Slightly off center print on 3880

[martinreed22]

After many hours of googling I'm stumped. Any help or direction would be very welcome.

I have Lightroom 3.2 under Windows 7 (64 bit) driving an Epson 3880 via Epson driver 6.60. Printer is set for Epson Premium Semi-gloss Photo Paper settings (with a custom profile for actual paper being used).

I have a large'ish (~100) number of print collections tuned for A3 paper that I would really like to print perfectly centered across the width of the paper ie left to right as the paper is printed.

However, I find there is consistently a shift to the right of approx 2mm (left margin is wider than right margin). As I am cold mounting (not matting) these prints this affects the aesthetics enough to be an issue.

Same problem when printing a single image from LR with supposedly equal left-right margins.

I'm aware of the unequal top and bottom margins for the 3880, however that isn't an issue for this job, as I'll actually be trimming back to a square format (297x297 mm).

I note that on the Current Settings of the printer driver, "Centered" is always off. No idea how to control it or if it matters. I have checked the 3880 front panel and "Paper size check" is on.

Am I fighting the natural tolerances of the 3800 and/or a printer driver flaw? Or is there some voodoo I need to perform?

Many thanks, Martin

[Schewe]

Am I fighting the natural tolerances of the 3800 and/or a printer driver flaw? Or is there some voodoo I need to perform?

To a certain extent, yes...the tolerances of +- 1 or 2 mm might be tough to overcome. However, if the shift is ALAYS 2mm in the same direction regardless of how accurate you feed the paper (you don't mention if you are using the top sheet feeder of back feed) you might consider creating a template in Lightroom to counter shift the image back into center.

Also, pretty sure the 3880 has a 4 margin equal .13 in minimum margin to the top/bottom margins should also be equal (given the limitation of the system).

[martinreed22]

Jeff - many thanks for the quick response. So far I've been using the multi-sheet feeder. I'll try again using the rear feed.

I'm keeping clear of the minimum margins of the printer, the layouts have a minimum 20mm margin.

I've got about 10 templates with 4-6 images per template, so was definitely hoping for an adjustment outside of LR templates. Oh well, what's one more late night ...

Will report back when I have tested the other feed. Anything else worth experimenting with?

Cheers, Martin

[Pete Berry]

Are you sure the page size you are selecting is exactly the same as your paper size? Here stateside we only have access to true 13x19 paper (330.2x482.6mm), or ANSI Super-B in the ISO A3 family size range. A3+ is the closest, and measures very close to 13x19" but not exact at 12.95x19.02" (329x483mm)

Could this slight difference be your problem?

The whole ISO A-x system is a source of confusion to us Yanks as none of them except the rather tortured A3+ comes even close to our paper size offerings.

Pete

[martinreed22]

Pete - a very fair question but as I'm in the UK, A3 is definitely A3. Don't let my use of "center" fool you

Cheers, Martin

[martinreed22]

Hmmm. Same test tried with rear feed. This time the offest is 1.5mm to the left. Hard not to conclude this is a mechanical issue ie feed alignment.

Back to the top feeder. Tried with paper size check off, no effect. The theory being if the printer is checking the paper width then surely it was noticing where the paper edges were.

I do still wonder what the "Centered: off" means in the Current Settings panel of the print driver. From the reading I've done it would seem that LR is centering the output stream based on what the printer driver tells it. True?

I may have to play with templates after all to correct the offset. Tedious.

Cheers, Martin

[sertsa]

Exact same situation, Lightroom 3.2 under Windows 7 (64 bit) driving an Epson 3880 via Epson driver 6.60.  I've only had my 3880 for a couple days and have noticed the slightly off-center prints, and the "centered: off" in the print dialog.  Prints are centered in the Lightroom print module.

Opening up the help file (not the PDF manual) from the Epson print dialog and searching for "centered" reveals that there is a "Printable Area Dialog Box" in which you can supposedly choose for the image to be centered.  Damn if I can find that dialog box, although its supposed to be on the Main tab somewhere.  A lot of buttons appear and disappear as you change other settings.  The documentation with the printer is not really all that good.