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hello everyone, i'm making this catalogue on microsoft word, but i'm having some problems with printing. The guys at the printing company said they print at 300dpi. so my catalogue has pictures which would be printed our really tiny if they were printed at 300 resolution.

i need to know how to set microsoft word's printing resolution... thanks

Hi there Nael and welcome to Pchf

I'll mark your thread as open for our tech team to look at.

Bugsey

300 dpi means ink dots per inch and I'm sure bears no relation to the actual image quality or size that you require printing.

If you can print the document on your own printer (which will almost certainly have dpi settings as in draft, quality, speed etc ) then they will do the same.

Hey Guys,

@ Elpmek, excellent advice as alway, Thank you.

@ Nael, my personal welcome to PCHF. Elpmek has explained beautifully what your printer is referring to. I am curious tho as to why you are choosing to do a catalogue in Word. If you have a full version of Office, chances are that you have a copy of a program called Publisher, which is specifically designed to do exactly what you are trying to do, as well as special layout guides, picture placeholders, and "how to" guide to set up your document to be sent to the printers.

If you have that program and would like some good tips on how to transfer your current Word document over into an easily designed catalogue, please post back and I will be happy to guide you.

As far as your Word document being sent to your printer, I would make sure to use the GIF format for your pictures, and find out from the printer how they want you to format the document in order to get the best results.

Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

Thank you for the replies
LGW i just found publisher and opened it for the first time ever... i never was curious what it does, so i never touched it, until now. apparently i could have shaved off hours of my work on word, since it has awsome templates and stuff... now about transferring my work from word to publisher, i need to know how to make the catalouge size 20cm x 20cm and not the typical rectangular shape. also i need help on knowing how to type in this thing and how to add images and new pages... thanks ALOT

No problem at All Nael, I LOVE turning people on to Publisher, it is one of Offices greatest underused programs, IMHO. LOL.

OK, first of all, you want to choose the correct template, if you see something in the Publications for Print, Catalogs category that is even vaguely like what you want to create, choose that, you can alter any and all of the components, and it gives you something to start with. (Which for some reason is always easier than a blank canvas.)

To change the size of the sheet, if it is showing in inches instead of centimeters, first go to Tools, Options, General tab, click on Measurement units. Select, Centimeters, or one of the others if that works better for you.

Next go to File, Page Setup, and manually change the size of the publication, then click on Printer and Paper, and choose first the printer, especially if you are sending the publication out it may be that the "printer" you are sending to is a program. Then select the correct size paper, this is extremely important, check with your printer to see what paper size they will be using. You will probably be notified that Publisher needs to make changes, answer yes, and let it. the image should now look the way you want size and shape wise.

Now to narrow the margins; click on View, Master Page. Then on the Master Page view toolbar (which will pop up) choose Layout Guide, and adjust as you wish, remember to use your printer's guidelines. This toolbar is very useful in making overall changes to the layout of your publication.

Now you can start transferring your data from the Word document into your new Publication. To simplify your life, you will want to choose the colors and fonts that you wish to use in your layout. Click on Format, Catalog Options. Choose any options that you wish, and you can personalize any and all options.

To choose a color scheme, which will always keep the selected colors at the ready in both fill and font menus. Either choose one of the pre-designed schemes, or click on Custom color scheme at the bottom of the page.

To choose a font scheme, you can choose from one of the pre-designed, and/or change the available fonts by hovering over the right of a font, selecting the down arrow, and then choosing the font you want.

To change the basic design you started with, click on Publication Designs.

Remember this and you will find working with Publisher a breeze; in Publisher, everything is created in a separate box, so text is in a text box, pictures in a picture box, shapes are in a shape box, and so on, if you like you can group components on a page, or layer them by adjusting the properties.

So from the work you have already created in your Word document, simply copy the text, and paste it into a Text Box, created by clicking on the Text box, circled in attached, it is the A with lines. To get creative with text you can also use the Word Art utility, the funny shaped A also circled in the attached. Then you do the same with your picture files, click on the Insert Picture tool, also circled on the attached.

Place the box where you would like it, and paste into it. Text boxes can also be set to continue into another text box. So for example, if the information on one of your products is something that you would like to continue on the other side of a photo, or even another page, you can create two text boxes, and click yes when you are asked if you want to use Autoflow.

You can also create one text box, and place a picture on top of it, then format the picture layout to have text flow around it.

You can automatically insert page numbers, and many other features. Geeze, this is getting long. If you want specific instructions on a specific issue as you go along, I will be happy to address that. I'm afraid that otherwise I am going to be writing a how to guide on Publisher, LOL.
Oh, one other thing, the help guide in Publisher is excellent, one of their best.

When you are ready to print, assuming no other questions between now an then, , please post back, with instructions from your printer as to how they want the document, and I will help you send it out with the least amount of difficulty.

Looking forward to your reply, and I want a copy of the catalog, when you have finished, it. That would be so awesome!

TTFN

LGW

THANKS ALOT i cannot explain how thankful i am for you spending time and writing all that, after reading that i think i know my way around the program, i'll definitley send a copy when i'm done printing... 1 vital question though, how do i know the margins that the printer can print within? should i call and ask them or is there a standard margin size which is needed for printer to type within... thanks again