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Author Topic: Printing half the image  (Read 5249 times)

slhartsf

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Printing half the image
« on: January 05, 2018, 11:08:38 am »

I am having issues with an Epson 4900 in combination with Lightroom when printing generally, larger sizes than letter.  My prints are cut off (not printed) at half height and this gets very expensive.  Before the image is sent to the printer, I double click the printer icon in the task bar to open it and it shows the entire image, but then it prints only half height.  Right now I am noticing it is happening when, for example Super A3 (sheet) is selected and the margins all set to 0.75 inches.  Same goes for 11x17 (sheet).
 However, when I choose Super A3 (maximum) (or 11x17 maximum) and use the same margins, the entire image is printed.  Anyone experience partial image prints and if so, what was your solution?
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2018, 12:57:00 pm »

What printer icon in what task bar? In Lr all printing is controlled from the Print Module. Before sending a photo to print, go to Page Set-up (button in the lower left portion of the Print Module Interface) and make sure the correct printer is selected and the correct paper size is selected. I use "Sheet Maximum" associated with the paper sizes where available all the time, and it always works correctly. Once that is set, click the button next to page set-up (Print Settings) and make sure again the correct printer is selected, and in Printer Settings, make sure the correct paper size and paper feed appears. Then in the LR Print module interface, set the border sizes for the four dimensions. Check that the photo in the main window is correctly sized and positioned. Click on the Print button in the lower right corner of the interface - the settings should be the same as the ones you completed when you saved them in the Print Settings at the lower left. From then on, as long as you are using the same settings, you should be able to print simp;y by clicking on Print (lower right of the Print Module interface). If you do all this as stated, there should be no truncating of prints.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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slhartsf

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2018, 05:36:34 pm »

First, I don't have a problem with the paper size "maximum" that I know of yet, so far it is with "sheet."  Second, I do exactly what you say in Page Setup and Printer Settings , except in my Printer Settings there is not a size to pick, only the paper type, manual feed, and dpi (2880 or 1440) and high speed.  As you say, I then make sure the margins are correctly set and lined up on the print preview per the settings in the panel.

My imac has a task bar (pardon me if that is not the correct term) where the apps I use most often reside. When I print, the printer icon pops up and I double click on it and the progress displays and I can then click again on the display and it will show what the printed image looks like; I think this is the spooled result being sent from Lightroom, but not sure.

As an aside, I try to print "sheet" because it leaves extra margin so the paper is still held down when the printer head is finished printing.  I have had issues when printing some papers (310 weight) where the paper's right side will pop up as it slides out of the feed and the printer head will strike the paper causing a real mess. Kinda of a built in curl when the paper comes out of the feeder (this is the top/rear feeder, but it wouldn't matter which way I fed the paper in).
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2018, 05:55:42 pm »

OK, for avoidance of doubt, I've attached some screen grabs of a typical print set-up I would use for a Super A3 sheet in Lr printing to my Epson SC-P5000, very similar to the 4900 - in fact the same in these respects. You will see that "maximum" goes along with the paper size in Page Set-Up. I provide for a one inch border on each dimension, which allows for a cell size of about 11x17 on a 13x19 sheet (Lr calculates this). With this combination of settings in all three places I have never experienced incomplete printing of a photo.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2018, 06:38:19 pm »

I believe the Sheet - Maximum setting changes the minimum required border size of the bottom of the sheet from .56 inches to .12 inches.  If you are leaving a white border around the print larger than this, then I’m not sure it makes a difference.  I know when I print a bordered print I use a custom paper size with  0 margins and then put whatever my desired border size in the LR dialog.  that way I don’t have to figure out the math to obtain a specific border width, such as 1.5”.

If the OP has all margins set to .75 inches then there shouldn’t be an issue with anything being cut off.  However, without seeing the settings in LR and the printer dialog boxes as well as maybe a shot of the results it’s hard to offer much help.  some screen shots might be helpful.

Something certainly seems odd, if there is a .75 inch border then choosing maximum shouldn’t affect the results.
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BobShaw

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2018, 06:51:34 pm »

Possibly not the answer you want but if you buy a print programme then all of your printing problems about sizing go away. I did this years ago with Mirage Print and have saved far more than the programme in ink and paper.
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Rand47

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2018, 07:10:37 pm »

Also, somewhere in the driver is a check box for image scaling... make sure it isn’t checked, i.e., it isn’t telling the printer to scale the image.  I had exactly your problem at one point, and that was the issue.  It looked fine in “print preview” screen, but printed smaller on the actual sheet size specified.

Don’t have access to my computer to give you more precise info on the location of that “feature.”

Rand
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2018, 07:41:42 pm »

Possibly not the answer you want but if you buy a print programme then all of your printing problems about sizing go away. I did this years ago with Mirage Print and have saved far more than the programme in ink and paper.

Bob, that's one approach, I wouldn't doubt you that works; but I've bought nothing other than Lr and Ps and never experienced such problems. As usual, different ways at different cost for doing essentially the same thing.

