Problems with printing on A3+ size paper on Epson ET 8550 printer

[Steffen Dyhrberg]

Hi

I have used Photoshop for many years for making photo graphics, and I have enjoyed using the application.

A couple of months ago I bought a new printer, Epson ET 8550, and until now I have primarily made pictures of size A3+ (329 x 483 mm) and just printed them I full size with good results. Right now I make pictures of size 30 x 40 cm and want to print them on A3+ paper in the exact size, but the resulting print has a different size.

Because of my problems, I have made the following 3 tests.

1. I want to print a Picture of size 30x40 cm. So I create a PS document of that size. The only content of the picture is a thin frame made as a Select (CMD+a) and an inside  2 px black stroke. In the print menu I select “Super B/A3 borderless” and Paper Type Premium Semigloss. The measure of the printed frame is 30,5 x 40,8 cm.
2. I suspected the choice “borderless” to be the reason why the resulting  frame is larger than expected. Next I print the same document, but now without “borderless”. The measure of the printed frame is 29,3 x 39,0 cm.
3. I make a new document of size 20x30 cm and I print it with the same print parameters as in test 2. The measure of the printed frame is 19,5 x 29,3 cm.

So none of the prints are correct, and I don’t understand it :-(.

I couple of days ago I made a similar test print on A4 paper, where the document size was 10 x 20 cm. This time the right frame size was printed.

As a last thing, I did as in test 3, but on A3 gloss paper instead of A3+ Semigloss. This time the resulting frame has the right size.

To me it seems to be a problem with the A3+ format. But who is responsible, and how to fix it?

I hope somebody can help me.

Steffen Dyhrberg

[davescm]

On most printers, selecting 'Borderless' printing results results in a slight scaling up of the image. That is to prevent white edges showing if the paper is slightly misaligned. I don't know about their Mac drivers but on Epson's Windows drivers, when choosing borderless there is an Expansion option, which can be set to Autoexpand or Retain Size. Retain size stops the scaling but at the risk of those white edges showing.

This is why many commercial prints are made with a bleed area, i.e. an extra area of image around the print, which is trimmed off when the paper is cut to final size. That allows for any misalignment in the printing process.

Dave

[Steffen Dyhrberg]

Thank you Dave for your explanation to the use of borderless printing.

In my test 2, I don't select borderless, and the print size is still not exact as it is when I print on A3 or A4 size paper. So I still have a problem and as far as I can see there is not a posibility to set detailed options as you show me.

But thank you for a fast response.

Steffen

[davescm]

It sounds like there is some scaling going on within the Epson print driver. Unfortunately, as a user of a different Epson printer (SC-P5000) on Windows 11, I am limited in what I can test here.

Hopefully, someone with an Epson printer on a Mac may be able to help.

Dave

[NB, colourmanagement]

@Steffen Dyhrberg See below from macOS Ventura Epson driver, click on 'print layout settings for more info on scaling' 

 

I hope this helps

neil barstow - adobe forum volunteer,

colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

See my free articles on colour management online

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[NB, colourmanagement]

@davescm "On most printers, selecting 'Borderless' printing results results in a slight scaling up of the image. That is to prevent white edges showing if the paper is slightly misaligned. I don't know about their Mac drivers but on Epson's Windows drivers, when choosing borderless there is an Expansion"

Yes, same on Macs and I don't think it's an option either, on many printers slight expansion just happens in the background. 

For many the only way to get bleed prints is to print on oversize media and crop.

@Steffen Dyhrberg I suspect 'scale' is not at 100% in the printer settings, please post dialog boxes (not fullscreen images) inline in a reply so we can check.

as this is mac, are you definitely using the Epson driver not the default Guternptint mac OS driver? can you see actual Epson full paper names (like 'Premium Semigloss Photo Paper') in the driver, not just matte / gloss etc. 

