P6000 Scaling Down Images

[NortheastPhotographic]

I'm printing through Qimage.  I have my printer set to borderless - retain size.  I've double checked that qimage is not applying any border or scaling settings, but still when I print an 11x14 it comes out about 1/4" smaller than it should be.

I wrote to Qimage and they believe it's something to do with the driver, which is up to date.

Any ideas?

P.S.  I typically print with an edge line for cutting, and this is how I notice the size discrepancy.

[dgberg]

What paper size? Curious to see screen shots of your settings.
 Are your borders set to zero in page setup and layout?

[Binartem]

The best thing to check is the size listed on the live view (main preview in Qimage).  In Windows, you can do that by hovering your mouse cursor over the print on the live view to show the size.  On the Mac (if you are using Qimage One), you can click/select the print on the page and the size is shown under the live view (on the status bar).  The size you see is the exact size that is sent to the driver when you print, so if you see "11.0 x 14.0", you know Qimage is sending the correct size.  If you get anything other than the listed size, the driver is modifying the size internally.  This can happen for a number of reasons, the most common being borderless expansion or scaling (reduce/enlarge).

Some drivers such as Epson drivers can actually lead you into scaling without you realizing it.  For example, in the Windows driver, if you select anything other than "Same as Paper Size" for the "Output Paper" selection, it will scale your prints.  As an example, some people are tempted to set their paper size to 11x14 and also set the "Output Paper" to 11x14.  This causes the driver to scale because unless you print borderless, there are non-printable margins on the page and it will try to scale an 11x14 print down to something like 10.266 x 13.766 inches (the allowed printable area).  Instead, you should always choose "Same as Paper Size" so the driver doesn't do any scaling.

[NortheastPhotographic]

So these are my settings, again the roll paper is set to borderless, retain size. 

The other thing that happens is when using Auto Roll Length Qimage will place the print to the edge of the borderless canvas (as in roll length).  I know something is up because my printer always cuts off one side, so I try to compensate for this by placing the image in the center of the canvas.  (i.e. you have a print with a 1" border, the paper edge side will end up being like 1/2" while all other sides have the correct 1" border.

My driver controls don't seem to have many settings, this is OS X and everything is up to date. 

Re Binartem, Qimage does indeed indicate it's sending the correct dimensions.  But there must be a way to make my printer cooperate, and I have no idea what it is! 

Outside of this problem, I've finally gotten the hang of my P6000, and am getting great prints with fewer errors and proofs.  Eventually I'd like to stop banging my head against the Epson wall...

[Binartem]

The settings look okay. One test we ask users to try when they see a print size they did not expect on macOS is to print to PDF. You can do this from the print dialog. Instead of printing select PDF in the lower left corner and save to a file. Open this file in Preview and you can measure the exact print size. This test has always shown Qimage One sending the correct size to the driver.

The most usual cause of a slightly different print size is due to a scaling setting somewhere in the driver. If this is hard to find then you could always reset the printing system and reinstall the driver. When you do this, also reset all saved printer settings in Qimage One by clicking on the Reset Printer Settings button to the right of the Properties button and select the All settings option.

Even this may not solve the problem if the printer is not aligning the media correctly and there is a mechanical aspect to the problem. 

[dgberg]

Something still doesn't look right. You have 24"w x 11" set as your paper setting.
Then you are trying to print a 14"w x 11'h print. Even with retain size set you cannot print 11" high print with a 11" h paper setting.
You should set 24"w x 12h paper size and then print 11hx14w print and that should work.
If your driver controls do not have many settings you may have loaded the bonjour driver.
You want the IP driver , it will give you all the settings.

Lastly I would uncheck that .50 gap box, just to make sure it is not trying to put a 1/2" gap between the print and the paper edge.
Just now saw something else. You have orientation set as portrait. The image orientation should be landscape. (You may be confusing that setting with the orientation of the image itself).

[Binartem]

The gap between prints will not be applied around the edge of a single print. It is only used for spacing between multiple prints on the same page.

[dgberg]

I did not know for sure on that one and was just guessing. Some of the other settings would not work in Lightroom. What do you think about setting up a paper height of 11” and then trying to print an 11” high image. That will not work in Lightroom as the driver will not let that happen. You cannot print borderless in height, you need some kind of border.

[Binartem]

The problem may be a combination of custom sized media, borderless and roll paper together. If you make the paper size 12" tall and center an 11" tall print on the page (you can use the Intellicenter placement mode), as Dan suggests, does the print complete correctly? We recommend you try that test.

[NortheastPhotographic]

It's not just Qimage as I confirmed today.  I am making a 24x16" print, with a 1/2" white border on all sides.  I tried in Qimage and one side comes out about 1/4" inch and the other is 3/4" (roughly).  It will not print an even image edge.  I checked the custom paper settings and there is no unprintable area set.  It does this from BOTH Qimage and PS.

I spent about 1.5hrs trying to get to an Epson tech on the phone and didn't get far.  I ran an auto head alignment.  By the way, those test patterns came out exactly centered on the page with roughly 2" on each side.  So I feel that the printer is capable of making a centered print, but it will not.

Yes I'm using Bonjour, I'll try the other one and see what happens.

[NortheastPhotographic]

Tried again with the other IP setting, same story. 

Would trying a setting like plain 'roll paper' do anything?  I usually do borderless retain size because of situations like this.  Someone orders a 24" print and wants a 1/2" white edge. 

The Epson guy on the phone said it would be $100 for a site visit plus $175 per hour at a 2hr min.  Wowza.