The Differences in Designing for Print and Web

Contrary to what may seem like similar mediums, print and web design are very different mediums. Each has their own systems and rules of thumb on everything from fonts, resolution, and even types of graphics used. So don’t make the mistake of trying to transfer one set of graphics from print to web or web to print. In general, it just won’t work out the way you might hope.

Font selection
Web design has one serious limitation: not everyone has the same set of fonts on their computers. This means that what the web designer intends to be seen is not necessarily what the end user sees. Printing, on the other hand, is static: what you print is what you get.

Another important consideration is that contrast on the screen is not nearly as high as paper. This means that a font that looks great on a page may not be very legible on screen.

Resolution
The typical web site graphic is around 72 dpi, while print resolution is around 300 dpi. This is a huge difference. If you try to print web graphics they will almost certainly look pixilated or fuzzy. If you try to use print graphics on the internet the download times could be through the roof. No one likes sitting there waiting for graphics to load.

Graphic types
The web is a world of dynamic design. Many different types of graphics are used: GIF, JPG, JPEG 2000, and Flash are just a few of the types of graphics you might find, and that’s not even mentioning video that is becoming part of webpages.

Print graphics are usually high resolution JPG, PDF files, EPS, AI, or TIFF, to name the top formats. Graphic files are typically lossless, meaning that they are uncompressed to ensure the best possible image.

Final thoughts
As you can see, while you may be looking at two apparently identical images – one on the screen and one on paper – the two images are very different. From fonts to resolution to file type, web graphics and print graphics share only one thing in common: they look the same. But as the old saying goes, looks can be deceiving.