PDF Job Options - Standard versus High Quality Print

[Mike Wickham]

There are definitely differences between Standard and High Quality Print 
options. For starters, Standard does NOT embed all fonts. If you use 
Distiller to check the settings of the .joboptions files, you'll see 
that Standard embeds most fonts, but NOT those that are commonly 
installed on computers-- such as Arial, Times New Roman, etc. It marks 
those as NEVER embed. This may or may not cause reformatting of the PDF 
on the viewing end (due to different font versions on the user's 
computer) or complete font substitution (due to uninstalled fonts on the 
user end). If you don't embed all fonts, you take a risk that your 
document won't look the same on every computer-- which is the purpose of 
PDF.

Standard also downsamples graphics to 150 dpi(ppi), where High Quality 
Print downsamples to 300 dpi. 300 dpi is usually what you want for 
printing press. 150 dpi is usually OK for desktop printer-- though many 
use 300 dpi there, too. 150 dpi is actually higher resolution than 
necessary for Web  viewing-- where 72 or 96 ppi is more common. So it's 
increasing the image data by up to 4.34x to make an unnecessarily large 
file for the Web. Still the 150 dpi higher resolution lets a user zoom 
into a PDF for a better view of a photo. (And 300 ppi would let the user 
zoom in even more for a clearer image.)

So, the option you want to choose depends on the purpose of your output 
and whether you want users to be able to zoom in for a better view.  If 
the output is going to printing press, you want High Quality Print, but 
if it's only for screen or desktop printer, Standard may be okay. Or 
Smallest File Size may be an even better choice for Web display.

Mike Wickham

On 7/9/2013 1:40 PM, Melissa Clark wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm writing today to query others about the Standard versus High 
> Quality Print options under the PDF Setup in Adobe FrameMaker and 
> Distiller.
>
> The various PDF job options are being evaluated internally.  In 
> particular (and what I'm asking about now), in PDF Setup --> Settings 
> --> PDF Job Options, some use "Standard," while others use "High 
> Quality Print" (same setting in Distiller).  Based on what I have been 
> told, there is no reason (benefit) to using High Quality Print (versus 
> Standard) even in docs that use more screenshots and/or pictures, and 
> my understanding is that High Quality Print results in a larger file 
> size.  (I have been using High Quality Print for years.)
>
> My question is whether using Standard (instead of High Quality Print) 
> results in any detrimental effect.
>
> For reference, here is some information from Adobe:
>
> Standard
>
> . For desktop printers or digital copiers, published on CD or sent to 
> client as publishing proof . Uses compression/downsampling to reduce 
> file size . Embeds subsets of fonts, converts colors to sRGB, prints 
> medium resolution, windows font subsets not embedded by default . 
> Opened in Acrobat and Reader 6.0 and later High Quality Print . 
> Quality printing on desktop printers and proofing devices . 
> Downsamples color and grayscale images to 300ppi and monochrome to 
> 1200ppi . Embeds subsets of fonts, leaves colors unchanged, does not 
> flatted transparency . Opened in Acrobat and Reader 5.0 and later
>
> For what it's worth, I am using Adobe FrameMaker 9 and 10 and Distiller 8.
>
> Any feedback on what others have found while using High Quality Print 
> versus Standard would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Melissa Clark
>
>
>
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