my printer, yes. At 180 lpi it is tolerable -- at only 1200 dpi that is supposed to be higher than the printer should do, but it is a preset in the PPD. On my first laser jet (a mere 600 dpi) I could get acceptable quality from 150 lpi depending on the graphic -- the loss in shades of grey was certainly a consideration.
> >
> > The problem is knowing what lpi it will print with at Lulu. If they are truly at ~100 lpi then it is not acceptable for anything book-sized. Looking at a table of printer lpi I notice that the reported quality from Lulu printing is in the newspaper range. Not particularly good.
> >
> > When I checked just now the printers I found were rated at 175 to 250 lpi. So I'm starting to wonder what kind of printer Lulu is using.
> >
> > Converting everything from grey to black and white looks like the best option in the absence of any information from Lulu (they still haven't responded to my query).
> >
> > Tim Doty
> >
> > On Feb 28, 2013, at 11:32 PM, admfubar@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> >> Have you tried a test page with a halftone of an image and see the results at various resolutions?
> >>
>

Prolly time to find another print house then

On Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:53:16 -0500, Tim Doty <thoromyr@mac.com> wrote:

> dead tree is correct. I don't know if I'll do an ebook.
>
> I agree with your suggestion, but lulu isn't forthcoming. I'd hoped someone on the list had experience with them on the matter, but it doesn't look like I lucked out. Oh well.
>
> Tim Doty
>