Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

I think I am on info overload I'm trying to learn the Epson 7900, a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet,Photoshop, and now Qimage all at once. I am 62 and my brain does not compute as fast as it used to  ::)

 I posed this question on Luminous Landscape but after 56 views got no response... hmm

  I printed my first canvas wraps through Qimage yesterday and did fairly well for first time printing anything on a wide format printer.

 Just a little confused on the paper size choice in setting up the driver. Since I am printing off a 24" roll and there is input in the driver settings for roll width, why does the driver ask for a paper size? Do I just ignore it?
I printed 2 -11 x 14 wraps with 1 1/2" mirror borders for the wrap makes the image 14 x 17, in landscape mode one above the other.
What I did was input 24 x 30 and portrait orientation,and since I cut the canvas manually (as recommended by the paper documentation), everything was fine.
I manually placed first image 1/2 " from the bottom, the 2 images 1" apart, and  just cut about 1/2" above the second one.
Is this correct?
If your using roll paper why doesn't the paper (sheet) size just gray out when you choose a roll size?
 
I couldn't find documentation on how to do it in the manual.

Think of the paper (size) as a "canvas" size and a canvas cannot be one dimensional (where you only specify width).  All printer drivers require both a width and length.  When you think about it, you're going to need to specify length, otherwise you are working with a one dimensional surface which cannot even be displayed on things like page previews.  The logic here is, define your page length as the maximum length you'll need.  For example, if you plan to print two 24x30 prints, set your length to maybe 62 inches (a little more than 2x30 to give some room for paper feed/margins).  Then check "save roll paper" in your driver and the printer will know to cut just below the last print on the page.  That way if you only print one 24x30 print on the 62 inch long page, it'll cut just below the 30 inch mark because it will see nothing is printed below that.

That's basically it: define your page long enough to accept your longest requirement as far as length and then use "save roll paper" in the driver options which basically tells the driver that your length is a maximum.  That way, you can still see and work with page previews because you have at least the maximum defined.

Regards,
Mike

Thank you so much Mike! 
A simple and logical explaination, that makes so much sense!
I essentially got part of the equation correct in my settings, I just didn't input the "save roll paper" part.