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Author Topic: 3880 - paper orientation muddle  (Read 7882 times)

FrankG

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3880 - paper orientation muddle
« on: April 21, 2011, 06:10:28 pm »

3880
CS4
OSX 10.5

I have a paper orientation issue.
The prepared file is horizontal (landscape).
The paper is a custom size (larger than 17x22)

I set up the custom size (WidthxHeight) under PS>File> Page Setup (e.g. 17x26).
Then under File>Print the preview shows it as Vertical/portrait orientation paper, with the picture as Horizontal but with the left & right sides of the image cropped - strange!

Still in the Print dialog, if I change the Page Setup icon to Vertical, then the preview displays correctly with both paper & image Horizontal.

But it doesn't print properly. Wrong orientation And wrong size ! It seems to have scaled it down ?? The 'Scaled print Size' is unchecked

I've wasted 2 very big sheets and am stuck & confused by this behaviour  ??? ??? I have double checked everything (I thinkk/hope).Hopefully someone can diagnose the problem.
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2011, 06:33:12 pm »

I think that I may see the problem. I am loathe to waste more expensive paper and try but.... It seems that when you setup a custom size the Width dimension must be the 17 inch side. Even though it is the narrower dimension and the image is Horizontal where the Height is the 17 in
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2011, 06:53:22 pm »

Nope.
That didnt work either.
What the heck is going on - anyone ?
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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2011, 07:17:10 pm »

I do all my printing from LR rather than PS, but repeated all of your steps to see if the print preview was affected and it was not (tested in PS).    I'm on Win7 so my dialogue box is probably a bit different from the Mac.  I didn't print an image as I don't have that size paper so I cannot duplicate your print results.  What I do find curious about what you report is that by changing the page layout to portrait (vertical) you get the correct presentation.  This cannot be since it should be trying to put a landscape image onto a paper size which is incorrect fro the image.  I end up with a 17 inch high image with both edges lopped off to fit the 17 inch width.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2011, 07:26:17 pm »

I assume you are using an Epson printer. I am printing on a Mac and I've had some of this issue with custom paper size in the Epson driver for Mac on my 4900. The deal is that the definition of width and height is reversed between Photoshop and the driver. For example I printed a pano 16 inches high by 60 inches wide. According to the Epson driver the 60 inches is the Height, not the Width (like a long Chinese scroll that hangs vertically on the wall!) Dumb, but there you have it. So if you make what Photoshop calls the Height into the Width in the driver, and then when you go to print select in print preview the orientation which makes the image look correctly oriented (ie. the reverse of what the driver thinks), the image may well come out fine, as mine finally did. Not to test this on your set-up without wasting large amounts of expensive paper, create a custom size fitting something around an A3 sheet with a very distinct gap between width and height, and see whether it works.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2011, 07:29:06 pm »

Exactly. Now, when I enter 17 as the width it is presented ok.
100% scaling and horizontal.
In PS it looks right now.
But prints wrong And is scaled down.
I've never used Custom Sizes before so I am really confused by it.
The preset sizes all work ok.
I did a screen grab which I'll attach and someone may spot the error
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Mark D Segal

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2011, 07:47:17 pm »

I forgot to mention - set all the margins to zero. That may deal with the scaling issue. Photoshop will automatically center the image with the "center image" box checked, and the linear dimensions of the image should really be the same as you told Photoshop to make them. I'm assuming your printed matter is sized to allow at least half an inch margin all round relative to your paper sie setting. Otherwise things can go off center because the Epson printer uses a larger margin at the bottom than around the other three sides. When you say it is coming out wrong with these settings, you mean it printed with the wrong orientation? Do you actually have this custom preset saved and loaded in the driver. It's one thing to make it, and another to save it and load it, and the latter is essential, just in case.........it's easy to forget some of this stuff. :-)
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2011, 08:03:01 pm »

Thanks Mark. It seems like you may have been around this block before.
I did have the margins all set to zero.
The screen grab didn't show that because I'd deleted the custom setting and just re-created one to show you

You save the custom size setting just by highlighting and naming it - right ?
And then go straight to PS>Print. Are you saying load it from the Print dialog ?

Re the print size - I need the image to be 40cm high and the paper is 43.18 (17 in).
Is that a problem? Surely i could set it all the way to the full 17 in edge (borderless) if necessary ?

Re your anology of the 'scroll'. For your panorama (horizontal) how did you enter the Width  & Height and orientate it so that the Epson driver & PS understand one another?

Btw - it's a 3880 & CS4 & OSX 10.5
« Last Edit: April 21, 2011, 08:28:34 pm by FrankG »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2011, 08:54:36 pm »

Thanks Mark. It seems like you may have been around this block before.
I did have the margins all set to zero.
The screen grab didn't show that because I'd deleted the custom setting and just re-created one to show you

You save the custom size setting just by highlighting and naming it - right ?
And then go straight to PS>Print. Are you saying load it from the Print dialog ?

Re the print size - I need the image to be 40cm high and the paper is 43.18 (17 in).
Is that a problem? Surely i could set it all the way to the full 17 in edge (borderless) if necessary ?

Re your anology of the 'scroll'. For your panorama (horizontal) how did you enter the Width  & Height and orientate it so that the Epson driver & PS understand one another?