I hope this helps

neil barstow - adobe forum volunteer,

colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

See my free articles on colour management online

Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

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[Steffen Dyhrberg]

Hi Neil

Thank you for your comments.

As you can see in my description of the problem I have made several tests and I can add that the only parameters I have changed are the paper size and media. The scale is 100% and the resulting prints are correct when I use paper size  A4 or A3, but when i use paper size A3+ the resulting print is not correct.

[Trevor.Dennis]

I read the OP, and was about to tag you Dave. 🙂  It's a bit like seeing threads on colour accuracy, and being able to bet your life that Dag has already replied.

[Steffen Dyhrberg]

Thank you for the fine detailed list. I have done it all and I am now waiting for answer from Epson 🙂

[NB, colourmanagement]

@Steffen Dyhrberg Please share the solution here - if Epson give you a fix

You could also try this:"

On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Printers & Scanners
Press and hold the Control key as you click in the list at the left, then choose “Reset printing system” from the menu that appears.
After you reset the printing system, the list of printers in Printers & Scanners preferences is empty.
Reinstall the print driver, only from the manufacturer, not Apple.

Also (for both Mac and Win) take a look at the following article and check if that helps: 
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/printing-color-management-photoshop1.html

You may like to re-install the printer drivers to check if that makes a difference?

Here is some general Adobe [Mac and Win] info on printing problems,
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-printing-problems.html

Simple reset for Photoshop printing: hold the space bar when you open the print window. It resets the print dialogs - deleting possibly corrupt print metadata in the file.

- - - - - - - -
If that doesn’t help -
Here is some troubleshooting advice:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/basic-trouble-shooting-steps.html

I hope this helps

neil barstow - adobe forum volunteer,

colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

See my free articles on colour management online

Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts

[Steffen Dyhrberg]

I am still waiting for reply from Epson.

In the meantime I have found a workaround inspired by a comment mentioning scaling. In the Photoshop Print Settings I choose the scaling 40/39*100 = 102,56%. This gives a usable result and I can go on with my work :-).

[Steffen Dyhrberg]

Solution.

At the end of January I contacted EPSON support, and have had a rather slow dialog with them. In the end their conclusion was, that I was using Apples AirPrint driver and not EPSON’s own driver, that I had downloaded :-(. 

When installed, the driver information for Apples driver says Kind: EPSON ET-8550 Series-AirPrint Driver version: 3.0. When EPSONs driver is installed it says Kind: EPSON ET-8550 Series Driver version: 13.26.

In the dialog with Adobe Community I have been recommended to reinstall the printer, but I didn’t do it, as I was in dialog with EPSON and would await their answer, and I had found a workaround for my problem.

So the conclusion is that Apples driver have a problem, and I will inform their support about that.

EPSON’s driver does not have the described problem, but I have informed EPSON about som observations about project size and clipping. I hope to hear from them.

Thank you for your help.

Steffen

[NB, colourmanagement]

@Steffen Dyhrberg In case other have this issue:

Epson / Mac: Add printer, AirPrint issue, here are some notes about Apple’s built in (default) Gimp Print / Gutenprint based printer drivers.

Best avoided.  It can print quite differently from the manufacturer's own driver software. 

Does the print driver look different? some options have changed?

Are media names the same as previous drivers you've used, e.g.. is 'Premium Luster Photo Paper' mentioned or are the media types just simplified names like matte or gloss? 

You'll be aware, I'm sure, that the selected media name in the driver must match the selection made when printing ICC profiling patches, (so the ICC profile and media type selection are linked) . BUT is the media name selected previously actually there in the list?

IF the media names listed differ (and have been simplified) then you are perhaps inadvertently using Apple’s default Gimp/ Gutenprint driver rather than Epson’s own. It's not just a matter of installing Epson driver software, you have to select it too. I do know it's very important to use Epson's own dri

ver software. I tripped over this myself on a client site, the driver looked different and I put it down to an OSX update imposed style - took a while to work that one out.

