Laminating a map for 'dry erase' purposes....

[Diamond]

I hate to burst your bubble - but they ONLY print at 150dpi.

Hmm, that's unfortunate. I've had two maps printed by them and the detail is very, very good (both were 400PPI uploads), so I've had no complaints.

[markem]

Hmm, that's unfortunate. I've had two maps printed by them and the detail is very, very good (both were 400PPI uploads), so I've had no complaints.

That is really weird because when the map came back grainy I called and talked to the manager. He was the one who said they were printing at 150dpi only. Maybe they decided to change? When did you get your map? Mine was about three or four years ago.

[Diamond]

One was about two and half years ago, the other about a year and a half.

[markem]

One was about two and half years ago, the other about a year and a half.

Then that is probably why. I had told the manager that I would not do another banner with them because there were other locations that did it at a higher resolution for just a little more. I'm sure I'm not the only person who complained. I also told him he wasn't saving any more ink doing prints at 150dpi. You still have to ink all of the surface so you are still using up the same amount of ink. The only real difference is the speed of the printer. At 150dpi the printer zips along really quickly. The higher the resolution though - the slower the printer goes. So I could see why they did 150dpi but they needed to say up front that was all they were doing.

I'm glad they changed. I'm starting to work on a map for another friend and it would be nice to get it printed as a banner also. I'll have to go take a look at them again.

[Midgardsormr]

They may also have upgraded their equipment since then. Really, though, 150 dpi is still kind of overkill for banners. They could go down to 100 and have perfectly acceptable quality for most of their jobs.

And if you print at a lower resolution, you are using less ink. If you print at high resolutions on plain copy paper, you'll start to saturate the paper at around 200. At 300 it will be so soaked that it even feels heavier in your hand.

[markem]

I have saturated paper before and that at a low resolution. At least on my WP-4020 you have fast, medium, quality, and high quality (different names but you get what I mean). I just unclogged my printer's print head by putting in 110lb paper and then 200lb paper and running it a high quality on a 96dpi image of solid black. It actually sucked all of the black out of the cartridge. Not that there was a lot left but it went from about 1/4 left to zero. Without changing the dpi, if I set it to fast then black comes out grey(or gray). So really there are two settings on my printer. Or maybe I should say three since there is also paper quality/type. But if you print at 150dpi using medium to high quality you will suck just as much ink through the printer as if you went to 300dpi but used fast. However, 300dpi on fast will still look better than 150dpi on high quality.

The map that I printed (see the ones I did for a friend in my album) are not just letters and a lot of dark or light area behind it. So at 150dpi the maps look grainy. When I printed it on my printer though - at 300dpi - the images look crisp.

[Norseword Bound]

It's only $12 to laminate a 24"x36" print at Staples here in Illinois. It would be less for a smaller print.

Same here in Alaska.

[jpstod]

We have done that for years...Works great...Have to be careful as it can be scratched easily if you move it around a lot..I prefer Wet Erase markers..so you don't accidentally erase something...

Interesting...Quote did not work. I was replying about using a sheet of Acrylic to put over a Map.