Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

I'm having a brain failure at the moment!!! Something has changed and I can't put my finger on the issue so I hope you guys may tell me what I've done.

I'm printing one copy at a time. Always have. I'm about 60, A4, prints into a run of 100. Up until print 50 everything was fine. Now QImage wants to print two copies of each print. I have no idea how or what changed. I've looked at the printer setup and my QImage setup. Nothing seems to have changed. Turned it off. Recalled my job settings and still it wants to print two copies. Print Queue is empty. Sample/1/2 is one 1. Printer is set to single copy. When I'm printing the print dialogue box indicates page 1 of 2. So how and where does that happen?

So where do I look to find where I've change from single print to two prints?

regards

I had something like this happen once because I messed up the print size, so QI went in to poster mode - so the second page wasn't a second copy of the same picture, it was the very tiny fragment of the first (and only) picture that would no longer fit on the page.

Mel W.

Have you accidentally altered "Copies to Add" in QU?
See attached screen shot of where this is located on the main screen above the thumbs.
Terry

Thanks Terry. It's showing 1. Should it show 0? And if so how do I get the 0 to stick. It keeps coming up as 1.

regards

Hi,
That is correct, 1 is the minimum.
Have you checked the total number of images in the queue in the Queue tab. Is this number what yo expect?
Terry

OK I've sat here and watched what happens like a hawk! (I neglected to say that it's not happening every print). So I open a file by clicking on the +. Then click on the Print button. One file is added to the Print Queue. Click on OK in the print dialogue window. 50% of the time everything runs fine. But the other 50% of the time I'm getting another identical file appear in the Print Queue!!
As I only ever feed my printer one piece of paper at a time when the first print finishes I get a printer error. I just hit cancel and empty the Print Queue.
So how does the second file appear in the Print Queue if I touch nothing and just watch? When it happens the printer dialogue box has changed. I have All, Pages 1 to * and selection. I have All checked. But the Pages 1 to * is now 1 to 2.

It doesn't affect my work as long as I don't put in more than one piece of paper at a time. Which I never do anyway. But it upsets my printer as it throws a fit demanding more paper. Poor thing!

Anyway something to ponder.

regards

If you do have a second sheet of paper there, does it actually print a second copy of the print?

How about checking for a driver update or re-installing the driver?
Terry

I'm trying to imagine what is happening here.  You said that when you print, only one print shows in the queue (in Qimage Ultimate's queue).  But when you print, another print shows up in Qimage Ultimate's print queue?  Or, you mean, a second copy is showing up in the driver?  Not understanding exactly where that second copy is being seen.  If you watch the progress meter in QU and it only opens and processes one file, and you are sure that the print dialog said "1" copy, the problem has to be in the driver somewhere.

Mike

OK some clarity.

With 'normal' printing the progress bar moves 100% across. But when I get the 'duplicate' the progress bar only goes halfway before the printer politely throws a tantrum.
If I print with the 'Print Queue', bottom right hand corner, displayed the print job disappears after a 'normal' print job. But with the double print the 'Print Queue' shows two jobs.

I assumed that if the paper was our of alignment or something like that the progress bar would be 'normal'. But as I said it only goes halfway. So It's looking for a second piece of paper to print a second print.

I'm positive it's not in the printer settings. Somehow QImage is getting a message to print two copies.

I have to move onto A3+ prints tomorrow and I have a Job set up for that. A Job that I have use many times before. So it will be interesting to see what happens with a new Job setting. (Keep in mind I have use the same workflow/settings/Job now for well over 2 years and 300+ prints. So far this is the first actual printing issue).

The only other 'maybe' is that I've recently had mouse issues. Maybe the mouse is confusing something somewhere.

regards

+Bruce,
I have been trying to make the issue recur here, and I came up with a small but possible answer.
If you are a key stroke user more than a mouser, and find that you use the key DEL to clear an image, would it be possible you hit the INS key at times?
The reason I thought of this was due to you mentioning you do ONE PRINT AT A TIME.
That would call for removing the image that printed last.

You show two in the queue...  but  refuting having two in the queue, you also say that the arrow buttons that change pages shows only SAMPLE and Page 1.

