# Print problems with borders/margins



## billg71 (Dec 11, 2007)

This is starting to drive me nuts! I just got my 48'' set up last night and saved the settings for a typical 8.5x11 using margins of .5" for left, right, and top, leaving the rest for the bottom to include an identity plate. Printed 1' or 12 prints, the portrait oriented prints had even borders, the landscape prints had appr. 3/8" left borders and 9/16" right borders.

Tonight, I loaded a photo and decided to print without an ID plate so I clicked and dragged the left and right margins to .25" and left the top and bottom to fall where they may, just set by native image proportions. My print came out with a 1/8" left margin and a 1/2" right margin even though both were equal on the screen. So I went back, set the margins in the panel by typing them in and got the same results.

My usual workflow is strictly Lightroom but this image was noisy so I sent it to CS3 and used the Noiseware plugin, saved the image and went back to LR to print. After the print came out with skewed margins, I went back to CS3, opened the saved .psd from the disk and, when I went to print in CS3, it showed up with the skewed margins in the Print dialog box.

Then I went back to LR, opened the original .nef file and printed it using just the preset, no adjustments. Now I have a 3/8" margin on the left and a 9/16" margin on the right, 1/2" on top and 1-1/4" on the bottom, by my trusty ruler. Just like the landscape prints from last night. The preset is set for .5" top, left and right, 1.28" bottom.

The print driver is set to 8.5x11 borderless in both presets. margins in the portrait are .5" top, 1" bottom, ' for left and right so they get set by image proportions.

Any advice on whether this is a PS/LR problem or the driver? help would be greatly appreciated, if you need add'l info post here or PM me.

TIA for your help,


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## Mick Seymour (Dec 11, 2007)

Are the printed photo edges complete or are they being cut off? I don't know the Epson range of printers so don't know whether the 48'' can print edge to edge. If it can, is there a Windows driver setting that you need to turn on to allow it?

If that looks OK, check the paper size Lightroom thinks it is printing on by toggling the info overlay (press I) on the print preview. As an example, on A4 you can't get 8.5" and if the printer will not print edge to edge, you may not get 11" either.

Failing that, what paper size are you using and what are the minimum margins and maximum cell size Lightroom allows you to set? It should be getting these figures from the printer driver.


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## Victoria Bampton (Dec 11, 2007)

I realise I'm stating the obvious, but the paper is tucked right up to the bumper in the printer, isn't it.....  probably a silly thought though!  I'd kick myself if I didn't ask!  :roll: :|

How about recreating the preset, just in case something is wonky.  Do the other presets come out with expected margins?


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## billg71 (Dec 11, 2007)

Did some playing around this morning and found that if I went to the printer driver, unchecked Paper Source-Borderless and checked Printable Area-Centered I can now get even margins in CS3 and Capture NX.

If I go into Lightroom and maximize the margins I can get almost even borders as well(left and right are off by 1/16" but I'm not quibbling).

My full-frame D3'' file gives me a size of 1'x6.64 inches when I set the left and right margins to .5". I set the top margin to .5" as well and set the bottom margin to 1.36". Now I'm back to a 3/8" left-9/16" right border on the print.

There's something off with the driver, it won't center the image when using the Borderless check box but something's happening in LR as well when I change the margins. Paper size in LR and the driver are set to 8-1/2x11, cell size is 1'x6.64", margins are .5L,.5R,.5T,1.36B. The printed image is clipped a little on the right side compared to the screen display and measures 1'-1/16" instead of the 1'" cell size.

Reducing the cell size to 9.86x6.64 cures the problem, I get even 9/16" left/right borders, top is a little larger but not quite 1/32" so.

All this is after re-installing the print driver, deleting the presets in LR and starting over with a new preset. Paper is tight against the stop.

I'm fine with it now, but I'm still curious as to why it goes wonky when the margins and cell size add up to exactly the paper dimensions.

Thanks to all for your suggestions, any further info will be appreciated as well. :?


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## billg71 (Dec 12, 2007)

*Update*

Found this in the Epson reference guide under _"Borderless Printing"_:

_"Only Plain Paper and Plain Paper (line drawing) can set the bottom margin to 3 mm. When printing on the other media, the bottom margin is always 14 mm."

_So by selecting Borderless I locked in a 14mm bottom margin(9/16"). The max printable area on this printer is the paper size minus a minimum border of 3mm(1/8") on top, left and right.So _"Borderless"_ isn't really borderless on this printer. You can print to the left and right edges but there will be a minimum top and bottom margin(keeping in mind that the printer loads the paper narrow edge in, so width is referenced to paper orientation as it goes into the printer, not the orientation you choose in Page Setup).

All this to say, it pays to *Read The Friendly Manual *!  Hopefully someone else will learn something from my lesson and avoid the same problem.

Thanx to all for your responses,


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## DonRicklin (Dec 12, 2007)

Bill which Epson are you referring to with this Epson reference guide under _"Borderless Printing"_? When I print Borderless with the Borderless Setting on my R18'' there is no border, zero margin! I would expect the same of a 48'' and possibly the 22''.

Don


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## billg71 (Dec 12, 2007)

Don,

It's the HTML guide for the 48'' that came with the printer. I spoke with the Epson guru at a local photo shop, she confirmed that the 48'' won't print borderless on cut sheets, only on roll paper. I didn't ask why, she had customers coming in and I didn't want to impose.

I have a call in to the local Epson repair center, the tech was out today but I'll catch him in the AM and ask him about this. I met him yesterday while ordering some parts and gave him a couple of prints so I think I can pick his brains for a few minutes. I'll post more info when I get it.


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## DonRicklin (Dec 12, 2007)

Yes, it seems strange that an 18'' will do true borderless on roll or Sheet settings while the larger, more expensive 48'' wont!

Odd. 8)

Don


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## billg71 (Dec 12, 2007)

DonRicklin said:


> Yes, it seems strange that an 18'' will do true borderless on roll or Sheet settings while the larger, more expensive 48'' wont!
> 
> Odd. 8)
> 
> Don



I agree, my 22'' does borderless 5x7's all day. _"Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice."_ :?

I don't have any experience with the 18'', but this printer beats the pants off the 22'' for PQ and speed. As far as I can tell with limited research, you can set the cutter to cut the paper with '" margin so you can get borderless on rolls, it's just the cut sheets where you have to deal with the minimum margins.

So I guess it's just a TANSTAAFL thing, given the IQ from the 48'' and thecost  savings on ink I can live with it. At least I know why it's doing what it's doing and can make adjustments to accommodate.

It kind of reminds me of when I went from a D7' to a D2'', I found out pretty quickly it was a lot easier to take a crappy picture with the D2''. But the results when I got one right were well worth the effort it took to learn about the new camera. Pro-quality gear can give you excellent results but it's a lot less forgiving of the casual user, you gotta do your homework. Guess that applies to printers as well.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the 48''. The print quality is excellent, the speed is very good, and I can see the potential once I learn the ins and outs of all the configuration settings.

In fact, I love it!  :cheesy::cheesy::cheesy:


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