Fractal Architect 4 Help Index
Use the File > Print menu item to print either current flame file document or PNG file document. Remember to set your paper size and print margins first.
What is the automatic Printing resolution?
You can set the minimum rendering quality in the Print preferences pane of the Preferences dialog. Higher values will help eliminate rendering noise and produce nicer images. A value of 2000 is a good place to start.
Printing resolution is how many pixels per inch of printable area are generated. The resolution table below shows the resolution that Fractal Architect automatically uses.
What are the printing resolutions that Fractal Architect uses when printing a fractal?
Per photo printing industry standards, the following chart shows the resolution that Fractal Architect uses for print rendering. It uses the printing area of the fractal, not the paper size, to make each choice.
| Fractal printable area | Optimal printing resolution |
|---|---|
| Smaller than 4” by 5” | 360 pixels per inch |
| Smaller than 5” by 7” | 300 pixels per inch |
| Smaller than 8” by 10” | 240 pixels per inch |
| Smaller than 11” by 14” | 200 pixels per inch |
| Smaller than 16” by 20” | 180 pixels per inch |
| Otherwise | 140 pixels per inch |
These are optimal resolutions for usual viewing distances (assuming the prints are displayed in an art gallery).
How can I set my own printing resolution?
You will need to generate your own PNG file and then print that file. Lets do the math. First use the table above to select the appropriate print resolution (or choose your own resolution).
For example, lets choose 8.5” x 11” as the paper size. The table above says the optimal resolution is 200 pixels per inch. If we assume ¼” margins on all sides, the printable area is 8.25” x 10.75”. This requires in an image height and width of 2150x1650 in pixels. (Multiply for instance, 8.25” by 200 pixels per inch to get 2150 pixels.)
You will also need to remember to select landscape format and set the page margins manually for the print job.
How do I select Printing page size and page margin dimensions?
Use the File menu -> Page Setup to select the paper size, Portrait or Landscape mode, and page margins. The page margins are a little hard to find. On the Page Setup dialog, click the Settings: Page Attributes button and you will see the Flam4CUDA pane as an option. That pane allows you to set the print margins.
How do I find how long it took to render an image?
Render times for PNG file generation and print jobs are shown in the Fractal Architect log window.
How do I set Printing quality?
Use the Flam4CUDA menu -> Preferences to open the Preferences dialog. Select the Print pane and specify your preferred print image minimum rendering quality. Note that transparency is not supported for printing.