Please double check those items.
Fred

No always the mouse. But I do think the mouse may be the issue. I often have to double click to register. So I'll keep an eye on it.
The 'Copies to add' is now always on 1 before I start.
In the progress dialogue window that shows the moving bar as it prints in the top right hand corner it shows as 0/1. But on the double print it shows as 1/2.

I was going to swap to A3+ today but found I had missed some A4's. So I printed them. No issues. But I have been very watchful of my mouse use.

I'm going to swap out the mouse and see it's doing a double register somewhere.

regards

I had that problem with a mouse a few months ago and had to replace it.
Terry

Just an update. I'm now blaming the mouse! I have sorted out the mouse and haven't had an issue since. Touch wood! Seems the mouse was doubling up at some point when I had thought I had clicked once it's sensitive tantrums were registering more than one print.

regards

Thanks, Bruce, for popping back on here to give us all the solution.
To prevent this from happening again,
Attached is a shot of Mike's cat who was trained to keep a mouse from getting too rambunctious.
You can use it as a screen saver, or a wall paper.

Fred

Er sorry guys. The cat doesn't work. This morning I started up QImage. Yesterday I was printing A4's. Today opened a photo. Then went to Recall and selected the Job I have saved for A3+. Bingo. I got 2 jobs in the print queue!!!
So should I have done a Recall on the A3+ job 'before' opening a photo? A workflow issue!

regards

Bruce,
I guess it's time to get to the bottom of the issue.
There is no work flow.... when you recall a "JOB"

See attached.
Recalling a JOB, automatically clears the queue, and warns you that it will do that.
Do you get the warning label I show below.?  (...and you are clicking JOB, not settings?)
You can open Qimage with A3, A3+, or any size... with an image in the queue or not, when you open a JOB, it takes over; changes the paper size, type, orientation, profiles, and images.
Could you have corrupt saved jobs?
Make a new saved JOB and see if that issue pops up.
Let's start there.


Fred

Fred if I open a photo, (click the +), then go to Recall and click on a job, say A4, click open everything 'seems' ok. I'll print an A4 no worries. When that print is finished the queue is empty. The top right preview pane is empty. Then I'll go to another photo and click the +. Opens fine. But now, not always, I get a duplicate in the queue. The box/Sample, bottom right above Job Properties, will have gone from 1 to 2. Top box 'Copies to add' is 1. If I have forgotten to change from A4 to A3+ I go up to Recall. Click on my A3+ job and click open. The Sample is now 3.
Now to add a new twist!!! The top right preview pane changes from Landscape to Portrait. ???? Again not always. Also sometime when changing from A4 to A3+ the preview pane doesn't always change. I get the A3+ size but with an A4 print sized photo.

I have about a weeks worth of work to finish up my current assignment. I can't afford to play around at the moment. When I've finished printing I think I'll follow you suggestion and look for corruption in my Jobs.

At the moment, provided I keep a close eye on the settings and make changes when they change I'm ok. It's only when I get lazy and take my eye of the settings that I'm getting caught.

regards

I get a feeling based on your wording thatclicking on A4 is not a JOB but a printer setup.

Go into Edit Preferences and find Clear Queue automatically.
. See attached. Set it for never.

I still feel something is wrong in what you saved as what.
a JOB contains everything and wipes everything before it clean.

Recall a printer setup and the orientation might change and paper size etc.
If you would kindly send me your email address, I will make a video for you.
Then you compare my workflow with yours...
my email: wathree.ssz@verizon.net

Waiting to hear from you.
Fred

Fred I got a WeTransfer notice this morning. Due to poor internet service it maybe a while before I get a chance to download it. 200+ meg will choke the bandwidth.

Ok this mornings adventure!
I turned QImage on. Went to File/Recall. Selected my Job/Preset, call it what you like, Selected my A3+ setting. Then went down and ensured Print Queue was visible. I then found my file that I wanted to print. Clicked on the +. Immediately 2 files opened in Print Queue. One click and two jobs in the Queue!!!

I right clicked. Clicked on Clear Queue. This happened 3 times. Then finally I got just 1 print job in the queue.

Over to you.  :)

regards

Bruce,
Please download the video after supper and it will clear everything up.
From the quote above, this is what I gather.
You are recalling a Job with images included.
So far so good.
Now you add an image (or more depending on how many thumbnails are selected) by clicking on a plus in a thumb.
So we would expect to have the images from the job PLUS the added images you clicked on.
If you watch the video, it will all become clear.

