Hello...
Bought software about a month ago for various reasons, and Id like to share my frustration and a few requests if I may.
First of all, not relevant, but my mum was ill briefly and died in hospital beginning of July so I'm sorry if I ever come across a bit raw.
It does also rather cloud the mind to say the least.

I bought the software after intense searching for a solution to my problem. While I strive like most for printing perfection, I am a bit new (thick and slow to learn) all the technical nuances of the art.
My problem is windows, actually MS in its own style and frustrating ways, it pains me to try and understand it.
My printer is an Epson an oldish 7880 24" that works well and 'can' produce stunning results. However the printer pages, beyond the basic programme I happen to be using is a wash with features and settings. But windows goes beyond this. In printer properties there is at least a 'default' settings page. And beyond this an 'advanced printer settings page. All eventually use the basic printer - print pages for which there are 3, along with there sub menus and options.
So which is which and used in what order? And if one obscure setting or option is missed would I end up with a print on the reverse side of the paper? Hardly, but often its that unnerving and easy to miss an option or requirement that I ended up holding my breath each print or weary to leave a whole roll of expensive canvass or proofing semi-mat in case I had. Mystified I turned to Qimage and duly paid. I didn't hesitate at discounts either, so desperate for a solution.

However I'm almost as bewildered as ever. A myriad of option seeking print perfection, but no easier to use or set up a series of prints easily and confidently, that I KNOW, I will get what I want.

Clearly time and patience will help but yes it could be a tad easier to use, especially If I don't print on a daily basis.
So what would help?
A direction arrow of which way the print will appear from the printer (up or down) and layout. Layout is key to the program. Despite its many advanced features, setting and options a WYSIWYG screen showing easily and clearly, perhaps with a scroll bar for more than on long print would be very handy.
Its clear to me Qimage is a supremely advanced programme, that perhaps (hopefully) does away with the need for the driver print menu, yet its still there. So now I'm even more confused.
Which exactly is it that takes priority / pecking order of final settings options. Qimage-> MS properties default -> MSproperties advanced -> Epson print and then preview. 

What a headache.

Hello, and thanks for a fast response.
I've been scratching my head for a few weeks, but to be honest I haven't printed much because I've been off the ball with other issues. So forgive me if I'm slow.

What do I print - and what media?
I do very few prints at the moment, but they tend to be posters or portraits.
I tend to use Coreldraw / corelpaint x5 mostly but occasionally Irfanview. Because that's what I'm used to.
I very often switch as the need arises between canvas and paper.
The printer has standard epson pigment inks.

The canvas I have / use is Inkjet Canvas Roll 24" Bright White Matte. results are generally superb and I'm happy with the quality/ colour.
The paper I use (I have 2) only because I have them. The quality is v.good.
One is a Cromalin Largo proofing paper Semi-matte, thick high weight?. The other is a HP proofing matte(146g/m2) but is very much less quality.
So canvas - landscapes. Cromalin -semi-matte portraits etc. Hp for cheap posters / signs etc.

I don't use colour profiles / management more than I need to, other than defaults. Most settings are default (max quality 4 the media) other than paper type and size. I tweak colours / contrast etc. and save the final image I'm happy with that prints how I want it. I'm really quite easy.

My main bug bear oddly is sizes and positioning.
If I do a canvas (I hate waste) It's usually the full width either profile or landscape -3to4 inches for frame, and the other dimension optimum for the image. If its a portrait, it's usually with a few smaller versions as well. i.e. someone asks for 3 prints 6x8 as well as a 500x600mm. One feature I know of from other packages I use is nesting. If I could use this properly it would be great. This is why for me, an easy layout features highly.

i generally muddle through setting OK both default driver and now with Qimage. I mainly have issues if I'm trying to do several prints at once (one after the other) and try to configure each print (image size / print size / paper size. because as I'm sure you know. If a 20x30 inch is printed with a default paper size of A1, the printer tends to leave large spaces. What worries me is choosing settings on one page, knowing defaults are different on another.

