How to encourage non-techie users to print the high resolution version in a photo gallery?

Question

I am designing a photo gallery site where every picture page has a link for a high resolution version of the picture intended for printing, but I found out that people are simply clicking 'save as...' on the low-res version that gets displayed and printing that instead. The printed pictures come out fairly usable but could be much better if the high-res version was used instead.

What are some good ideas for preventing non-techie users from printing the low-res version that is intended for screen usage only?

Answer 1

Give them a "print" option, rather than a "high res" option? Sounds like you might not be speaking your users' language.

Also, how much of a pain is this really to users? Maybe there is a reason they save and print the low-res version, e.g., download times, or they worry that they won't get what they see.

A simple usability test with a representative user could reveal a lot here.

Answer 2

Have a rollover state right on the image with big letters superimposed that say Click To Download Print Version. Clicking that could either directly download a version in the browser, or more simple, open the high-res version in a new tab where they can right-click to save it.

This way, you give them what they want in an obvious manner before then even get to right-click to download the low-res version.

Answer 3

It's probably not an option to use the high-res version of a picture and stick it in a container having the dimensions of the low-res version, right, and let the user's browser scale it appropriately? Because I can't think of another way to do what you want without re-training the user.

Consider adding a big "Print Me" button which links to a page that contains the high-res image and some JavaScript that automatically pops up the browser's print dialog.