Print Module Margins not Accurate

Software darktable
1

(Forgive me for still using inches)
When printing, I set the margins for 0.25" to leave room for the framer to work with. I haven’t printed in a fairly long time, possibly not since 3.0, and when I set the margins to 0.25" in darktable the print margins are almost 0.5" leaving the image smaller than I wanted. More importantly, when I make multiple test prints on smaller pages the images overlap. I use Turbo Print for the driver and I am on Linux Mint 20 so I’m not sure who the culprit might be.

2

(Forgive me for still using inches)

No! :slight_smile: You may partly be forgiven, though, since many/most printer/driver manufacturers seem to favour the Imperial way of thinking.

A few questions:

  • What printer?
  • Do you have CUPS installed?
  • What paper size?
  • Do you set your margins in darktable, or in Turboprint — or perhaps in both?
  • Any scaling set in dt, or in Turboprint — or perhaps in both?

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

3

Printer: Canon Pixma Pro 10
CUPS is installed and running
Paper was 8 1/2 x 11 and 13x19 (A3+) Canon Pro Lustre
Margins were set in darktable, I’ve never known a way to set them in Turbo Print.
I’m not sure what scaling is so I will guess I’ve never adjusted it in either application.

I think it has something to do with the little black marks that show the non-printable area described here. I think I can set up the printer to be borderless but if I can’t, not knowing the measurements of the non-printable area means a lot of guess work trying to dial in the margins.

UPDATE: I can’t set it up as borderless.

4

You will find some interesting info here:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3748357
https://www.chassimages.com//forum/index.php/topic,229065.0.html

Also: what happens if you print from outside darktable?
Say, from The Gimp, or some office application, or a test print using CUPS?

5

Thanks for t he links, I’ll check them out.
To be honest, ink is too expensive for too many test prints but I’ll look into how Gimp works with Turbo Print.

6

Oh, I do understand about ink costs!!!
BUT: you do not have to print a full-fledged piece of art just to test margins.
Instead, create a PDF || jpg || whatever containing four Xs – one in each corner of the paper. That will not make you spend too much ink.
Is 8.5 x 11 inch your cheapest/basic/normal paper sheet?

In case you do not know how to produce such a PDF || jpg || whatever, I could make one for you.

Addendum: Canon Knowledge Base - Print Area - TS9120

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden