Printing PNG Snapshots - Resolution Compromised

Hi,

Toon Boom allows you to export snapshots of your animation as PNG files. I have been doing this because I need to send hard copies to someone (they will not accept digital files for some reason). The PNG snapshots look amazing on screen (crisp and clear); however, when I try printing them, they come out looking pixelated and faded. This happens regardless of the size or quality settings I have tried. I have asked two friends to try on different printers as well, and they say the same thing; that the resolution is severely compromised when printing.

Does anyone know the best way to print out a PNG file, so no resolution is lost? Does one need a special printer for this? I have only been trying to print out black and white images so far. The inking looks very good on screen (whether in Toon Boom or the PNG file after export), but looks pixelated and grainy when printed. I could understand this if I were trying to blow up images when printing, but even if they are printed at the default size or smaller, the linework looks terrible. I even tried importing the images into a Power Point File and printing that, but it still looks awful.

Is this a paper-related issue? Something to do with the printers’ ink or toner?

I hope someone can help me out with this. Thanks very much!

DanB.

Try this:
Create your project in Studio in HDTV 1080 (1920 x 1080),
Or go to File / Animation Properties and set the Camera Size to the above resolution…
DV NTSC, or DV PAL might be not suitable…? Presuming you print to A4…?
Save as TIFF instead of PNG…

Computer generated images are 72 DPI (should be good enough for basic printing).
You could create a new project in Photoshop (or else) with 300 PPI and place your image.
Save as TIFF and print… Not sure, how much that might improve quality…?

Regards
Nolan