Wayne - I think you're right about "Sheet Max" being about the minimum border on the bottom. When I use "Sheet-maximum" and set the margins in the Lr Print Module dialog for doing that, it's been an infallible combination for centering the print and assuring no error messages about paper settings in the Epson driver.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Rand47

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2018, 07:46:39 pm »

Quote
When I use "Sheet-maximum" and set the margins in the Lr Print Module dialog for doing that, it's been an infallible combination for centering the print and assuring no error messages about paper settings in the Epson driver.

+1  This is my standard workflow in printing.  Makes keeping the image dead-center really easy.  Even though the warning message that pops up re possible image quality issues using “max” - I’ve never encountered any quality issues at all - so far.

I also have the “margins” at their absolute minimum.  That way the other image border lines can be pulled in or out as I wish in sizing the image on the page - and it remains perfectly centered.  Then, as a last step if I wish to have the image have a slightly larger border at the bottom (emulating a mat) I can just grab the bottom margin line and pull it up a bit.

Rand
« Last Edit: January 05, 2018, 07:49:54 pm by Rand47 »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2018, 07:47:56 pm »

Also, somewhere in the driver is a check box for image scaling... make sure it isn’t checked, i.e., it isn’t telling the printer to scale the image.  I had exactly your problem at one point, and that was the issue.  It looked fine in “print preview” screen, but printed smaller on the actual sheet size specified.

Don’t have access to my computer to give you more precise info on the location of that “feature.”

Rand

I think you may be referring to the setting in the driver under "Paper Handling" which says "Scale to fit paper size". I leave that unchecked and prefer to handle all the dimensioning in Lr.

Oh - here's one: I wonder whether the problem is paper orientation. If you have the opposite aspect ratio to what the photo calls for (e.g. in Landscape mode for a Portrait photo or Portrait mode for a Landscale photo, part of the photo will be truncated.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2018, 07:49:20 pm »

+1  This is my standard workflow in printing.  Makes keeping the image dead-center really easy.  Even though the warning message that pops up re possible image quality issues using “max” - I’ve never encountered any quality issues at all - so far.

Rand

Neither have I.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Rand47

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2018, 07:51:49 pm »

Quote
I think you may be referring to the setting in the driver under "Paper Handling" which says "Scale to fit paper size". I leave that unchecked and prefer to handle all the dimensioning in Lr.

Mark,

That may be it!!!  At one point a driver update on one of my printers “re-checked” that box as a default and it drove me stark raving nuts until I figured it out.

Rand
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BobShaw

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #12 on: January 06, 2018, 03:07:21 am »

Bob, that's one approach, I wouldn't doubt you that works; but I've bought nothing other than Lr and Ps and never experienced such problems.
Agreed, but you are an expert in printing. Most people aren't.
These days to be a photographer you need to be an expert in cameras, an expert in computers, an expert in image editing, an expert in archiving, an expert in marketing and an expert in printing. Alternatively you can decide you just want to take the pics. I am moving at warp speed in the latter path. i am also seeing photographers win national awards that can't even use the camera. interesting times.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #13 on: January 06, 2018, 07:08:05 am »

Agreed, but you are an expert in printing. Most people aren't.
...........................

Thanks Bob - we could have an interesting discussion about what constitutes "expertise", but that would take us "OT". Actually, it would be a pretty damning statement on the printing industry if one needed a heap of expertise to assure that the whole photo will emerge from the printer. This should be quite easy and quite basic. That the O/P is having issues with it indicates a setting somewhere is amiss. One does need just enough "expertise" on basic settings in order to get it right, unless there is a hardware malfunction causing this, which would be unusual and less likely. So we are trying to help drill down on the settings - and it would help if the O/P could send us screen grabs of ALL his driver and Lr settings, as Wayne suggested above. One is kind of fishing in the dark without this.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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slhartsf

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #14 on: January 06, 2018, 11:46:44 am »

All of my printer orientations are in landscape mode, because 90 percent of my photos are landscape format and I like to see the image laid out horizontally in the LR print module. I will do some experimenting today to see if I can get the printer to repeat the truncation of the image.  BTW is not only prints half height, but it actually cuts off the top half of the image, so I don't think it is a scaling issue.  I will try to find the scale check box.  I am not good at grabbing screen shots, sizing them for display, etc. but I will try if I get the printer to repeat the problem.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #15 on: January 06, 2018, 01:09:17 pm »

For screen shots, let me recommend to you an inexpensive application called "Snagit". It's wonderful for making fully editable screen grabs; low learning curve.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #16 on: January 06, 2018, 01:36:03 pm »

Possibly not the answer you want but if you buy a print programme then all of your printing problems about sizing go away. I did this years ago with Mirage Print and have saved far more than the programme in ink and paper.
perhaps, but printing from LR isn't difficult and the vast majority printing from LR/PS don't have any sizing problems.

