Hi everyone! I didn't see a topic about this, so here goes:
I currently have a low-end HP 5650 printer that I use to print photos. It does a well enough job, but I am looking to upgrade, and I am placing particular importance on one feature in particular: proper borderless printing.
You see, with the HP 5650, I sometimes want, say, a 4 x 6 print that covers the entire sheet of 4 x 6 media. Printing with regular settings will put white borders around the border of the media, even if I start with a 4 x 6 image in Photoshop. So, in Photoshop I make sure that the photo is the proper 4 x 6 proportions and set the print settings for borderless printing.
Unfortunately, when the print comes out, it appears that the printer has magnified the photo to larger than 4 x 6, then cropped it onto the 4 x 6 photo paper. The result is that maybe a quarter inch or so from one or more borders gets cut off. This has been a thorn in my side for quite some time; I have a perfectly framed image, but then the printer goes and mangles it.
I've seen this on many other HP printers of various models, and it happens with all paper sizes. The only way I can get an image to print with true dimensions is to print it on a large sheet, i.e. print a 4 x 6 image on an 8.5 x 11 sheet, then cut it out myself. This requires very careful cutting which I'm not equipped to do, and it wastes lots of paper.
I'm a fan of HP printers because of their long-lasting inks, so I'd like to buy a good HP printer, but it absolutely must be able to print borderless prints (in multiple sizes) without cropping the image.
Is there some setting I'm missing? Is this a problem with all printers, or just a few? Is there a way to tell how a printer prints borderless prints by looking at the specs?
What OS? OS X has a "Borderless Printing" setting in most printer drivers that allow you to adjust the expansion amount and you can turn expansion off.
It's a problem with all printers—you have to print larger than the paper to get a borderless print. This is even the case with traditional chemical printing.
As Ryan said, most drivers allow you to control the amount the image is enlarged, but you generally can't turn it off entirely. The option will usually be labeled something like expansion or extension; overspray or overprinting pop up from time to time as well.
I can't speak to what HP calls it in the 5650 driver, but it's almost certainly in there somewhere.
I gang my 4x6s together and cut them, that way I'm sure of getting a 4x6. Generally I'll put 4 across on 17 inch roll paper. Because you can only get 2 on a sheet of letter sized paper unless you can get 8.5x14 (legal sized paper) this may not make sense.
What do you guys use to cut your photos when you print them on larger sheets? I've had minimal success cutting photos with my mat cutter, but I would like a better method.
For what it is worth... you can get three 4x6's on a letter size sheet if you rotate one picture. I use it a lot and it is very handy. I usually do this if I have only a few pictures. If I have a slew I use 6" or 8" roll paper on my R2400 and cut afterwards with a Rotatrim.
cheers
Martin
pS For those not familiar, Rotatrim is a great trimmer/cutter and can literally shave off even a VERY tiny bit. They cost more than a blade cutter but are well worth it. I picked up a 24" on on EBay last year.
For my HP D7360 printer the overspray amount setting can be found in Properties, Advanced tab, Overspray Change. It can be set as far down as Least. There is no "None" setting as that wouldn't guarantee a perfect borderless print, due to the inaccuracy of the transport system and paper format.
To print borderless, you shouldn't frame the picture hair-tight upon shooting.
For trimming, I have a rather heavy Dahle guillotine cutter with pressure plate. It has done some heavy non-photo work in the past, and without any resharpening it's still capable to cleanly cut a sliver 0.1mm wide off a picture. A sliver so thin, it clings to your fingers when you want to pick it up. (Yes, I had to use a measuring microscope to ascertain its width.)