Btw - it's a 3880 & CS4 & OSX 10.5

Yes I was around this block last week, when I had to print the pano. I made the height 60 inches and the width 16 inches (the exact reverse of how it is in the real world, being the toronto skyline. You can see exactly what it is here: http://www.markdsegal.com/LimitedEdition.html. I made sure roll paper was selected on the printer LCD menu and in the driver. I created a paper size of 64 inches High by 17 inches wide, so the image fits comfortably within this and the cutter would not shave part of the picture. I'm using an Epson 4900 with roll holder on Mac OSX 10.6.4. with PSCS5. I selected the orientation in the Photoshop Print dialog which makes the print look correct as seen on my webpage (I forget whether that meant clicking on protrait or landscape, but whatever, you get the picture).

Now, after creating that custom paper size, yes I did save it. Then before printing, I did select and load that preset paper size in the driver, through the Photoshop Print dialog (you know, by clicking on Page Set-Up, takes you into the driver and you have those endless dialogs you scroll through to set everything up. This is one area where Epson's Windows driver blows Mac out of the water. I know because I used to own a PC and print from Windows. The Epson driver for Windows has a much more sensible and tractable layout. But we're on Mac now, so no moping - let's just fool it into working right. :-) So bottom line: create a big enough paper size with margins set to zero and W and H reversed versus common sense and save it with a distinctive name. Then in Photoshop chose the orientation that makes the image look right. Then go into page set up and load that paper preset. Click "center image" in the Photoshop print dialog. You should be good to go if the 3880 driver works like my 4900 driver.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2011, 09:50:03 pm »

I think that the steps as you outlined them are exactly what i did except going to the printer menu and selecting roll paper as the 3880 doesn't support roll paper (just sheets up to 17 x 37.5). I just used the regular Auto Feeder (there is also a Rear & a Front) but didn't do anything via the printer's built in menu.
Awesome pics btw.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2011, 09:56:41 pm »

Thanks Frank. Do I take it from this your problem is not solved yet? If so, I recommend you call Epson tech support and ask for help. And please do let us know what they tell you. They respond well, by phone support if you are still under warranty, or their email service otherwise, which normally has very good turnaround.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2011, 10:26:33 pm »

I hadn't found it before because i was looking for 3880, but if you google ' custom sizes 3800 mac ' you see that i am not the only one with this problem
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Mark D Segal

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #12 on: April 21, 2011, 10:36:46 pm »

Let me ask again: Is the problem solved yet?
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #13 on: April 21, 2011, 10:49:43 pm »

No I'm afraid not. I have just sent a message to Epson.
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irvweiner

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2011, 01:44:24 am »

I suggest the use of Qimage for your printing workflow, on your Mac it will run under Parallels--in your head it will run without aspirins!

I had also run into this dance of dimensions, I did not swap W,H but unchecked the 'enlarge' in the printer settings page layout dialogue box. In PSE7 or CS5 this appeared to work, but mot well enuf!
Went to Qimage, stopped dancing.

irv weiner
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2011, 07:53:59 am »

I can't do that. There ought to be a solution. Firstly running another OS seems like a headache + I cant afford another app + Ihavet the time as I must produce this print project 'now'
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Mark D Segal

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2011, 08:31:46 am »

I can't do that. There ought to be a solution. Firstly running another OS seems like a headache + I cant afford another app + Ihavet the time as I must produce this print project 'now'

Actually, it's more than one app: it's Parallels, plus Windows 7-64bit plus QImage. It would all work, no doubt, but you'd be into several hundred dollars just to get a print coming out right on a piece of paper; that really shouldn't be necessary in this day and age, and somehow this problem must have a solution without going that route - it just hasn't been discovered yet. 
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #17 on: April 22, 2011, 08:37:03 am »

I assume you are using an Epson printer. I am printing on a Mac and I've had some of this issue with custom paper size in the Epson driver for Mac on my 4900. The deal is that the definition of width and height is reversed between Photoshop and the driver. For example I printed a pano 16 inches high by 60 inches wide. According to the Epson driver the 60 inches is the Height, not the Width (like a long Chinese scroll that hangs vertically on the wall!) Dumb, but there you have it. So if you make what Photoshop calls the Height into the Width in the driver, and then when you go to print select in print preview the orientation which makes the image look correctly oriented (ie. the reverse of what the driver thinks), the image may well come out fine, as mine finally did. Not to test this on your set-up without wasting large amounts of expensive paper, create a custom size fitting something around an A3 sheet with a very distinct gap between width and height, and see whether it works.
Does the Mac driver allow you to override the default and limited width paper setting of 17 inches?  The Windows driver does not, so you have to keep that at 17 for the 3880 (on my system).  this may be another example of strange behavior on a Mac as opposed to a Win7 OS.
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #18 on: April 22, 2011, 09:32:19 am »

I'm going to re-post this problem with a different subject line in the hopes that someone with a solution spots it.
I just called Epson but they're closed until monday and I have a big print project to do this weekend.
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FrankG

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Re: 3880 - paper orientation muddle
« Reply #19 on: April 22, 2011, 02:25:08 pm »

I think I have it !
I decided to download the driver and re-install/overwrite it.
It is the exact same one - same version.
The original was installed off the CD that came with the printer.
My first custom size print worked - yay!

There is a bit of 'overspray' or maybe it's old ink on the rollers that is on the clean white border area - too bad ! But that is a different issue altogether.

Thanks all
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