Peculiar and infuriating printing problem

Report · Feb 25, 2013

I have tried to solve this problem by myself without any success. My printer is an Epson 3880 connected to my Mac Pro via ethernet. It's rated as a A2 printer (17" for you folks on the other side of the little pond). Everything should be running latest or next to latest driver/software: OSX 10.8.2, Lightroom 4.3, Epson drivers 9.04.

However, no matter what I do the printer seems unwilling to print anything larger than A4 when I use Lightroom. It prints on larger papers, but it only seems to print an image that's about the size of an A4 minus the margins. And it's not the complete picture, just a part of it. Small 102x152mm (4x6 in) papers are filled correctly with ink as they should be. Everything seems fine on Lightroom when I press the Print button. The Lightroom preview shows as it should be, picture covering the whole page, but fails to deliver. PDF's work just fine when saved from the print window.

Photshop CS 5.1 seems to be able to print normally. The same goes to OSX's own Preview program. Neither, however, have the same printing controls for sharpening and brightness/contrast as Lightroom 4.

My problem solving so far has gone as follows:

1) Reset mac printing system, delete all epson drivers from /Library/ and /Library/PPDs/, reinstall drivers and printer. I've tried using other paper sizes and going back to the desired size.

2) Reinstalled 10.8 on a totally clean system, loaded the lightroom library file and tried to print just as normal, no joy.

3) Restored the old system, loaded Lightroom with a totally new catalog, imported a few pictures for a test, no joy.

4) Printed from Lightroom 4 in my old PC on the same network. Worked like a charm. So much for the much advertised ease of using a Mac, eh?

My brain has now exhausted the normal mehtods for figuring this out, so I'm reaching out to the experts out there who might help me with this.

Report · Sep 02, 2015

I have had this problem for years. I simply cannot print large images directly from Lightroom. It is very frustrating that Adobe has not fixed this after all this time. Since I usually print on 8.5x11, when I do need to print on 17x22 I always waste some paper and ink until I remember to export and print from Preview!

Report · Nov 26, 2015

I had the same problem and finally realized that the problem lay in the Page Layout section of the Printer dialogue window. There are three tabs: Main, Layout and Utilities. Go to Layout and make sure Paper size matches Output paper size. So simple and wish I had I had figured it out before wasting 3 sheets of A2.

Hope this works for you.

Cheers

Lindy

Report · Dec 02, 2017

I know this thread is an ancient one, but i came here during a search of the same problem...

i have an epson 7900 and was trying to do a 24x47 print.

no matter what i did, following the advice given here, all i kept getting was a small print.

But something Lindy said got me on the right track....and boy, do i feel stupid.

I reversed the width and height dimensions.

So when the printer saw a width of 47, it said "no way".

simple and ridiculous mistake had me chasing this for three hours.

hope this helps someone else,

thanks for this thread, it ended up being very helpful.

take care everyone.

Report · Nov 27, 2015

In addition to the comments here, beware the resolution switch in LR. I changed workflows and started saving out of PS with a lower resolution number, dropping from 360 too 300. I made no corresponding change to my LR resolution, assuming LR would only look at pixels and not the PS resolution number. The pictures shrank in size but more importantly they stopped centering on the page, shifting to the left margin, regardless of my LR margin and cell size settings. This formatting problem made me assume it was one of the layout/papersize/cell size issues described here. After trying just about everything in layout and paper sizing with no success, I finally turned off the resolution switch in LR. Everything behaved nicely again.

Using Epson 2880, PS and LR CC current. Passing between LR and PS in TIFF.

Report · Feb 26, 2016

I solved the problem this way. There is a setting on your printer to reset the printer to the default settings........reset the printer.

Report · Mar 05, 2016

Worked once, then the problem re-occured.

Report · Mar 05, 2016

Doesn't work..........same problem. Prints a small image on bigger paper, usually truncated, Print Module is virtually useless.

Report · Mar 08, 2016

Ok, found a solution for my issue.....disable Color Management by Printer and select the print profile for your printer......this way LR know what printing you are using. Why LR can't read this from the Page Setup or Print Dialog Box I have no idea, but it definitely solved my problem.

Report · Mar 13, 2016

Experienced similar problem as initial post: "no matter what I do the printer seems unwilling to print anything larger than A4 when I use Lightroom. It prints on larger papers, but it only seems to print an image that's about the size of an A4 minus the margins. And it's not the complete picture, just a part of it. Small 102x152mm (4x6 in) papers are filled correctly with ink as they should be."

New MACbook Pro with an EPSON 3880. (I was using a PC running Vista.) Trying to print a color photo to a 13" x 19" sheet. Would print 7 wide print. I read the uploaded Epson manual from link above (thank you) and followed the directions on Printing With Mac OS X (P 48). Created new paper size 13 x 19 in Manage Custom Sizes. Name it first! Make sure you are in User defined. Printed perfect both a 13 x 19 and 19 by 13 image rotated (well a little less when you subtract the borders). I hope this works for for you.

From above: In case you don't have it, here is the Epson Manual for the Epson 3880: http://files.support.epson.com/pdf/pro3880/pro3880ug.pdf

Peculiar and infuriating printing problem

Report · Mar 14, 2016

As explained by Adobe tech support unfortunately the only way to get uniform results is to use Lightroon to set the printer profiles which are particular to each printer. This also means disabling the printer color management which is great for b/w on Epson. Apparently Lightroon is unable to determine the printer from the usual way, the print dialog box? But creating a new paper size definitely didn't solve my problem as after a few prints the partial printing started again..

Report · Mar 15, 2016

We are printing from Photoshop,CS6. So far we have printed 10 or 11 different, 13 x 19 prints, landscape and vertical, with no further problems. My wife would make sure she set it to the user defined custom size every time. The weird thing is the the 3880 has a normal 13 x 19 setting but we can't get it to show up. The Mac is connected directly to the 3880 with a USB cable. Maybe try printing from Photoshop instead of Lightroom. Good luck to both of us!

Report · Mar 15, 2016

Photoshop shouldn't be a problem Dr. Craig.....have you installed all the Epson drivers for El Capitan? If you haven't and it still doesn't show up you should remove all instances and references to the Epson 3880 driver and re-install the 3880 drives from the Epson website. By the way 13x19 is not listed as 13x19 it might be Super B or something like that.......or Super A3.

Report · Apr 05, 2016

Try this: When choosing your paper size in Page Setup, choose the proper size but "Borderless, Retain Size" -- even if you're not printing borderless. Don't ask me why, but this is what worked for me!

Report · Apr 05, 2016

Whoops--posted too soon. As with some other solutions here, it worked--and then it didn't.

Report · Apr 05, 2016

So . . . I have been struggling with this issue since I bought my 3880: It prints fine from Photoshop, but in LightRoom, I've had the same problem described by others: I get only part of the image, and that part is butted up against the edge of the paper. Today, I have discovered that if I satisfy TWO conditions, the print comes out fine. I've been testing both letter and 13X19. First, I have to choose Borderless, Retain Size in the Page SetUp. Second, I have to print by hitting Command-P and choosing "Print" in the dialogue, rather than by just hitting the "Print" button at the lower right in LightRoom. If I don't choose "Borderless, Retain Size," the print never comes out right. If I do choose "Borderless, Retain Size," but then hit the "Print" button, the print is sometimes right and sometimes not. But if I do both things: choose "Borderless, Retain Size" AND print via Command-P, the prints consistently come out fine. I don't say that this makes any sense, but I guess this is a bug, and bugs don't make sense.

Report · Apr 05, 2016

Denise, the answer is whatever works, works. I do believe if you click PRINTER instead of PRINT, it makes does help.......and I have had no problems except for the 8.5x11 size, but its so quirky the same problem can manifest it in different ways. If I have selected the proper PRINT PROFILE rather than PRINTER COLOR MANAGEMENT, I still have to select the PRINTER and not click PRINT. Its very quirky thats for sure!

Report · Apr 17, 2016

I like the rest have has the same difficulty priinting from Lightroom to my Epson 3880 Only part of the print (upper left corner prints on large paper.

