Margins/column cutting off a bit on the left

[Chrysalid]

Hello!

I have created a label sheet in InDesign - with 4 columns and 5 rows.

I don't understand what I've done wrong, but the purple margins on the left show that the furthest left column of labels will be slightly cut off - and they are.

I can't figure out how to fix it. The column of labels are printing exactly where they should, but a tiny bit is cut off of this left column.

Please help 🙂

Amber

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Chrysalid:

Can you share a screen shot with guides visible?

~Barb

[Chrysalid]

Hi Barb,

When I print these labels, the images are exactly where I need them, but the far left column is cutting off where that purple guide line is.

Thanks,

Amber

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Chrysalid:

Most in-house printers can't print to the edge of the paper. They stop somewhere between 0.125-.25" from the paper edge.

You can test your printer's capabilities by creating a new file at the exact same size, and cover it with a light-colored rectangle that is slightly larger than the page size and then print it. You will be able to see where your printer stops printing (or just check the printer manua, which will tell you). 

If this is really the correct paper size and label size, you will need to send this to a printer that supports printing to the paper edge or send to to a commercial printer with equipment capable of handling bleeds.

~Barb

[Chrysalid]

Hi Barb,

On the actual paper (label sheet) that margin is .5cm (the edge of the label - and circle).

The margin is the same on the right side - and it prints fine.

I feel like I manually created that margin/guide - and not sure how to remove it? or adjust?

These label sheets - my printer can print that narrow of a margin from different programs - but I am trying to set it up to use in InDesign.

Thanks,

Amber

[Peter Spier]

What happens if you rotate the page 180 degrees before printing? Is the other edge cut off?

[Chrysalid]

Is this something I can do in my print settings?
Or do you mean selecting the entire page and rotating it before printing?

What is interesting is that what is showing on the screen, and the lines/guides aren't true to what is printing.

It looks as though there is more space to the right of my design, and less to the left. But it prints perfectly on a pre-cut sheet of labels - with equal margins on each side. It just cuts off that first tiny bit.

Amber

[Peter Spier]

And are you printing direct from InDesign, or exporting a PDF and printing from Acrobat?

[Chrysalid]

Hi Peter. 

Directly from InDesign.
I'm printing on label sheets. Super finicky. I switched to InDesign so I have more control over each row/column.

Amber

[Peter Spier]

I meant rotate the content on the page, but I suspect that what Barb Binder is saying is the culprit, coupled with loose tolerances in your desktop printer.  Even my $6000 printer doesn't claim positional accuracy and repeatability of better than +/- about .0625 in or .75 mm.  This adds up to the potential for up to an eighth-inch overall drift in image position on the page over the course of a printing run, and I frequently see that in a long run of something like business cards.

Your labels are pushing the limits of printable area on your printer and they are not designed with any consideration for misalignment. In your screen capture all the labels seem to be shifted to the left if we can assume that your margins and column guides are symmetrical. Is this something you did to adjust for an asymmetrical die cut on the label sheet? Are the sheets consistent through the pack?

Some print drivers, but not all, unfortunately, have settings to allow you to shift the image position on the page. In this case, though, I'm not sure that will help since it sounds to me like the label images are being clipped because they fall outside the imageable area on the page, even if the die cut position makes you think they ought to be OK.

I generally find printing direct from InDesign to be less reliable than exporting and printing a PDF, but again, in this case I doubt the results would be different.

[Chrysalid]

Hi Peter,

So this printer is a $15,000 Konice Minolta printer. It doesn't print to the edge, but it does print to 1/2 cm. Which is what this margin should be. And is on the right side of the page.

Printing as a PDF would make my margins even larger, and give me no control.

When I created the layout, to have rows and columns, I feel like I made a mistake here - which is why I posted here. 

This screen shot shows the both margins. It looks as though the whole page is shifted to the left - but it doesn't print that way. The labels (circles) print exactly where they should on the paper, perfectly centered - with a 1/2 cm margin on each side. 

But that fraction of each circle in the left column is cut off.

So baffling.

[Peter Spier · Accepted solution]

OK, I suspect your printer has the ability to shift the image, which is good. Your screen capture clearly shows that the lables are not aligned to the margins, and that's why the left edge is cutting off.

I don't know why you say the margins would be larger printing from PDF unless youare telling it to print the full page inside the printable area. You would want the page to print at a scale of 100%.

I sugest you make a copy of the layout, shift the labels to the right so they align with the margins and make some test pints on plain paper to start. Compare the postioning to the label die cuts and use the printer driver to shift the image if necessary, then see if the left edge is still cut off.