photoshop printing size

[widget2k13]

hi, i have used photoshop for quite a while and always had trouble with printing sizes but just put up with it, i am now at the point where i need something printed precisely as i have made them on photoshop.

however when i print the image or images the sizes are never the same as what they should be, i have tried everything i can think of, 100% scale, fit to media,borderless , etc etc, the image always is too big or if its full page size never fits on the page .

for example, i start a new with say a4 paper size as canvas, i then add an image and size it to say 10cmx15cm and position it where i want it, then go to print, preview looks spot on as if it would print perfect and size is correct etc but it never prints that size it will be something like 10.8 x 16 or something. however if i save the image and print it through epson software it comes out exactly as it should ?

its really frustrating as i now need a print which is 41x8cm and it keeps chopping the top and bottom off the print even though t shows it fitting on perfect in print preview, only way to get it is to keep adjusting the size a percent at a time and do a test print which is costing me a lot of paper .

i hope someone can help it would be so much appreciated

thank you

 

[IamSam]

Hello again.

Take a look through theses threads to see if you can find some answers for your problem:

Printer Settings & Problems
Printing problem

printer settings

Red lines

Color Settings for Printing Press

How to ensure print size is the same as screen size

Resolution
The meaning of the term, "resolution" in Photoshop

What's the impact of "Resolution"-values?

4' x 8' banner 'resolution'?

Image Transformation following a pixel modification

Color Management
Colour issues HELP !!!

Pantone Colour

Monitor calibration for Printing

New Canvas Advanced Settings

CYMK vs RGB

Scaling and resizing
Image up-rez'ing (scaling, interpolation), dimensions and short run printing

Is reducing jpg size inorder to save space a good idea?

Sizing an image for printing

Document size / DPI (newbie)

printing problem

Image designed to wrap around a cup

Resizing worries


General
Which profile to choose for 80gsm office paper while printing

Printing Question

Minimum line thickness...

Printing greeting cards issue

Printing raster text, sharpness

How do I poster print sections?

Printing

printing

Won A Design Contest Need Help Getting My Design Ready For Printing

Printing Photos - Too much cropping

Print white areas as "no ink", please

Crop affects dpi in Photoshop CS5?

Duotone - How to have b&w image with red text?

Help - Printing Vector smart objects in photoshop - Prints blurry

Flyer Printing

Color defect after exporting in Photoshop

Printing photos

70s family photo effect

 

[widget2k13]

Thank you, looking through a couple of the posts it seems something about setting my resolution in PS preferences, I haven't done that and didn't know you had to, I have a 5k Imac 27" so is it easy to do?
Thank you

 

[widget2k13]

hi again,
i measured my screen across which is 23.5 inch and screen resolution is 5120x2880 so i divided 5120 x 23.5 and came up with 217.8
i put this in the preference where it says it goes for screen resolution, now when i click print view it is huge ,if i load a picture 5 x 10 cm it measures on screen with a tape measure about double in print view.
when i print its always too big

 

[widget2k13]

i have attached a screen shot of my print preview which shows it should fit onto the a3 paper but it always chops the top and bottom off by about half an inch. also makes them wider than they are supposed to be.

this is very frustrating when its showing the correct size in print preview

even if i tick scale to fit page it chops them off top and bottom and makes them the wrong width

 

[MrToM]

Why is your screenshot so blurred?

Whatever, you can still make out that your image is way too big to fit onto A3...



41.98 inches (42 actual inches) would only just fit into A0!

You will need to increase the resolution to a sufficient value so as to get the print size down to within the paper size you wish to print on.

Taking the values in your screenshot that would mean somewhere around 800ppi which would give you a print size of 15.74 inches which in turn fits into the longest dimension of A3 paper....16.54 inches.

For me PS never allows me to print right up to the edge, there is always 'some' area shaded off that is 'non-printable'. I'm not seeing that on your screenshot so it may be related to the printer used, but it could be something to be aware of. I only have the one printer so cannot elaborate on that.