Here's an example of what I'd expect to see in an Epson driver for media name options:

Can you access print settings in an application other than Photoshop, try Preview?

If not, a thorough purge may be in order, perhaps install drivers (downloaded from Epson) again: 

1. Delete all instances of Epson printers from 

System Settings (or System Preferences depending on Mac OS version) / Printers & Scanners -or- System Preferences>Print & Fax, whichever you have.

2. Then go to /Library/Printers and trash the whole Epson folder.

3. Delete the Epson LFP Remote Panel (IF you are using that utility).

4. Then go to Epson online and download the printer drivers yourself.

Do not let the Mac install the printer driver for you.

There’s one more tripwire - in System Settings (or System Preferences depending on Mac OS version) / Printers  - - - , when adding the connected printer

- watch out for the “Use" selection - I recommend you do not select "Airprint" there under "use", but, rather, manually set "use” to the printer name, which will then call on the manufacturer’s own software rather than the default Apple driver (that’s based on Gimp Print / Gutenprint, which misses out some printing options such as specific manufacturers media names). 

Ted Landau, mac Guru had the same issue: https://www.macworld.com/article/224167/the-trick-to-finding-the-right-printer-driver-for-your-mac.h...

I hope this helps

neil barstow colourmanagement - adobe forum volunteer, colourmanagement

consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

See my free articles on colourmanagement online

Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts

 

[dan_vahalla]

Ive been having this same issue and it is very frustrating. Simply trying to print on an A3 sheet and if I do borderless its expanded way too much and if I do border printing its actually scalled smaller than the file size I am trying to print. The fix of scaling to 102.56% has been working for me but wouldnt it be nice if the printer simply printed at the file size you sent it?

Thanks for the suggestions here.

[NB, colourmanagement]

@dan_vahalla an Epson printer has set borders (you can see them in print settings) unless you use edge to edge which then, frustatingly, expands the image 

I hope this helps

neil barstow colourmanagement - adobe forum volunteer,

colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'

See my free articles on colourmanagement online

Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.

Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts

[David_Hussey4470]

Common Problems & Fixes

1. Printer Not Detecting A3 Paper

• Fix:

  • Make sure A3 paper is loaded in the rear paper feed (ET-8550 only supports A3 from the rear feed).

  • In your printer settings on the computer:

    • Go to Printer Properties > Paper Size, and manually select A3 (297 x 420 mm).

    • Make sure Paper Source is set to Rear Feed.

---

2. Wrong Print Area / Scaling Issues

• Fix:

  • In your print dialog (from Word, Photoshop, etc.), ensure:

    • Page Size is set to A3.

    • Scaling is set to 100% or Fit to Page, depending on what you want.

  • Check document/page setup in the software you're using to make sure the canvas is A3.

---

3. Margins or Cropping Problems

• Fix:

  • EPSON ET-8550 supports borderless printing, but you must enable it:

    • In printer settings, check the Borderless option for A3 size.

    • Some apps (like Word) override this—use apps like Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, or the EPSON Print Layout app for better control.

---

4. Print Quality Issues

• Fix:

  • Make sure you select the correct paper type (e.g., Plain Paper, Premium Photo Paper, etc.).

  • Run Print Head Alignment or Nozzle Check from the printer’s maintenance menu.

  • Use high-quality or photo setting for detailed A3 printing.

---

5. Paper Jams or Feeding Issues

• Fix:

  • A3 paper must be flat and loaded properly in the rear tray.

  • Fan the paper before inserting, and don’t overfill the tray.

  • Make sure the paper guides are snug against the paper.

---

:desktop_computer:️ Software-Side Troubleshooting

• Update Drivers: Make sure your EPSON drivers are up to date:

• Use Epson Software: For A3 prints with complex layout, use Epson Print Layout or Epson Photo+ apps.

• Check Application Settings: Your app may default to A4 – always check and change to A3 in Page Setup or Print Settings before printing.