steleky Loc: New York City

When I go to the print module and set up for 8 x 10, I see that the margins of the print are .25" on three sides and .56" on the fourth side. Nothing I am able to do let's me change the .56" to .25". My intent is to print these at the ICP school on one of their Epson SureColor P800 printers. In the past I was able to print on these printers with an even margin after some playing around. My question is: Are margins printer dependent or is there something that I am not doing correctly in Lightroom on my computer? Since I have to pay by the hour to use the printers, I want to minimize wasted time. I am using the latest version of Lightroom CC on an iMac with the latest version of the MacOS. The computer is linked to a Canon Pixma MX870.

twowindsbear

My WAG is to set all the margins to .56 or a bit greater.

Good luck

twowindsbear

steleky Loc: New York City

Thanks, but then I lose more than an inch off the print. A possibility but not my first choice.

Scott Rosenthal

Margins are printer dependent. If the printer allows printing to the edge, you could select that feature in the printer options, which will then let you set your margins to 0 if you wanted. I find that I get the most "logical" printing results by first setting the "Page Setup" (bottom left). Select the printer and then printer properties. Once in there, select paper size, type, etc.

I hope this helps.

lsimpkins Loc: SE Pennsylvania

Some suggestions, most of which you may have tried.
First, in the Page Setup in the LR Print Module, make sure that the Print Setup is set to the full size of your paper and that the source is Sheet (borderless). On Epson printers, you may need to have the printer set to Photo or Best Photo with Photo or Premium Photo Paper selected in order to select Borderless printing.

Then in LR, make sure that your Cell Size is set to the full size of the paper (e.g., 8" height by 10" width). Page Grid should be 1 Row by 1 Column. I always select Zoom to Fill. Once you have made these settings, you should be able to move all the margin settings to the values you want in inches, including 0.00 if you truly want borderless.

And all of the above assumes that your crop in the Develop Module is to the full 8x10 size you want.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I've never used an Epson that was capable of borderless printing that limited me to the default margins. But you do have to define a custom paper size in the Epson driver, and set custom margins there. Yes, margins are most definitely printer dependent. Epson defaults to the .56, .25, .25, .25 margin set, even on their borderless printers. This optimizes the print quality within that area.

I will mention that when I print, I usually leave border around the image area, for several reasons:

• The printer performs best when about half an inch of paper feeds through the rollers before printing begins. That's why Epson sets .56" at top of page.
• The printer lasts longer when it doesn't spray ink off the edges of the paper.
• Fingerprints are evil... finger oils damage almost all papers and inks, even archival papers. I like a border so most handling damage is limited to blank paper.
• I print lots of 8x10s. 8.5x11 is a standard paper size. I center the image area on the page (borders are .5, .25, .5, .25). This gives me a "borderless" 8x10 when I trim it.

Read the extended documentation for your printer (on disc that came with your printer, or on Epson's web site). It will tell you where and how to set custom paper sizes and custom margins. It's usually in the driver dialog under Paper Size.

I've set up lots of Epsons over the years and found it really easy, once you understand what the driver is doing. There may be a Page Setup or Print Setup dialog where you can do that as well.

From the Define Custom Paper Size option in the Print Driver

(Download)

steleky Loc: New York City

Thanks

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

doing this also helps me when dry mounting to foam core. 9 times out of ten the foam core or mat board is cut a bit off. By using a oversize paper then trimming to the final size unaligned edges aren't a problem. I use a cold laminating process for mounting, using a roller machine which tends to compress the leading and trailing edges a tad. Post process trimming cleans that up also.

MichaelH Loc: NorCal via Lansing, MI

Thank you burkphoto for the tips. I have learned to memorize everything you write!