Printing Actual Size

[Dean]

Someone please help as I am having a hell of a time and what I'm trying to do should be simple.

 

I am trying to print some playing cards. The size of them is 6.3cm x 8.8cm. I have the images and I resize them to those dimensions. I then align them in a 3x3 grid on a canvas that is 8.5 inches x 11 inches. Then I try to print.

 

If I leave it with the default settings (Letter sized paper and borderless printing off) they come out just a little smaller than they should. If I customize the settings to turn borderless printing on, they come out too big. But the canvas is the exact size of the paper and the images for the cards themselves are exactly the same size as a normal card (I measured a real card to get that measurement in the first place and then I hold that card up to the printouts to compare sizes afterwards.)

 

Why won't it just print everything the actual size that I made it in the program?

[BoltBait]

Please try this plugin: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/28520-print-it-tools-effect/

 

[Dean]

18 minutes ago, BoltBait said:

Please try this plugin: https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/28520-print-it-tools-effect/

 

Is there no way to do it without a plugin?

[BoltBait]

Paint.NET's printing capability is minimal, at best.

 

If you want more control of your printer output, try the plugin.

[Red ochre]

I could not get 'Print-it' to work in either Pdn 4.16 (W10) nor 3.5.11(Vista!) - it just hangs,(sorry Martin). It does, however, show the printable area, which I found useful.

The only viable way I have found to print at the correct size is to use MS 'Word 2007'(then paste the image in and adjust the position etc.). Even so, printers, well my printer (old drivers not w10 happy), does not accurately position the paper, additionally pre-cut paper is inaccurately stamped out (referring to pre-cut business cards).

When creating a small number of differing business cards I found it easier to print (via Word) to photo paper then stick that to thicker card and use a scalpel to cut precisely!
Few things more satisfying than cutting a straight line (metal rule) without taking off your finger-tips, or the rule moving midway!

 

... More of a rant than a solution, sorry - but printing via office software seems much better than Pdn's (MS standard U.I.) in my experience. Perhaps open-office type software is worth exploring? Software is pixel accurate and printers squirt infinitesimally small volumes of ink, yet no-one really understands how to print something at the correct size!...please prove me wrong?

A good MS Store printing 'app' could make the developer a fortune, save the planet's forests and cut the global murder rate!😪

If experimenting to get the correct settings do reduce the amount of ink needed - with something like Boltbait's inksketch or my TGMagnitude, and increase brightness, just while you get the sizes setting right. Paper is cheaper than ink.

 

Good luck, report back if you find a good way.

[Reptillian]

I usually work with vector softwares for this sort of thing. I set up the document in inches, and place them into the document, then I use Scribus to prepare print (that may be overkill when all you want is the picture). I never printed from a raster graphic program again after learning about this.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Reptillian