Just as a side note, you never want to use 'scale to fit' either, you'll get better results by keeping that unchecked and changing the resolution to fit the image.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[widget2k13]

the screenshot looks ok to me?

the size is not in inches it is in centimetres and you can print up to 42 cms on a3

 

[MrToM]

...the screenshot looks ok to me?..

How could I possibly know? I can only go by what you post here and what you posted is not what I'd expect from a screenshot.

The image is also cropped on the left hand side which either means its been edited or you have a serious problem with your monitor settings.

Whatever, something isn't right somewhere.

...the size is not in inches it is in centimetres and you can print up to 42 cms on a3...

Sorry, I'm more used to images being specified in the standard notation which is to use SI units of measurement, centimeters are not an SI unit of measurement.

Regardless of that small oversight the rest still stands.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[MrToM]

I just noticed you stated your screen dimensions....5120x2880, and yet the supposed 'screenshot' image is only 1920 x 1008px.

The image has been edited and is blurry probably because it has been re-sampled.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[widget2k13]

Sorry for any confusion it was not intended,
I had to resize the screen shot as the forum would not let me upload it at full size and resolution
The screen shot was purely for members to see my print preview and to see if they could help why it doesn't print what's in the print preview, not just on that image but any image I put into photoshop does not print out at the correct size as it shows in print preview, and it's not the printer as I have 3 printers and it does the same on all of them
Thank you and apologies if there was any confusion,
I work in millimetres or centimetres, I think that's what most people use in the UK but could also be wrong on that

 

[MrToM]

...Sorry for any confusion it was not intended...

No worries.

...the forum would not let me upload it at full size and resolution ...

You can always zip the file and upload here, or upload to an image hosting site and post the link...there is always more than one way.

...why it doesn't print what's in the print preview...

This is the big question.

Lets see where we are at:

You haven't yet stated your image dimensions which is THE most important piece of information we could have, so I'll have to make an educated guess for the purpose of calculation.

You've said that you've set the 'Screen Resolution' in the preferences to the correct value...217.8
I'd round that up to 218 as you cannot have 0.8 of a pixel, (Although Adobe would have you believe you can).
From your description in post #4 it does sound as if you have got this value correctly so we'll take that as correct.....218 ppi.

This means that using VIEW > PRINT SIZE will DISPLAY the image at its PRINT size.

Your paper size is 420mm high (16.53 inches) and the resolution for the image is set to 300ppi (As shown in your screenshot)
So with a quick bit of very easy maths...the image can be no more than 4960px high, (300 * 16.53) for it to fit.

Now....

IF your image is greater than that, HEIGHT > 4960px then we have to change something so the image fits the paper...the only thing we can change, keeping the image untouched, is the resolution so lets do that and see what we get.

Lets say, because I don't know the actual size of your image, for example your HEIGHT is 3 times that (3 * 4960) = 14880px
We need 14880px of image to fit within 16.53 inches of paper.....so....
14880 / 16.53 = 900ppi

In order for that image to fit into an A3 sized height piece of paper it needs to have its resolution set to at least 900ppi.

You'll have to do the same calculation for the actual image size in order to get the resolution you need for it to fit.
You then use the 'Image Size' option to set this resolution.

Even after all this as I said before, personally Photoshop will NOT let me print on the entire available space of the paper, there is ALWAYS some area around the edge that is NON-PRINTABLE. this may be the case for you too, I don't know, if its printer dependant then my hands are tied.

I'm guessing, in your case, the option 'Scale to fit media' in giving a value of 99.94% also means it too cannot use all the available area for printing.....at a guess.

if this is the case, and there is no other way, then you'll need to reduce the size of the print via its resolution so that it fits within the page, you can use the fact that the 'Scale to fit media' value is 99.94% to calculate the maximum resolution.

To be honest, if the 'Screen Resolution' is set correctly then the Print Size will be correct...surprisingly so in fact. (Its quite accurate if you can believe that)
If the resolution is set correctly for the image then it should fit the paper you desire when printed.

if it still doesn't fit after all that, and I see no reason why it shouldn't so far, then its either operator error or a glitch with PS....which is more than likely.