TIRED THE FOLLOWING AS SUGGESTED ABOVE:

" It's the printer and it's an easy fix.
1. Press the MENU button (right arrow) ON THE PRINTER
2. you will see PRINTER SETUP
3. Press it again and you will see the second selection down is PAPER SIZE CHECK
4. Select this and then select OFF
5. Press the center round button
6. Press the left arrow 3 times and print. You will see all of your glorious print spit out of the machine.
7. WITH THIS GOT THE PRINTER ERROR MESSAGE MARGINS NOT SET
THEN TRIED : So . . . I have been struggling with this issue since I bought my 3880: It prints fine from Photoshop, but in LightRoom, I've had the same problem described by others: I get only part of the image, and that part is butted up against the edge of the paper. Today, I have discovered that if I satisfy TWO conditions, the print comes out fine. I've been testing both letter and 13X19. First, I have to choose Borderless, Retain Size in the Page SetUp. Second, I have to print by hitting Command-P and choosing "Print" in the dialogue, rather than by just hitting the "Print" button at the lower right in LightRoom. If I don't choose "Borderless, Retain Size," the print never comes out right. If I do choose "Borderless, Retain Size," but then hit the "Print" button, the print is sometimes right and sometimes not. But if I do both things: choose "Borderless, Retain Size" AND print via Command-P, the prints consistently come out fine. I don't say that this makes any sense, but I guess this is a bug, and bugs don't make sense.
1. THIS DID NOT WORK THERE ACTUALLY IS NO BORDERLESS OPTION FOR MY PAPER SIZE OF 17X25
THEN I TRIED:
1. In the printer settings i set output resolution to superphoto 1440 - It was previously set at SUPERPHOTO 2880 , HIGH SPEED UNCHECKED FINEST DETAIL UNCHECKED
  1. THIS FIXED THE PROBLEM!!!

Report · Apr 17, 2016

That may be a temporary fix (but I agree the two that you tried do not work!)

Only two things I can say for sure

1) SELECT THE PRINTER PROFILE/PAPER COMBINATION from the LR PRINT MODULE. Do not let the printer handle Color Management.

2) Make sure to click PRINTER and not PRINT. I have done hundreds of prints now using this strategy and it works, at least for me, although the whole thing is obviously buggy.

Report · Apr 17, 2016

Further research : returned to printing SuperPhoto 2880 works fine ????

High Speed off

Flip Horizontal off

Finest Detail off

Report · Apr 17, 2016

Those settings should effect the problem, they are setting that are made in the PRINT DIALOG box. The problem is with LR. So if you keep having the problems make sure you have followed the steps I outlined above (one was given to me by Adobe tech support)!

Report · Dec 06, 2016

Dealt with this problem all morning with my P800. I was having random crops to prior print size and then forced prior margins (preventing borderless printing as well). None of these had been issues previously, but no changes in settings would make them go away.

Restarting computer and printer did nothing. Changing settings on printer did nothing. P800 seems to have many fewer settings than others such as 3880.

Epson chat took 15 minutes to show up (while I was waiting for phone support) and proclaimed loudly that he could be very helpful, only to ask the same 2 questions 6 times each (what size print do you want? what size is LR configured to print to?) before finally saying he couldn't help me and that I would have to call phone support so they could remote in to my computer to see what I have configured improperly... Needless to say, he wasn't trained to understand the problem in the slightest.

Meanwhile, I gave up on phone support after 1 hour 10 minutes wait time. Shameful.

Did I say shameful?

Shameful.

It's too bad there is no way to make Epson hear or pay attention to that, or better force it upon them.

Anyway, what worked and hopefully will help someone else:

* Delete com.Epson folder from ~/Library/Caches

* Delete printer from Printers & Scanners in Systems Preferences

* Re-Add printer in Printers & Scanners. I used Epson IP and Epson P800 driver (not AirPrint, although testing with AirPrint during debugging showed the same issues as the Epson driver).

It might be that simply deleting Caches or perhaps also then rebooting is sufficient.

Report · Sep 19, 2019

Oh my gosh THANK YOU TO THIS PERSON!!!!!!!!! I was starting to freak! I should mention after it wouldnt print at right size, I tried taking paper check off-it wouldnt print at all but then I took it back to ON and hallelujah-It went back to the right print size.

YOU SAVED ME HOURS IF NOT DAYS OF FRUSTRATION! MANY THANKS!!!!!!!!

Report · Oct 20, 2019

Thank you johnhartsfield1

I have been struggling with this problem with my Epson Pro 3800 and your solution, involving changing settings on the printer, appears to have solved this issue. Much appreciated.

ianportugal

Report · Dec 10, 2022

and in 2022 with a macbbok and epson xp760 the same issues occur, i can sometimes get the print i want but it makes no sense if i select portrait or landscape.. no differnec and can not get rid of borders