printing on 8-1/2 x 11 paper

[kahfluie]

This may have been asked before.. or it may sound like a very dopey question, but I'm a bit baffled.

I take my image, which after conversion, processing, etc is at 3072x2048. I go to my printer and tell it to print "borderless". On landscape printing, the left and right edges are borderless, however the top and bottom each have about a 1/2 inch border.

Is this normal? How do I get it to be completely borderless? The printer I'm using is a Canon I-860 printer, however I've noticed this on other printers also. I'm just not sure if I'm missing a step to get this totally borderless, or at least with an even border around the entire print.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

[Maguzza]

Lou --

I believe your problem is that the aspect ratio of your image does not match the aspect ratio of the paper you are using. Your image is 2048 pixels wide and 3072 pixels high, corresponding to an aspect ratio (length over height) of 1.5.

8.5 x 11 paper, on the other hand has an aspect ratio of 11/8.5 = 1.29. Thus, it is proportionately wider (or less long) than your image is. So, when your image is scaled to fit the width of the paper, it is not long enough to fill the length of the paper.

You've said that there's about a 0.5 inch gap on the top and the bottom of the print. So, the actual (landscape) print area is about 7.5 x 11, which has an aspect ratio of about 11/7.5 = 1.47, which is very close to the aspect ratio of your image.

The problem is that your image size and your paper have different proportions. You could crop your image such that it had an aspect ratio of about 1.29 (e.g. to ca. 2650 x 2048) or you could trim off the white paper.

This is why 8x10 prints made from 35 mm film are by necessity cropped by the printer.

[Scottes]

The problem is that there's not enough image. The image is 3072x2048, or it has a 3:2 aspect ratio. At 280dpi, you will get an image 11 inches wide. 3072 / 280 = just about 11. But 2048 / 280 = 7. So you're print at 11x7 on 11x8.5 paper. Thus you get 3/4" of blank paper at the top and bottom.

At 241 dpi you'll get your 8.5, but now it 12.7" wide, and you lose image off the edges of the paper.

So you need to go to 2650x2048 at 241 DPI and you'll get 8.5x11 borderless.

[kahfluie]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies... so the moral of the story is... crop it to 2650x2048 (and hope I'm not losing anything important in the crop). I can deal with that - guess I just wished the appropriate sizing came straight out of the camera - then again I wanna be a millionaire too. :D

Thanks again.... more insight or tips would be appreciated, if available!

Cheers,

[iwatkins]

Crop the paper afterwards :D

Actually, I always shoot with printing to A4 or A3 in mind these days, i.e. try to compose the shot so nothing important is close to the left or right edges of the image (in landscape).

Cheers

Ian

[leony]

I've found that it's easiest to shoot with "important things" being placed between the focusing points (left most & right most) in horizontal mode. This lets you crop it afterwards without much worry to up to 11x14 ratio (which I print a lot of).

~ L.

[Mikesht]

I always crop my pictures before I send them to print (I use online services instead of printing them myself, I found that the quality and price combination from clubphoto.com or ezprints.com is better for my money). I use a Crop tool in my Photoshop 7, and set it to 300 DPI and a size 8 by 10 or 11 by 14 or whatever else, and than just strech and move that frame around to find the best crop. After that I save my file with an extension _5by7 or _8by10 or _16by20 and upload the file. I never print any different sizes from this file- I want to be in control of this process as much as I can. It does not cost a penny more and no surprizes.
Good luck.

[scottbergerphoto]

It's very easy in PSE2. I print borderless 81/2x11 most of the time. Open the picture and select the crop tool and set the size to 81/2 in. H x 11 in. W in the control panel. Crop the picture to include as much of the picture as you want. I keep the resolution at 300. In the printer driver select Borderless Printing. That should be it. That's how I do it with my Epson 2200.
Scott

[Belmondo]

I've done it both ways, but generally prefer to print 8X10 and trim. The reason is, there are lots and lots of commecrially available 8X10 picture frames, or even better, larger frames with 8X10 mats. Try finding anything for 8 1/2 X 11.

One of my earliest 'non-photo' investments was in a good quality paper cutter. It makes all the difference in the world.

[scottbergerphoto]

I've done it both ways, but generally prefer to print 8X10 and trim. The reason is, there are lots and lots of commecrially available 8X10 picture frames, or even better, larger frames with 8X10 mats. Try finding anything for 8 1/2 X 11.

One of my earliest 'non-photo' investments was in a good quality paper cutter. It makes all the difference in the world.
You make some good points, but I usually show my photos in 8.5x11 in. plastic sleeves in a binder. Also, your method would require me to take my paper cutter off the shelf.
Regards,
Scott