Print graphics and fonts

Choose from the following options in the Graphics area of the Print dialog box to specify how graphics are handled during output.

Controls how much image data in placed bitmap images to send to the printer or file.

Sends full-resolution data, which is appropriate for any high-resolution printing, or for printing grayscale or color images with high contrast, as in black-and-white text with one spot color. This option requires the most disk space.

Sends just enough image data to print the graphic at the best possible resolution for the output device. (A high-resolution printer will use more data than a low-resolution desktop model.) Select this option when you’re working with high‑resolution images but printing proofs to a desktop printer.

Sends screen-resolution versions (72 dpi) of placed bitmap images, thereby reducing printing time.

Temporarily removes all graphics when you print and replaces them with graphics frames with crossbars, thereby reducing printing time. The graphics frames are the same dimensions as the imported graphics and clipping paths are maintained, so you can still check sizes and positioning. Suppressing the printing of imported graphics is useful when you want to distribute text proofs to editors or proofreaders. Printing without graphics is also helpful when you’re trying to isolate the cause of a printing problem.

Options for downloading fonts to a printer

Printer-resident fonts are stored in a printer’s memory or on a hard drive connected to the printer. Type 1 and TrueType fonts can be stored either on the printer or on your computer; bitmap fonts are stored only on your computer. InDesign downloads fonts as needed, provided they are installed on your computer’s hard disk.

Choose from the following options in the Graphics area of the Print dialog box to control how fonts are downloaded to the printer.

Includes a reference to the font in the PostScript file, which tells the RIP or a post-processor where the font should be included. This option is appropriate if the fonts reside in the printer. However, to ensure that fonts are interpreted correctly, use one of the other font downloading options, such as Subset or Download PPD Fonts.

Downloads all fonts required for the document at the beginning of the print job. All glyphs and characters in the font are included even if they’re not used in the document. InDesign automatically subsets fonts that contain more than the maximum number of glyphs (characters) specified in the Preferences dialog box.

Downloads only the characters (glyphs) used in the document. Glyphs are downloaded once per page. This option typically results in faster and smaller PostScript files when used with single-page documents or short documents without much text.

Downloads all fonts used in the document, even if those fonts reside in the printer. Use this option to ensure that InDesign uses the font outlines on your computer for printing common fonts, such as Helvetica and Times. Using this option can resolve problems with font versions, such as mismatched character sets between your computer and printer or outline variances in trapping. Unless you commonly use extended character sets, you don’t need to use this option for desktop draft printing.

PostScript printing options

Choose from the following options in the Graphics area of the Print dialog box to specify how PostScript information is sent to the printer.

Specifies a level of compatibility with the interpreters in PostScript output devices.

Specifies how InDesign sends the image data from your computer to a printer. ASCII is sent as ASCII text, which is compatible with older networks and parallel printers and is usually the best choice for graphics used on multiple platforms. Binary exports as binary code, which is more compact than ASCII but may not be compatible with all systems.

Options for omitting graphics

The OPI options in the Advanced area let you selectively omit different imported graphics types when sending image data to a printer or file, leaving only the OPI links (comments) for later handling by an OPI server.

Enables InDesign to replace low-resolution EPS proxies of graphics with high-resolution graphics at output time. For OPI image replacement to work, the EPS file must contain OPI comments that link the low-resolution proxy image to the high-resolution image. InDesign must have access to the graphics linked by the OPI comments. If the high‑resolution versions are not available, InDesign preserves the OPI links and includes the low-resolution proxy in the export file. Deselect this option to have an OPI server replace OPI-linked graphics later in the workflow.

Lets you selectively omit different imported graphics types (EPS, PDF, and bitmap images) when sending image data to a printer or file, leaving only the OPI links (comments) for later handling by an OPI server. The comments contain the information needed to locate a high-resolution image on an OPI server. InDesign only includes the comments; the service provider must have access to the original high-resolution image on a server at replacement time. The Omit For OPI option doesn’t apply to embedded graphics.