Hope that helps. Your example pic is spot on. That is the driver page I get.
No panic about reply. I appreciate the time differences.
rgds

Yes OK perhaps I should. thanks for the link & heads up. Wasn't aware of any and only had limited use to be fair.
Although read my first line. It's been hard to focus on anything
Yes I have tried a few photos. And they were good. Although one was canvas, so not the best to asses with.
My confusion is with the different property pages.
It's bad enough with MS and its printer options (which call up the base printer driver options) but sets different (default? values for each)
Add to that the same printer option page appears when printing.
And thats why I wanted a program to circumvent all this and use its own settings.
You can imagine my confusion when after using Qimage the same printer options page pops up

If nobody is certain what I meant by ms defaults,
go to printers -right mouse click properties, look in General - preferences.
Also click on the Advanced tab, and again preferences. (which are different to the first.) See what I mean.

Sizeing images and printing is an art by itself. The prog Qimage is confusing to say the least to use. Straight off anyway. It's not intuitive. It's not even clear which direction the layout will print.
But I'll watch the vids and with help it should make sense soon enough.

By the way, unrelated but I'm looking for a good suitable forum to register with, where I might off load a lot of printer parts. (UK )
I scrapped and stripped a canon w6400 and salvaged all the useful bits. No good to me now with an epson, but handy for someone perhaps.

Your forum name seems to be appropriate - don't you know anything about Windows printing? What come up is the printer driver settings, that is what controls the printer; no different from any other Windows program, from Notepad to Corel Draw to Qimage Ultimate.
Fred thinks you are UK based, if so, send me a personal message via the forum if you would like to phone me and I'll let you have my number. It should be possible to arrange a mutually convenient time for a call with both of us running QU.
Terry

Really, I have no idea what you mean by default and advanced...
I explained the other day that the default printer settings are set/found in Control Panel, Printers and devices.
All other locations set the printer for current use.
Qimage goes even further by remembering the settings for current use after you are finished.

When you click the print button a print setiup box becomes available just before you click the actual print button, in case, in case you have an oops! You want to change the paper or something.
You are over thinking everything.

Tell me how you find you "Basic" and "advanced".
Maybe if we had a common starting point, we could get through your maze of self ignighted smoke screen grenades.
Still trying!
Is either of the attached screen snaps one or both of your Basic/Advanced?


Fred

Hi again,
Yes, just a longer route to the printing preferences dialogue.
No problem here but I did click the APPLY button!
In normal use there is no need to use the Printer Properties dialogue, just use printing Preferences as that controls all that you need.
This is what opens when you click the Printer/Page Set up button (top right of QU screen and 3rd in from right). The QU page set-up dialogue opens first and then click the QU Properties button which opens the driver settings -  the same as Printing Preferences in Control Panel.
I wonder if this has caused some confusion: the QU "properties" is the same as Control Panel "preferences".?
As Fred said, do all your setting from within QU, set the paper size first and then the driver settings: paper type, quality, colour management etc. QU remembers this next time it's opened, and again, remember what Fred said about saving a Printer set-up so that different sets ups can be re-called with a couple of clicks.
Hope that was of some help.
Terry

EDIT: added screen shots of QU Print Set Up and printer Properties dialogue boxes.

Fred,
You're wrong about Lightroom.  In Lightroom, you can set a preset in the print module that will remember everything about the print job and print driver.

This may not be important to the current OP's problem, but QU isn't the only application that saves print/.printer settings.

Wil

OK thanks. I get the hint.
Just forget what printer driver options are, and set them in Qimage. Then save and recall as needed.

However one perhaps un-related question. If I print one single image that is 22"x 18", (portrait) and I want to print close to margins and paper width. If I set the paper size as 24" x 20" the printer would print this and then cut the paper just above the image.
But if in my settings paper is roll paper or set for A1 - it could be somewhere after this it cuts, wasting a lot of paper.

Just having another, look and straight away I ran in to problems. Maybe I should watch the vids a few more times because Im not sure what I set wrong here.
Hopefully you can see from the image below the print queue screen has a size set of 23 and a bit x 7 and a bit. I don't know how I got this setting.
When I check printer settings as suggested 3rd button from right, you can see that I have roll paper and user defined size set. And when I add a picture with a size about 22x18, Qimage asks if I want to go over the page???
So unless I choose a page size in printer properties, that is bigger than my image, it will see a problem.

But I don't want to see or set a page size. I've told it I have a roll. I just want to add my images, choose how big I want them, and avoid all the 'over thinking'