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This page explains how to print the PDF files provided in the present site.
What is PDF?
PDF (or Portable Document Format) is a file format which allows the precise description of documents containing text and graphics. The PDF format has the important advantage of being universal, precise, and easy to print. However, unlike PostScript, PDF is not really a programming language, and it does not offer you the possibility of editing the original files that are provided in this moiré demonstration kit (for example, modifying angles, periods, etc.) in order to generate your own new variants of the original samples for further experimentation.
How to print PDF files?
PDF files are usually printed using Adobe's Acrobat Reader, a freely available software that can be downloaded (in various languages and for various operating systems) from Adobe's internet site. Depending on the browser you are using, clicking on a "PDF" indicator in the moiré demonstration kit will either open the PDF file using the Acrobat Reader software, or prompt you for downloading the PDF file in question onto your computer. In the latter case, you will have to open the downloaded PDF file by yourself using the Acrobat Reader software.Once the PDF file is open, you can visualize it directly on your computer display, and send it to your printer in order to get it printed on paper or on a transparency. Note, however, that the moiré effect itself cannot be visualized on your computer display, since it requires the superposition of two layers, each of which is provided in this moiré demonstration kit as a separate PDF file.
It is important to note that the resolution of most computer displays is not sufficient for correctly visualizing the PDF files provided in this moiré demonstration kit. Therefore, in order to avoid sampling or aliasing artifacts when visualizing these files on your computer display you will have to use the "zoom in" option of the Acrobat Reader program until the structure being displayed is sufficiently magnified and free of any artifacts. Due to the high magnification rate required to guarantee the image quality on the computer display you will probably not be able to visualize on your display the entire image as a whole but only a small portion thereof at a time.
Because the highly structured images that are provided in this moiré demonstration kit require a high printing resolution, it is particularly important NOT to use the default printing parameters that are automatically selected by the "Print" option of the Acrobat Reader program, and to manually select the parameters required for the highest possible printing quality available on your printer. Depending on the case, these parameters may be called "ProRes", "Super fine", etc. If you do not use the correct parameters, strong sampling or aliasing artifacts may appear in the printed samples, and the resulting moiré effects in their superposition may be significantly corrupted. (Note, however, that the printed quality of the PDF file is independent of the zooming factor that you are using to visualize the file on your display.)
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