In printing greeting cards I'm having difficulty getting equal 1/8" (.125) margins.  Paper stock is 5.5" wide x 8.0" high (portrait).  The image is 5.25" wide x 3.75" high, landscape (.tif @240ppi) to be located at the top of the stock - therefore 1/8" margins on top, left & right. The stock is then folded in half at the 4" point, giving a 1/8" margin at the bottom of the image as well.

I'm getting a right margin that is too fat and the image is not printing a full 5.25"  Why?  It is printing an exact 3.75" height.   If it would print the exact 5.25 width, then the R margin would be perfect. 

If there is no remedy (something I'm not setting properly or an Epson 2400, 2200, or 3800 quirk, how does one nudge the image in very small increments to eliminate skinny or fat margins.   I think a $4. card ought to have equal margins.... and hopefully a $5. image   :-)

Thanks,

Gordo

     

I have mine in an OK setup, I believe.
See screen snaps.
I have a 0.13 margin around all sides (including the bottom at 4.13) with the correct print size. 3.75 x 5.25.
As Terry said. Crop scissor on, get the User Defined paper size set, Set print size in Custom print size.
Then all I did was go into the Full Page Editor, and type into the upper margin box, 0.125.
Have I got it OK or I missed something?

Fred

try selecting borderless printing in the driver, if you want narrow margins.

Hello Again,
First: Ray, Thanks for the "borderless" checkbox alert.  Epson doesn't allow custom paper sizes (5.5x8 - this project) when borderless is checked.  And Terry, I share your observation about Epson's skinny left available print "margins". 

Fred, thanks again for your time and help!!!  I followed your 1,2,3 - first with the 2200 (5.266x7.333) & then with the 2400 (5.266x7.766) obviously a difference in the two printer's allowable print area - bottom.  I shifted to the 2400 & printed the 5.25x3.75 with equal .127 margins (please, hold the giggles!  I have a 4 place digital micrometer that I use in the shop. Visuals are fine but when trying to nudge margins...to 3 places.....

Is there a sticky face for EUREKA!!!?   I've been trying to push the river (PS, Publisher, Epson, et al) for years whenever I occasionally do cards and mailers.  Up front this was the reason (image placement) that I purchased QU.....I'm sure other features will come into focus as projects come along.

I went back to the 2200.  I'm convinced that its driver has been the main brain cramp. There is nothing I can do to avoid the .114 left margin.....short of a bigger hammer?   During this current struggle, I now suspect the 2200.  When I select or drag an image into Preview I often don't get the Print Properties dialogue (Print Sizes), just a light gray rectangle of its size.  Also, yesterday I had 2 program lock-ups.

Another item: when I reset and then go File/Printer-Page Setup, set the paper size I got a "you have margins in place that don't work with your paper size...do you want to check it out?".   Where is that - how do I get that margin dialogue?   In Full Page Editor/Print Location I'm not able to change those margins....they just keep going back to default numbers.  I thought crop was On....just set paper size, margin size & QU will crop (size the image)?   I just need to learn in Qimage who's the dog and who's the tail....which parameters precede or prevent other settings.   A program architecture flow diagram could list, locate, and to a degree, indicate hierarchy of features and tools.

Fred and fellow forum helpers,  thanks a lot.    Without a publisher's thorough instruction manual and/or copious aftermarket literature, your willingness to help is huge!

Gordo

It's Edit, Preferences, Print and Page Formatting.
We need one of those for your posts too, less of the chat and more facts as Fred requested.  
Have you looked at the Help, Getting familiar with Qimage, Learning Tools etc.?
Terry

Hi Gordo,

I don't think a flow chart giving enough useful detail for you to have solved your equal border problem, could be fitted on a single sheet of paper, bearing in mind the number of variations possible, and considering you would need a similar level of detail for other aspects of qimage, too.  I think the best way is to try things out for yourself, play with it, immerse yourself in it, so to speak. The built in help system and tutorials are actually pretty good.

Now, when I mentioned borderless printing, did you think why I mentioned that, or did you just accept what epson said and moved on? Did you try for example, giving a false, larger page size to the printer driver, one that accepted borderless printing? If you have a longer sheet than selected in the driver, does the printer give an error message. If you use a shorter sheet? Does the printer sense the paper width? can you use a piece of card, whatever, in the paper path to nudge the paper over a bit. Why do epson not allow borderless on odd sizes? If you try to answer these questions for yourself, you will get an understanding of the mechanics of your printers, possibly find alternatives to trying to do fancy things based solely on software capabilities, or manufacturer's decisions. If all else fails, if a hard edge print can not be placed exactly as you want, then simply blurring/fading the edge of the image can be effective. Where do we stick that in the flowchart?  

Best wishes,

Ray

Ps- trying to give a fishing lesson here, not the fish

Have you asked Adobe and Microsoft to do that for their programs   
Qimage has a comprehensive "Learn by Example" list in Help; I suggest you look at those and get serious about learning the the features and the menus.
You may find it helpful that there is a "Menu Cheater" icon, 4th from the left at the top of the main screen. This short-cuts multi-layer menus.

Fred clearly demonstrated how to get your size and equal margins right but we never really got a clear reply or screen shot from you. Did you change printers because one could not print equal margins, or ... ? I was lost in the lack of logical flow.
All this talk about "workarounds" is nonsense; Qimage does not have any bugs at present for you to "workaround". It has  a comprehensive set of features which can be used creatively. This may include overcoming limitations of your printer and driver. When in borderless mode, tweaking page margins to centralize the image on the page is a "feature" clearly documented in the help.
The page margins dialogue also has a feature to centralize margins but warns that you loose printable area.
Terry

Thanks yet again for staying with this thread.  Obviously I appreciate your help; I began reading reviews and this forum in late Nov,  and purchased QU  12/6/10.  I have ~ 15 hours with the program - on screen.   Your combined posts on Q, ~3000, is highly impressive, and invaluable to us newcomers, regulars and the programers.  Needless to say, eh?

This post is brief until I get back ("cash register" problems), with some line item thoughts & problems.

Gordo