Why Won't File Print Full Size When Another File Will?

[tapontoes]

I am really stumped. I have designed a CS5 InDesign 6 x 9 inch book, but it prints out one half inch shorter than 9 inches. It prints 6 x 8.5 inches. (I am printing these proofs on a 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper. I put a border around the edge of the 6 x 9 document page to give me the print's dimension.)

However, if I start a new 6 x 9 inch document, it prints out a full 6 x 9 inches like it should.

Any idea what I might have done to have caused this result? When creating the document for the book, I chose:  File/New/Document. I set the page width to 6 inches, the page height to 9 inches.

I would sure appreciate hearing your solution. Thank you.

[tapontoes]

Wow! I printed 2 pages of the PDF and guess what? It printed the full 6 x 9 inch dimensions! This is such a relief! But what in the world was going on? I used the same printer that gave me the shortened height before, but this time I used Adobe Reader to print it. So, InDesign was accurate, the PDF was accurate, and the printer was accurate half the time. The printer is an HP and about 7 years old. Could it be that the printer isn't able to read InDesign correctly?

[Peter Spier]

It may well be the printer, but it's odd that it's OK with some files, but not others. (HP printers have the largest number of printer-related problems we see here on the forum).  Which model is it?

It would definitely be worth trying the export to .idml I linked above....

[tapontoes]

Peter, I did as you suggested and exported my document to .idml, then made a PDF of it and printed a page. It was perfect! I then printed a page from the .idml new document and it was condensed in height just like before (8.5 inches instead of 9 inches). There is a noticeable difference in the density of the printed font (the font on the condensed page is darker).

The printer model is: HP Deskjet 3915.

[Peter Spier]

Most HP printer problems are realted to Postscript emulation, which that model doesn't appear to use, but it occurs to me that there might be something in the driver that's been set accidentally. From ID's Print dialog you should click the Setup button at the bottom left and ignore the warning, then run through all the settings in the driver and see if anything looks whacky.

Otherwise, the normal workaround for this type of problem is to export the PDF and print from Acrobat.

[tapontoes]

Peter, I looked through the settings in the driver and it looks fine. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thank you for your workaround solution to export the PDF and print from Acrobat. I will do that. I really appreciate your time (and genius) you've put towards figuring out how to break through this brick wall. You're amazing.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this.

[Peter Spier]

Well, I'm still perplexed that some files print and some don't. Did you use any new techniques in this one?

Would you be willing to send me the file to test?

[tapontoes]

Peter, no, I didn't change anything to this PDF or the document it was made from. When I printed the PDF through Adobe Reader, it printed full size. But when I printed the document (that the PDF was made from) through InDesign, it printed about half an inch short.

I don't know if there's a clue hidden in this or not, but as I said in my opening details, when I started a new (only one page) 6 x 9 inch document, it printed out a full 6 x 9 inches, like it should. Here's the only changes I can think of that I made between that one page document and the 150 page document that the PDF was made from:

Document 1 (my 150 page book) - Margins were set in Document Setup before I began my document. Changes to margins were made later as I worked on the document and added a footer. Pages from this document printed out as a 6 x 8.5" page (even though InDesign showed the pages to be 6 x 9").

Document 2 (one page) - Margins in Document Setup were set to "0" for top, bottom, inside, and outside. I placed an image (file/place) onto the page, then set margins for it. This image printed out as a 6 x 9" page.

So, yes, InDesign does seem to be reading something different from Document 1 than it does from Document 2 as far as page size goes.

This brings up a question: In Document 1, when I adjusted margins, the bottom of the text was one space above the bottom margin. Could this space prevent the text from snapping to the margin dimensions, and so end up making the body text (and therefore the page) shorter? Could this be the underlying problem?

[Peter Spier]

Nothing you've described is out of the ordinary or should have caused this sort of problem.

[tapontoes]

Thank you for the reassurance about that. At least now I know how to work around the 'glitch' or whatever it is. And at least I know the book will look right when printed from PDF. That's a weight off my mind.

If you're still interested in seeing the file, how should I send it to you?

[Peter Spier]

I'll send you a link and instructions.

[tapontoes]

Sounds good.

[Mohamed Ismail Solyman]

Have you checked if the paper size (in setup section in the print window) is set to letter (8 1/2 x 11 inch) or not?