Please tell me what it is that you are calling a JOB PRESET.
You can do this easily by presenting the steps....   i.e   
"I click the mouse on the Yellow recall folder icon"
"The box opens and I click on......  etc etc
Fred

Do I have to sic Paul Hogan on you?
 ;)

Thanks Fred. I'll download the video asap. (I have bandwidth and speed issues).

OK maybe 'Jobs' is not a good term. File/Recall. There I have saved various print jobs. ie settings for printer, paper, profiles etc. So I have an A4 setup saved and an A3+ setup. Those two I use all the time. As you would know they set all the printing criteria. There are NO photos/files associated with these settings. They simply set up page size and the printing criteria. Once I select one of those setting and then click Open I can move onto selecting which file I want to print by clicking on the + and then print it. My files are all in the one folder which I never change. It's my print folder.
It's not stopping me from printing. It just means that I have to check all the setting/number of prints before I hit OK to print.

regards

Good morning,
Now things are becoming clearer.
You are NOT loading a saved "JOB"
You are loading a printer setup.

The next likely suspect in the mystery is (I have done this many times) that you have more than one thumbnail selected, so when you click a PLUS sign of a thumbnail, it will place all the selected thumbnails into the queue.

The next likely is (I am betting on this one) that you click a plus sign which adds an image to the queue, and then you click the "zebra" button to the left of the Plus sign to change the size, and if the vertical bar is BLUE, you will get a second copy of the image.

If none of the above matches anything, then I hope you reinstall as shown in the video I sent you because no one else has reported such as yet.
Is there any chance you can make a video for me showing turning on Qimage, and going through the steps?
Fred

Since no one else has ever reported this problem, I think we have to look at this from the standpoint of what could be unique about your settings.  If, when you save and recall, the "J" button is checked and you save/recall job settings, did you know that #copies is part of those settings?  In other words, if copies was set to "2" when you saved the job settings and then you recall the job and pick job "Settings", the "2" in copies will be recalled.  Then when you click "+", it adds two.

Next, to rule out your saved settings/setup being corrupted, I would suggest recreating them from scratch.  Make sure you are set up the way you want and you are currently getting only one print when you click "+", then save those settings as a printer setup or job, whatever you like.

Other than two thumbnails being selected when you click the +, the only way clicking "+" can result in two of the same print being added is if "Copies" says "2" above the thumbnails.  Even if your mouse was messing up and key bouncing and clicking twice very fast, that would open the editor as it would be seen as a double click.  I suppose one final scenario could be if the queue was not clear when you started... you could have one copy of that print in the queue and if you did something that cause the "Sample" page to show instead of page 1, there could already be a print on page 1 but you are looking at the sample page (showing the setup).  Then when you click the "+", it is switching to page 1, showing the already existing print 1 plus print 2 that you just added.

Mike

Thanks guys.

Keep in mind that my routine has been the same for a year or two since first purchasing QImage. I'm too lazy to make changes!!!

Yes Fed a printer setup.
No I'm paranoid about wasting paper so I know I'm only press the + once. There's benefits in being 'mean'.  :o
Zebra button? Don't even know what to do with it! So I avoid it.
I haven't the facilities to make a video. Sorry.

Way back in the dark past I was a systems analysis. And program designer. Heh heh when a 5 meg hard drive was a big time dream. And loading a program from a cassette was high tech. I ended up specializing in DBase. My point being I have an understanding of how things work.

Yesterday I printed just two A3+ prints. No issues at all. This morning I've started to print with no issues. So it's a random thing. That's why I suspected the mouse.

As I said it's not stopping my work. It's just making me slow down and check all the settings before hitting print. I'm almost finished this print assignment. Then I'm off overseas for a couple of months. So in a few days QImage will be put into hibernation for a few months.

Thanks for the help. It's a mystery. When I get time I will wipe my printer setups and start again.

regards

Sorry guys. I've been on the road and when I got back I had printer issues. So I'm only just getting going again. But interestingly the first time I clicked on + to load a photo I got 2 in the queue!!

It's a very random thing. I'm still looking very suspiciously at my mouse.

But I'm almost finished this task. So I'm off overseas for a few months. When I get back I'll see what happens. But Epson has made it hard for me to get cartridges for my printer so I may have to replace it. Then I'll be starting over again.

thanks