Topic: Problem with Epson 3800 and print cut-off (Read 5564 times)

Michael Bailey · « **on:** January 06, 2009, 09:48:02 pm »

A year or so ago I had trouble with my Epson 2400 printing only the first portion of a picture before spitting out the print. Turned out that a new USB card fixed the problem.

Now cosmic justice has decided to toy with me. I have a new computer (Vista 64, 4 GB Ram, updated printer drivers) and a new printer (Epson 3800), and the problem has popped up again. But this time it's not the bottoms of the photos that are cut off, but the sides. If I try to make a print on 17x22, with regular margins, the image area will be around 8 or 10 by 22. (The width varies.) One side is OK, while the other is neatly cropped off.

When the problem appeared a couple of weeks ago, I switched USB cables and thought I'd fixed it. But that must have just been a coincidence, because today the trouble came back. It didn't matter if I printed from Photoshop or Qimage, or whether I was using a big PSD file or a flattened TIFF. The only common element in the bad prints is that they've all been on large (17x22) matte paper. Anything smaller has behaved fine, and the very few glossy 17x22's I've made have worked OK.

Anybody got an idea that'll help me?

Thanks, MB

CJGroth · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2009, 06:37:11 pm »

I am having the EXACT same problem, only on 17x22" paper. I have printed on this paper many times before with no problems. I have actually had this problem intermittently since I got the printer, but it always seems to go away for no particular reason, so I do not have the answer for you. Since I am trying now to print on 17x22" paper, I am going a little crazy because nothing I have done has worked. In fact, in order not to waste paper, on one of my experiments I put in one of the just-ruined sheets and it started printing fine!!!! I stopped the print job, put a new sheet of paper in the printer, and -- arghghghghgh!!! -- it went back to cutting off the print.

Anyway, there is a thread on dp review that addresses this here, but I have done all these things and nothing has helped. If you figure it out, let me know. Thanks so much.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat...thread=22411168[size="3"][/size]

Michael Bailey · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2009, 10:30:29 pm »

Thanks, CJGroth. I appreciate the reply. I was beginning to wonder if anybody was out there. Or maybe nobody cares about my little problems. Sniff.

Anyway, I wrote to Epson for help and this what they told me:

"Make sure the paper is loaded all the way to the right hand size and make sure the paper guide on the left is tight against the paper. The issue is the printer somehow measure the paper as being too wide and thus print a smaller image."

If you're confused, so am I. I wrote back for clarification and hope for an answer soon. I'll keep you posted.

By the way, was your experience the same as mine in that, the bigger the print, the more likely the problem?

CJGroth · « **Reply #3 on:** January 13, 2009, 06:26:15 am »

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Hi Michael --

Yes, it ONLY occurs when I am printing large sheets, 17x22 or longer (I have occasionally cut longer sheets). I can print smaller sheets all day long with no problem. The answer Epson gave is interesting. I will try to snug up the paper guides and see if that helps.

This problem does crop up on the internet occasionally, so you and I aren't the only ones. There is a Google or Yahoo group specific to the Epson 3800 and someone on there has/had the problem. The person there tried printing from their laptop and it worked fine. I haven't tried this yet.

Thanks for letting me know what Epson said. I'll post back if it works.

CJ
http://www.KeyWestPhotos.com

CJGroth · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2009, 07:05:08 am »

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS -- it works now!!! I moved the paper guide on the left as tight to the paper as I could while still keeping the paper flat, and it printed like a champ. Twice. This seems too weird to be true, but I think it is. OMG, what I have been going through, repairing permissions, downloading software to my laptop, ruining paper.

You are my hero. Thank you, Michael. (Assuming, of course, this is a permanent fix.)

CJ
http://www.KeyWestPhotos.com

Michael Bailey · « **Reply #5 on:** January 14, 2009, 01:38:40 am »

Glad to hear it, CJ. I'm still confused about what Epson told me, but if it's working for you maybe I should just shut up and listen. Now I'll be getting back to an earlier problem, unfortunately, because when I position the sliding guide to be snug against the paper, it pinches at the start of the printing cycle, causing a misfeed alarm. I'll do some fiddling and see if I can get it to work, anyway.

In the meantime, will you keep us posted about your results, too?

Thanks,

MB

CJGroth · « **Reply #6 on:** January 14, 2009, 06:46:32 am »

Hi Michael --

The Epson 3800 problem of printing only a partial picture and cutting off the side appears to be officially solved (knock on wood). Yesterday I printed about 10 or 12 sheets of 17x22 paper from about 6 different files, and all of them printed perfectly. Thank you again.

CJ
http://www.KeyWestPhotos.com

Michael Bailey · « **Reply #7 on:** January 15, 2009, 11:54:22 am »

This is getting to sound better all the time. Following the advice, yesterday I printed a 17x22 and a 17x34. and they both worked fine. I thought I would run into the previous problem of the guides pinching too tightly once the paper started to feed, but now I'm thinking maybe that's only an issue when using smaller paper in a stack.

I had always thought that the adjustable guide was just a sliding piece of plastic, but I guess it does more than that.

I'll assume we've got this one licked, unless I hear back from you, CJ.

MB

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