I've never lost any paper or ink from a problem like this.
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #17 on: January 06, 2018, 01:46:12 pm »

All of my printer orientations are in landscape mode, because 90 percent of my photos are landscape format and I like to see the image laid out horizontally in the LR print module. I will do some experimenting today to see if I can get the printer to repeat the truncation of the image.  BTW is not only prints half height, but it actually cuts off the top half of the image, so I don't think it is a scaling issue.  I will try to find the scale check box.  I am not good at grabbing screen shots, sizing them for display, etc. but I will try if I get the printer to repeat the problem.
If you are printing in landscape mode,  you should not use one of the size presets listed in the dialog box.  You have to create a custom paper size that matches the orientation of the paper as you put it into the machine.

The printer must know the width of the paper you are inserting, as well as the length.  If you chooose something like Super A3/B, you are telling the printer that you are inserting a sheet of paper that is 13" wide and 19" long.  It doesn't matter what the image orientation is at all, the paper size is all about what you are inserting in the printer.  If you put the paper in landscape orientation but don't create a custom paper size for it, you will constantly have problems with half printed images, or even worse, things like 1" strip in in a corner.  Sometimes it seems to work, but more often than not you get exactly what you are describing.

This is a common problem and I see it happen all of the time as people relate the image orientation of what they are printing to the piece of paper.

If you want to print with the paper in landscape orientation, you can easily do it (I do it all of the time), using the Super A3/B example you would create a custom paper size of 19" in width and 13" in length, either with default borders or if you are creating borders in LR, then with .0" borders.  Note now that your "landscape" image is now in portrait orientation in relationship to the paper that you are printing.  So the checkbox for orientation must be set to portrait.

I have printed thousands of sheets like this with no issues.

BTW, In Lightroom if you have the paper size/orientations correct the image will not appear sideways.  In fact if the image is side ways (unless you've forced it to be rotated) that is a clue that you probably have the wrong orientation checkbox selected.  You do not need to print with the paper horizontal to see your landscape image correctly in the LR print module. L

If I print a landscape image to a 13x19" orientated piece of paper in the printer, and i have the landscape checkbox selected, the paper preview will appear horizontally in lightroom and the image will be oriented correctly- it will not be sideways even though that is the way the sheet of paper is inserted into the printer.  If I print a landscape image to a 19x13" piece of paper placed in the printer (and I have created/selected an corresponding custom paper size), and I have the portrait checkbox selected (because in relationship to the piece of paper it is now a portrait orientation and does not need rotated) it will appear identical.  Click the opposite orientation checkbox in both of those scenarios and the paper preview will now be vertical with the image sideways - definitely a clue something is amiss.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2018, 02:03:06 pm by Wayne Fox »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #18 on: January 06, 2018, 02:14:59 pm »

Wayne - not sure I see your point here, except the very last one about seeing the photo in the correct orientation in the print module. My experience is that if I am printing in "Single Image" Layout Style say a portrait photo A3+ (from Lr using the Epson driver), in Page Set-Up I click on Portrait orientation, then in Lr dimension the photo to provide the margins I want. Likewise, if I am printing a Landscape photo, in Page Set-Up I click on Landscape orientation then in Lr dimension the photo to provide the margins I want. I have never needed to develop a custom paper size if the paper dimensions (regardless of orientation) are provided for in the driver. It is of course necessary to select the the orientation for the paper consistent with the orientation of the photo, otherwise this problem could occur. If I use "Custom Package" Layout Style I can place whatever aspect ratio of photos I want in whatever sheet orientation I want, and it will print completely.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Printing half the image
« Reply #19 on: January 06, 2018, 03:06:46 pm »

I have never needed to develop a custom paper size if the paper dimensions (regardless of orientation) are provided for in the driver.
If you insert the piece of paper horizontally instead of vertically in the printer  (which is what the OP sounds like they were doing in the most recent post although I"m not sure since it sounds  like the printer can't handle a Super A3 sheet horizontally)   and just pick one of the paper sizes from the popup instead of a custom size you are telling the printer the paper you inserted has been placed in the printer vertically, and  the symptom described by the original poster is common.  Perhaps somewhat random, and I'm not sure what causes it to show up, but I do know that as long as  you enter the width of the paper as it relates to how you inserted it into the printer and then make sure your orientation is correct, this problem will not show up even randomly.  I was stung by this many years ago, and discovered that the printer is expecting the paper size you tell it to match the paper size  you insert ... width and height.

I have seen this dozens of times where piece of paper inserted in the printer doesn't match the width and height setting that the driver was told was put in the printer.  The most common occurrence is when a custom paper size is created and the dimensions are transposed. So I am printing a landscape image on a 19x13 inch piece of paper, so I create a custom paper size that matches, 19" wide and 13" high, but I then place the paper in the normal way so the printer actually has a 13" wide by 19" high piece of paper inserted. Hit or miss whether this will print correctly.  But if I put the paper in the way that I tell it, it will always be correct.

this is quite common with larger printers.  For example I print on 24x30 sheets all the time, but I put them in the printer 30" wide and 24" tall, prints about 20% faster that way.  I just have to make sure I set that up correctly, and never a half print.

If the size of paper inserted doesn't match the size that is entered in the dialog boxes then random half prints and other oddities can occur, and are quite common.
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