I’ve been printing with my new 3880 and Pro inks for a few months now. Basically that time was dedicated to learning the printer and the process. I would print several images on a single A4 sheet, didn’t pay strict attention to the exact size of the individual images I was getting. Now I’m printing in earnest and I see the images are coming out smaller than inputted. In PS/Win I set my PPI and image size, paper size, in QTR I set my paper size also. I’m not getting image clipping of any sort, just a 5% or so reduction in print size. Thought I’d seen talk about this on the forum before but can’t dig it up. Anyone have ideas?
In Photoshop Windows you mentioned setting “paper size”. If you are allowing PS to send the print to QTRgui PS can automatically scale down when it encounters non-matching boundaries or sizes in QTRgui or/and the underlying Windows spooler.
Even though QTRgui does not use the EPSON windows printer driver it uses the Windows print spooler and queries the physical page size parameters assigned to that queue. This is where clipping or scaling may occur unbeknownst to you. And if your canvas size is near the page size it may resample the image prior to QTRgui rasterizing it so that it fits the QTRgui printable area which is smaller than page size. So double check everything from page size to scaling and make certain that the page size there matches page size in QTRgui.
Try opening the image directly in QTRgui to see if the scaling persists. If it prints to your expectations then you need chase down the discrepancy in PS or underlying Windows print tabs that control size and scale.
If you have been through all that then check hardware. A dirty paper sensor may be misreading the actual paper size and scaling the image as a result. Use the LCD menu on the printer for PAPER SIZE CHECK → OFF and also PRINTER SETUP → PRINTABLE AREA-> MAXIMUM because STANDARD may be scaling as a result of some mismatch. Make certain PAPER MARGIN or FEED SPEED settings are not customized as this can reduce the image by scaling or feed during printing.
That’s about all that I can think of. Jon is currently away, so I can’t ask him. I have been through the tech logs going way back. Not a lot of unintended scaling issues.
Rachel
IJM-TechSupport
Thank you so much Rachel, you’ve given me lots to look into. Mike
Rachel. When you mentioned canvas size, that was the tipoff for me! I was matching my canvas size to the paper size. My image area was smaller to allow for the printable area of the printer, but the canvas size was not allowing for QTR’s printable area. I haven’t quite nailed down the exact canvas size to make it work, but I see from my first adjustment I’m heading in the right direction. You’re the best Rachal. Mike
I hope you figure it out!
R
Rachel, I was just in the process of testing an image. The solution is a bit more complicated than I hoped. I have to assume the scaling is taking place in QTR, that’s where I’m opening the saved PS file. I’m not quite sure how QTR is handling my canvas size and exactly what it will take to make my image size correct, but it does seem to come down to canvas size versus paper size. Maybe I will test an image that is 1:1 canvas size and see where and how QTR places it on the paper. An issue for me stems from the fact that my 3880 holds on to the last 1.5 inches of paper at the end of printing, I have to pull it out of the exit rollers, which smears any image there. Never found a cure for that. Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks for that additional information.
Typically, unless you want a specific image margin in which you make a white canvas of that margin size and then outline it with black of 1 or 2 pixels to act as a cutting line (later by hand), the canvas and image size should be exactly the same. The print command in all cases treats canvas size as image size. It does not have any way to separate them. It sees the canvas as printable if it is not white or null or as feed advancement if it is white or null.
That your sheet is not finishing the last 1.5" could mean that it is waiting for instructions to finish from the spooler because it expects more paper length (possibly either due to canvas size or page setup mismatch) than the length of the sheet that you actually loaded. You did not indicate any error on the LCD, but if it still says Printing then it’s a size mismatch. if it does say Paper Eject Error then it’s possible that it is a mechanical problem.
The front rollers are responsible for pushing the paper out after it has left the rear rollers. Those are about 1.5" apart. Perhaps they are too slick or dusty to function and need a cleaning.
There is a dirty paper sensor lever near the back and exit paths of the printer that tracks when paper has passed it. If it gets gummed up with paper dust or ink mist, the sensor can trick the printer into thinking the sheet is jammed or has not passed yet. In that case, the printer pauses to prevent damage.
Rachel
Thanks Rachel. I did understand about canvas size and how the printer treats it. The only reason I even bother dropping my image on a larger canvas is to avoid that 1.5 inch issue… I think it does say ‘Printing’ at the time I manually have to pull it out. I’ve tried several paper sizes, same issue on all. The printer is new, old stock, packaged as new. I’m assuming the rollers are ok? Maybe I’ll try cancelling the print job in QTR to see if it will eject the print.
Kinda feel like I’m getting close the to the rescaling problem. I’ll post if I do figure it out. Mike
Do not use Canvas size. Ignore it. Open an image and resize it smaller by at least 0.5" width and 1" height to your paper sheet dimensions. Do not send print job from Photoshop. Save the image as a flattened Tiff file. Open the image in QTRgui.
Set page setup size in Windows (the QTR Paper/Page Setup passthrough). It must match the actual dimensions of your sheet. Scaling should be set to 100%.
If it works, try changing the image size smaller than sheet size and page setup size by 0.25" width and 0.62" height which is QTR minimum. If that works stay away from Photoshop direct printing as it is interfering, or find its root problem that it is contributing.
If it doesn’t work, reinstall both QTR and Windows printing software for the printer model. Try again.
If that doesn’t work perhaps your new printer has a mechanical issue. Call the good folks at arditos.com to see if they can recommend a replacement part or some fix.
Jon recently purchased several “new” SureColor P400 printers for a new Piezography ink formulation. Even though bought from separate sources, all have arrived DOA for one reason or another. He is still able to use them but only with a few channels in each printer working. For the formulation stage that is enough. He said he just needs one working channel. His hope was to be able to produce test image prints with these new printers without having to dedicate one of the studios large format printers. He told me that he believes long term storage of these printers must be done in controlled environments. He has several new in box large format printers in a climate controlled warehouse to preserve them for the studio’s future. It may be that your printer was stored in its box in heat or extreme cold for many years. It was discontinued in 2015. For 11 years and possibly longer it has sat somewhere. That cannot be discounted as a potential source of a mechanical problem with your printer if you have reinstalled all your software and followed the correct printing workflow eliminating software and workflow issues.
Rachel
Thanks for the repair link Rachel, it certainly might come in handy. I’m not printing from PS, I print from QTR using my saved PS file. The only reason I use an enlarged canvas is so I can avoid that last 1.5 inches of paper, basically I’m shifting the image on the paper to the lead end. I’ll experiment today with your suggested margins. I think the rescaling issue might be close to solving. The ejection issue, hmmm, we’ll see about that one.
Yeah, I understand about the storage conditions my printer might have experienced. If it were not for the third party ink issue, I certainly would have just bought a new printer. But here we are. Mike
Rachel, you conquered it. You steered me to canvas size being the issue. I hadn’t noticed in QTR that it was scaling a small percentage to compensate for my canvas matching paper size. I still have to print using an enlarged canvas and shifting my image to the leading edge some because of my roller issue, but I see that I can ignore QTR’s warning and print to 100%. Thank you so much Rachel. Mike
We did it together!
R