Taking a few moments to check these settings can help ensure your office printer produces clear, professional-looking documents every time.
When printing documents that contain images, the quality of the PDF file can make a big difference to the final result from your office printer. If a PDF has been heavily compressed or exported with low-resolution images, prints may appear blurry, faded, or pixelated.
For teams such as marketing, sales, or management, this can affect the appearance of brochures, presentations, reports, and promotional materials printed in the office. Creating a high-resolution PDF helps ensure images remain sharp and professional when printed on your workplace printer.
In this guide, we’ll explain how to prepare your PDFs for better print results and how to export high-quality PDFs from Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, and Canva, so different departments across your business can produce clear, high-quality documents directly from their office printers.
What Makes a PDF High Quality?
Before printing, it’s important to make sure your PDF has been created with the correct settings.
High-quality print PDFs normally include:
- High-resolution images (300 DPI) to keep graphics sharp
- Embedded fonts so text appears correctly on any printer
- Correct colour settings for accurate print output
- Press-ready or print-quality export settings
These settings ensure that the document looks the same on screen as it does when printed.
Choose the Right Print Driver
Your print driver also plays an important role in how images appear when printed from an office printer. The driver acts as the bridge between your computer and the printer, translating your document into instructions the printer can understand.
Different drivers and settings can affect things such as print resolution, colour output, paper settings, and finishing options, all of which influence the final print quality. Using the correct driver ensures your printer can use its full capabilities when printing documents with images.
You can learn more about choosing the correct driver in our guide here.
Printing High-Quality PDFs Using Adobe Acrobat
If you already have a PDF but want to improve its print quality, Adobe Acrobat allows you to convert it into a press-ready PDF.
Steps
- Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
- Select File → Save As Other → Press-Ready PDF (PDF/X).
- In the Save As window, choose Settings.
- Select PDF/X-4 in the Preflight options.
- Click OK and save the file.
This process creates a high-resolution PDF designed for professional printing.
PDF/X formats are widely used in commercial printing because they preserve images, colours and fonts consistently.
Creating a High-Quality PDF from Microsoft Word
Many business documents are created in Microsoft Word before being exported as a PDF. To maintain image quality when printing, make sure you export using the correct settings.
Steps
- Click File → Save As.
- Select PDF as the file type.
- Click More Options (if available).
- Choose Standard (publishing online and printing) rather than Minimum Size.
- Save the file.
Tips for better results
- Use high-resolution images (300 DPI) in the document.
- Avoid copying images from websites, as these are often low resolution.
- Keep image sizes close to the final print size to prevent scaling issues.
Using the correct export option prevents Word from compressing your images.
Exporting Print-Ready PDFs from Canva
Canva is a popular tool for creating marketing materials such as flyers, posters and social media graphics. To ensure the best print results, you need to download your design using the correct PDF option.
Steps
- Click Share or Download in the top right.
- Choose PDF Print as the file type.
- Enable Crop Marks and Bleed if your design runs to the edge of the page.
- Download the file.
The PDF Print format exports images at higher resolution and embeds fonts so the design prints clearly.
Canva design tips
- Use images with a resolution of 300 DPI where possible.
- Keep important text at least 3mm away from the page edge.
- Avoid stretching small images as this can reduce print quality.
Use the Right Paper for Image Printing
Paper type can also have a significant impact on how images look when printed. Standard office paper is designed for everyday documents, but for image-heavy prints such as brochures, presentations, or marketing materials, a higher quality paper can improve colour depth and sharpness.
Choosing the correct paper weight, finish, and print settings helps your office printer produce clearer images and more professional results.
You can read our full guide here.
If your printed document doesn’t look as expected, it’s usually due to one of these issues:
- Low-resolution images used in the original design
- Exporting the PDF using compressed or minimum-size settings
- Images being scaled larger than their original size
- The PDF being saved for web viewing rather than print
Checking your export settings before printing can prevent most of these problems.
Quick Checklist Before Printing Your PDF
Before printing image-heavy documents from your office printer, it’s worth running through a quick check to make sure everything is set up for the best possible results.
Where possible, use images that are 300 DPI to avoid blurry or pixelated prints.
When saving from Word, Canva, or other design tools, choose print quality or PDF Print settings rather than compressed or minimum-size options.
Make sure the correct print driver and print quality settings are selected so your printer can produce the best output.
Choosing the correct paper weight and finish can significantly improve how images appear when printed.
If you’re printing important documents such as marketing materials or presentations, printing a single test page can help you check image clarity and colour before printing the full job.
Need Help Getting the Best Print Results?
Creating a high-quality PDF can make a big difference to how your documents look when printed. Taking a few moments to check your export settings in Word, Canva, or Acrobat will help ensure images remain sharp and professional.
If you would like to see the difference that high-quality print can make, you can request a sample pack using the form below to explore a range of printed materials and finishes.
And if you’re unsure whether your files are set up correctly for printing, our team is always happy to help. Feel free to get in touch if you would like advice on preparing your documents or improving your print quality. You can call us on 01322 643826 or fill in the form below.
