Fix blurry PDF print resolution | Nutrient

When using Nutrient for printing PDFs, users may encounter blurry print output. In most cases, this comes from using the default document object model (DOM) print pipeline, which rasterizes each page before printing.

Default behavior

By default, Nutrient Web SDK uses:

• printOptions.mode = NutrientViewer.PrintMode.DOM
• printOptions.quality = NutrientViewer.PrintQuality.LOW

In PrintMode.DOM, pages are rendered as bitmaps in the browser and then printed. This mode is very reliable across browsers and avoids direct PDF access in the print flow, but output quality and performance depend on bitmap quality settings.

Print mode tradeoffs

Nutrient offers two print modes:

1. PrintMode.DOM (default)
   • Renders bitmap pages in the DOM, then prints.
   • Most reliable cross-browser behavior.
   • Can be slower and use more memory on larger documents.
   • Can look blurry at lower quality settings.
2. PrintMode.EXPORT_PDF
   • Prints from a generated PDF, typically with better fidelity and lower memory usage.
   • Depending on browser capabilities, this may either open the print dialog directly or open the generated PDF in a new tab/window first.
   • Gives users direct PDF access.

Recommendation

If you don’t need to reduce direct PDF exposure in the print flow, prefer PrintMode.EXPORT_PDF for the best print quality and scalability.

If you do need to avoid direct PDF access as much as possible, keep PrintMode.DOM and increase bitmap quality:

NutrientViewer.load({
  // ...
  printOptions: {
    mode: NutrientViewer.PrintMode.DOM,
    quality: NutrientViewer.PrintQuality.HIGH,
  },
});

To switch to PDF-based printing:

NutrientViewer.load({
  // ...
  printOptions: {
    mode: NutrientViewer.PrintMode.EXPORT_PDF,
  },
});

For further assistance, refer to our guides or contact our Support team(opens in a new tab).