I'd be inclined to change the print size via the image resolution first......set it to 900ppi and view at Print Size....if it measures up then it should be ok....if not do a proper screenshot so we can read the data in it.....and knowing your image dimensions would help too.

I've never had the option to do borderless printing so I don't know how PS handles it, if at all, but that is also something to look into. If it doesn't then you may need to use software that does.

...I work in millimetres or centimetres...

Millimetres are fine, they are an SI unit of measurement, centimetres are not, which is why they shouldn't be used...and there really isn't any need to anyway, millimetres are more than good enough.

One thing to remember is that Photoshop was originally Apple software, written for and on a Mac machine. Its code is therefore based on the imperial system of Feet and Inches ao if you use the Metric system then conversion have to be made...which could ultimately induce rounding errors. It shouldn't really matter, it should be close enough to not worry about it but Adobe is not really known for its attention to detail or consistency....look at versions 2017 onwards!

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[widget2k13]

thats some information and its like foreign to me lol
the image i am trying to print is 420 x 83 millimeters but it doesnt matter what size image i do it never prints correct.
if i add resolution at 218 and i do print view its about 3 times bigger than it should be ?

 

[MrToM]

...thats some information and its like foreign to me...

Ok no worries....lets take baby steps...

What are the image dimensions in PIXELS? (This could have been included in the screenshot if you had the INFO panel open...hint!)

...420 x 83 millimeters...

Sorry, but this means nothing, as you'll hopefully see and understand as we go through it.

...resolution at 218...

This is your SCREEN RESOLUTION not your IMAGE RESOLUTION.

You stated in post #4...

...i put this in the preference where it says it goes for screen resolution...

So naturally I assumed this was what you did.....did you set the SCREEN resolution to 218ppi in the preferences?




Check that setting and post your image dimensions.....in PIXELS please.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[widget2k13]

not sure if this has worked but i uploaded a zip file of screen shots

 

[MrToM]

Those are much better!

Right....the last image...

UNCHECK THIS...





...and post the Image Dimensions in PIXELS please.
(No need for another screenshot....just type them )

(I already know the answer but I want YOU to do it)


Your SCREEN Resolution is fine...as long as it is 218ppi....I trust you calculated it correctly...it looks like you did.
If this is correct then you WILL get the image DISPLAYED at its print size....be that right or wrong....but we'll come to that.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[widget2k13]

i have added a photo i have took of the print, its clear to see that the printer is able to print right to the edges but it just chops the top and bottom off the print everytime , not just for this image it does it on anything i print

 

[widget2k13]

with the resample image unchecked it changed them to 988 and 4961

 

[widget2k13]

when i view print size it is still double what it should be, the little coloured square should be 35mm x 22mm but they are well over double that on screen

 

[MrToM]

with the resample image unchecked it changed them to 988 and 4961

Right, we now know for sure that the image dimensions are 988 x 4961px

Now, going back to my lengthy post #11, I mentioned there that the MAXIMUM image size in PIXELS is 4960....so the image is 1px TOO BIG to fit on A3...@300ppi.

Lets do some simple maths...

4961px / 16.53 inches = 300.12ppi

The resolution needs to be an integer so lets round that up to 301ppi.

4961px @ 301ppi = 16.48 inches or 418.6mm, less than 420mm page height so it should fit....right?


As to the Print Preview being twice the size...this is probably down to you using a 'retina' display?

Your screenshots are all 144ppi which indicated to me that you are, in which case, for CS6, you will need to make allowance for that in the Preferences....by DOUBLING the Screen Resolution....so 436ppi!

This will reduce the size of the Print Size image by a factor of 2, which should be correct for a screen designated as being 144ppi.

Later versions of PS have a setting for this but CS6 was released way before 'retina' display screens so you'll have to adjust manually.

Try all that and see what happens.

Regards.
MrToM.

 

[widget2k13]

ok, i tried changing the settings like you said and done another print and results are the same