Epson 9900 not printing true to size

[StevenSzabo]

ok, I just printed up a big group of prints(ok big by my standards, small by everyone else I'm sure) on my 9900. Laid out a large file in photoshop, then dragged the images to be printed in to it...all of them were at the same resolution as the target file, and all were sized EXACTLY 8X10, or 11X14, 16X20, etc...printed them all out and half of them came out true to size, half of them were off by as much as a quarter inch in various dimensions...

I was told that it should print exactly true to size. And I'm not printing edge to edge on the media...my image width was set to 22 inches.

I'm printing from Photoshop CS4, going direct through epsons drivers...ugh...what a waste of ink...can someone please help with some suggestions.

Sincerely
Guy that's reprinting a bunch of prints.

[StevenSzabo]

no suggestions?
I messed around a little bit, used a preset media (24X30) and combined 1 11X14 and 5 8X10...seems like all the measurements are off by 1/16"

[Michael Boyd]

no suggestions?
I messed around a little bit, used a preset media (24X30) and combined 1 11X14 and 5 8X10...seems like all the measurements are off by 1/16"

Is it possible that "Scale to Fit Media" is checked? Also check your margin presets in the media definition, in page setup.

For instance... If you have a psd that is sized to 8.5x11 and you print it to a 8.5x11 sheet, Photoshop will want to reduce your file by around 93% to get it to fit into the printable area of the sheet. Turn off "Scale to Fit Media" in the PSD print dialog... OR, define a custom paper size with no margins.

Hope this is helpful!

[mikev1]

ok, I just printed up a big group of prints(ok big by my standards, small by everyone else I'm sure) on my 9900. Laid out a large file in photoshop, then dragged the images to be printed in to it...all of them were at the same resolution as the target file, and all were sized EXACTLY 8X10, or 11X14, 16X20, etc...printed them all out and half of them came out true to size, half of them were off by as much as a quarter inch in various dimensions...

I was told that it should print exactly true to size. And I'm not printing edge to edge on the media...my image width was set to 22 inches.

I'm printing from Photoshop CS4, going direct through epsons drivers...ugh...what a waste of ink...can someone please help with some suggestions.

Sincerely
Guy that's reprinting a bunch of prints.

This probably isn't the case but are you sure your ruler is accurate?  The reason why I bring this up is I purchased a cutting mat that was supposed to be 36" and had 1/4" guidemarks.  Turns out it was only 35"  long (measured it with two different rulers).  I had a bit of head-scratching until I figured it out.

My guess as well would be the scale to fit media box.

Good luck.

[JasonHopkins]

Hi,

I have issues printing correct sizes on a lot of my media, what media are you using?

I lose 3-4mm over 1meter - only in length.

I think it is an issue with tension.

I have informed Epson and when I get a chance I am gouing to order the thickest Epson media I can lay my hands on and do testing on that with all the correct settings- if that comes out wrong it is the machine.

I use Hahnemuhle and Canson.

Jason

[Doombrain]

This issue is caused by a) people using a 3rd party media with Epson media settings and not performing the media adjustments in the LFP tool, and b ) photoshop IS NOT 100% pixel perfect in rastering image data.

It’s beyond me who you can blame the hardware when the settings you use is for another totally different substrate.  

[StevenSzabo]

sorry...should have been more specific, I'm using epson Luster 260 off a 24" roll, and no...scale to fit is not checked.

and Doombrain, no where in my post did I blame it on the printer...I simply said that it is not printing true to size...I'm fully aware of the fact that this is not a printer issue at all since the printer is simply handling the data it is given...but thanks

[Wayne Fox]

..all of them were at the same resolution as the target file, and all were sized EXACTLY 8X10, or 11X14, 16X20, etc...printed them all out and half of them came out true to size, half of them were off by as much as a quarter inch in various dimensions...

What was that resolution in PPI?  Where the ones that were "off" on the same side or were they randomly scattered?

[JasonHopkins]

Is it just the length that is wrong or are both dimensions incorrect?

Do you have any other software that you can print from, even Illustrator or Indesign?

