Hi Sue,
We should be able to sort it all out.
Let's get some information first.
I see from the screen snaps that your printable area is 210mm x 296.9.
I was trying to replicate that set of numbers, but so far no luck.
What size paper are you telling the printer that you are using? (Is that what you are really using?)

Next question: What is the resolution of the TIF image? 

Next: What size print are you trying to make?

The grain in the two screen snaps that you sent is probably normal since Qimage uses thumbnail size images to make thumbs as well as the preview panel.
It will also use thumb size images for the Print Editor screen unless you change the setting.

You might try going to the EDIT menu, Preferences, Thumb Quality, and select best.

I await your reply.

Fred

OK Making progress.

Let's say first that 203.7 x 290.5 mm is the Correct printable area of A4 on that printer
So it you say: Fit to page, with crop scissor on, you will get a print 203.7 x 290.5 mm

But your crop scissors are off because you were able to drag the size.
Your image is not standard as you cropped a little, so I can't match you pixel for pixel, but we have to start somewhere.
If I have crop scissor off, and use Fit to Page, I get an intended print size 203.7 x 271.6.
(My image size is 3859 x 2894)  That's close enough, I think,)

At that print size, my print resolution becomes 361 ppi, certainly far more than you need for a good print.

If you click the Tab marked QUEUE, next to the Job Property tab, what does it say?
See my screen snaps.

This way, I will be able to make my print size match yours if need be.

Keep going!
Fred

OK Sue, making progress.

You stated that you are using A4 paper. We agreed I think, that the printable area of that paper is 203.7 x 290.5 mm.
That, by definition is the largest print you can make on A4 paper on the printer you use.  (No borderless setting)

So something is incorrect, because you show a print size of 210 x 263 mm.
210 mm will not fit on 203.7 mm of area.
Even in the original snaps with the dog, you showed the wrong size printable area, and I said I couldn't find the match to that.

So let's see where the problem lurks at this point.
I'll bet you have borderless turned on in order to increase the size of the printable area.

I can make a print that is 210 x 280.1 mm with borderless on. Then I slide the image to the top of the page to look like yours.
What I cannot get is 1200 x 1200 with borderless on unless there's some special paper selection you are using.

One thing I can assure you. If Qimage reports a print size of 210 x 263 mm, that is what is being sent to the printer driver.

So I would remove the Borderless check. Not needed here unless you have more information.

After removing the borderless, resize the print using Fit to Page crop scissor on.
I am making this assumption based on the fact that you dragged the image by eye, and you didn't have a fixed frame size you needed.

Then go into the print editor, use the cropping tab, and slide the image around using the hand cursor in the little image box until you are pleased.

See second snap. The dog is not edge to edge, and gets no benefit from borderless.


Another topical question.
I can see that your colorspace is Prophoto..... That is an extraordinarily wide color gamut.
If it were me, I would resave that TIF in Adobe RGB.
You can do that in QU if you wish, but you seem to be more conversant with Photo Shop.

Fred

Check in the driver screen
You have borderless turned on and uncheck it.
See snaps

Ok so at least we know why your readings were askew.
So you certainly may use borderless, and then use Fit to Page, and sllide the image to the edge.
All I can say is that whatever QIMAGE reports as the print size, in that Queue tab, is what it is sending to the printer.
Beyond that point, we might hope that Ernst, who is the most knowledgeable in HP printers and their personalities, will read this thread and possibly have a solution.
Have you made a print? Has the print been skewed or wrong?
Cant always go by Print preview or Softproof  views.

Are you sure that the dog image isn't oversharpened by a lot.
That's what the speckles look like!


I tried my best.
Hopefully, someone with an HP B8500 series will chime in.

Fred

Thank you for all of your efforts Fred, especially on a Sunday.

I have tried a print and it comes out exactly as the printer driver preview says it will - which is too zoomed in, it seems to be fitting the horizontal axis properly to the bottom of a landscape page but this has meant that the vertical axis does not fit the page and so is cropped. It does not matter if I choose the paper to be landscape or portrait.

I dont think the dog is oversharpened dramatically enough for it to show up on a thumbnail.

Thanks again.
Sue

I have turned sharpening off in Camera Raw and saved as TIF as suggested and the thumbnail and image on the edit page do look less speckled now.

Sue