Simple printing question.

[Mister F]

I think I've searched enough without luck to ask this.  iF I set the page size and font as I want iT.  Will iT print that way with 'print to fit frame' checked, or do I uncheck iT?

[Tactilis]

1 hour ago, Mister F said:

iF I set the page size and font as I want iT.  Will iT print that way with 'print to fit frame' checked, or do I uncheck iT?

@Mister F  When you do File > Print (or press Ctrl + P), the Print Pictures window is displayed.

This window shows a preview of what your printed image will look like on the paper size you have selected.

In the preview you can see the effect of checking or unchecking Fit picture to frame.

 

 

If you don't want to waste ink and paper when experimenting with settings, you can set the printer to Microsoft Print to PDF.

Then, when you click Print, you will be prompted for a file name to save the PDF, to which your image will be 'printed'.

 

Open the PDF to see how the image looks.

 

[Mister F]

I'm aware of the preview feature, but the difference between checking and unchecking is negligible.  I don't understand the point of that option.  For what I'm doing now as long as I use the same setting on each print I'm fine, but over the years every time I print I'm faced with that question.

 

Thanks for mentioning the pdf idea though.  I may use that going forward as you can't directly save a document from 'save as' as a pdf in paint.net.

[Mister F]

Or I could just print the pdf?

[Tactilis]

10 hours ago, Mister F said:

I'm aware of the preview feature, but the difference between checking and unchecking is negligible.  I don't understand the point of that option.

It's negligible because the aspect ratio of your image is almost the same as your paper.

If the aspect ratio of the image doesn't match that of the paper, as is the case with this long thin image, then you can easily see the effect of checking Fit picture to frame. In this example, when Fit is checked the printed image is sized vertically to fill the paper, but that means that the left and right sides are lost.

 

The Windows Print Pictures app that paint.net uses does not offer much control of where the image is placed. If you want more control, then the best way is to install IrfanView and print from there. See this topic https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/121410-how-to-print-actual-size/  The IrfanView Print Preview dialog may look overwhelming at first but it's easy to use.

 

 

3 hours ago, Mister F said:

Or I could just print the pdf?

Yes, of course.