Jason

[StevenSzabo]

What was that resolution in PPI?  Where the ones that were "off" on the same side or were they randomly scattered?

It's pretty much random...it was laid out with a 16X20 on top with the 20" across the width(both of the 16X20's printed true to size) below that were two 11X14's both with the long edge going down the length of the media, one of these printed 1/8" long, one printed 1/8" long and 1/8" to narrow...below that were 4 8X10's laid out with the 10" sides across the media...in two copies of the layout it seemed completely random, some printing long and narrow, some printing short, it was all over the map...between two of these setups there was a couple of 8X10's that were the correct size, two of the 11X14's were the right size...

Resolution was 300 PPI

Is it just the length that is wrong or are both dimensions incorrect?

Do you have any other software that you can print from, even Illustrator or Indesign?

Jason

I do not at this point, anyone have a software they recommend, I don't really want to run dual operating systems on my mac but I really like the look of qimage...and I'd rather not spend the $800 on imagenest...

[JasonHopkins]

It's pretty much random...it was laid out with a 16X20 on top with the 20" across the width(both of the 16X20's printed true to size) below that were two 11X14's both with the long edge going down the length of the media, one of these printed 1/8" long, one printed 1/8" long and 1/8" to narrow...below that were 4 8X10's laid out with the 10" sides across the media...in two copies of the layout it seemed completely random, some printing long and narrow, some printing short, it was all over the map...between two of these setups there was a couple of 8X10's that were the correct size, two of the 11X14's were the right size...

Resolution was 300 PPI



I do not at this point, anyone have a software they recommend, I don't really want to run dual operating systems on my mac but I really like the look of qimage...and I'd rather not spend the $800 on imagenest...

Hi,

Qimage is pretty good, especially for the money. Did you not get a copy of Mirage Print plugin with your 9900?

[StevenSzabo]

Hi,

Qimage is pretty good, especially for the money. Did you not get a copy of Mirage Print plugin with your 9900?

qimage falls under that me not wanting to run dual operating systems thing.
uhh...not to my knowledge...perhaps I should check that out.

[Michael Boyd]

Just curious... After you lay out your print file in Photoshop, are the individual image dimensions exactly as you had them? Did you flatten the file before sending to print?

Sometimes, when I have printing gremlins... I will create a brand new file and paste the data into it. Sometimes files just get corrupted somehow.

Good luck...

[Wayne Fox]

Resolution was 300 PPI

I do not at this point, anyone have a software they recommend, I don't really want to run dual operating systems on my mac but I really like the look of qimage...and I'd rather not spend the $800 on imagenest...

2 thoughts.  Firs,  if trying to get exact sizes onto the paper, I would work at 360 DPI, which is the printers native resolution.  This would limit the printers scaling.

Second, I'm not sure what type of nesting you do, but I suggest you take a look at Lightroom 3.0 beta's printing module.  It's very RIP like in it's ability to nest images, and you don't have to deal with any image sizing at all.  You can download it and try it for free from Adobe Labs website.

Except for large prints where I prefer to control the sharpening myself, I print nearly everything from Lightroom now.  I haven't printed a portrait from Photoshop for a couple of years.

[StevenSzabo]

2 thoughts.  Firs,  if trying to get exact sizes onto the paper, I would work at 360 DPI, which is the printers native resolution.  This would limit the printers scaling.

Second, I'm not sure what type of nesting you do, but I suggest you take a look at Lightroom 3.0 beta's printing module.  It's very RIP like in it's ability to nest images, and you don't have to deal with any image sizing at all.  You can download it and try it for free from Adobe Labs website.

Except for large prints where I prefer to control the sharpening myself, I print nearly everything from Lightroom now.  I haven't printed a portrait from Photoshop for a couple of years.

I have the beta...haven't tried the print function but I might have to give it a look...in this case the jpg's were not mine, and thusly not part of my lightroom catalogue, so I wouldn't have thought of that.

[StevenSzabo]

I would assume using any of the borderless options is going to distort the image somewhat...so I went with a smaller media size.

It's unfortunate though since printing 3 8X10's across a 24" roll would be nice to be able to do...but I just can't figure out how to manipulate the numbers properly :S