Printing 5x7 or other small sizes

[will king]

Okay, this is probably a basic, obvious questions. I'm using PS CS2

and an Epson R2400, and either 8.5x11 or 13x19 paper. The only paper

Epson offers at 4x6 or 5x7 is glossy, and I want to stay with semi

glossy. So I should be able to print four 5x7s on the 13x19 paper. Is

there an easy way to configure this in PS? I thought it would be easy

as making a 13x19 inch canvas in PS and cropping full res photos to

5x7 and pasting it onto the canvas and do so four times. Well, that

didn't work. One photo was bigger than the canvas. Any other ideas?

Thanks.

[will king]

Also, what's the best tool to physically cut or crop paper. My wide has a scrap booking cutter but it's a bit too small and it sometimes leaves jagged edges.

[minicucci]

Hi Will: Your idea about setting up a blank canvas is the right one. What probably

happened was a resolution mismatch. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the canvas document

was set to 72 PPI and your images were at 300-360 or so. Just make sure all images and

the target canvas are the same resolution and it should work fine.

 

Alternatively, you can cut the 13 x 19 down into smaller sheets and print regularly.

 

Paper trimmers range in quality. You can pickup semi-decent, small trimmers at Staples

that will cost around $30-$40 if use is going to be intermittent and for paper (not mat)

only. Carl (brand name) makes an OK cutter in this price range. The king of hill for

trimmers is the Rotatrim and they are very pricy but worth every penny IMO. I have a 30

inch Rotatrim that I bought used and consider it one of my finer purchases. They run

around $500 new for that size.

[will king]

That's a lot Patricia and please excuse my ignorance. I'm pretty new to this but trying to learn. ;)

[will king]

I meant <i> thanks </i> a lot, not that's a lot. Although $500 is a lot for a cutter. Perhaps a Freudian slip.

[mark u]

It can be worth exporing what QImage has to offer for printing management:

 

http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/

[godfrey]

Matte finish roll paper is available from:<br>

<a href="http://www.inkpresspaper.com/" target=new><b>Ink Press Paper</b></a>

<br>

"Print Plus Matte 80" is available in 4" and 8.3" roll width from B&H Photo: <br>

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?

A=search&Q=&b=0&a=683_6046&a=311_2565&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&Submit.x=8&Submi

t.y=5&Submit=Go&shs=&ci=8258&ac=" target=new2>Print Plus Matte 80</a>

<br><br>

I use a 15" Rotatrim cutter, cost was about $250 but more than just worth it; I consider it

as one of the essential tools of photography. They're the best.

<br><br>

The notion of multi-page printing on a single 13x19 cut sheet is good. First make a

duplicate of your working PSD file, then use the <b>Image->Size...</b> dialog to set the

resolution and dimensions required for printing to a 4x6 or 5x7 inch size. Next create

your 13x19 master canvas, be sure to set the density to be identical to your image master.

Create guides for aligning the images you're going to paste into it. Now go back to your

image master, select all, and do a <b>Edit->Copy Merged</b>. Switch back to the

multiprint master and paste. The new image will be a layer ... select the move tool (v) and

click it into position in the grid. Do the same for each of the four you want to print.

<br><br>

The difficult part is handling the printed images and paper afterwards. Let the paper dry

down overnight .. the inked surface is very fragile, particularly when still damp. The other

difficult part, at least in my experience, is getting the dimensions and positions exactly

right. I find that the Epson driver's notion of precise position is often just a tiny bit at

variance with what Photoshop CS2's "Print with Preview" suggests, so it often takes a sheet

or two of experimentation to get the positioning of elements correct.

<br><br>

Good luck, and have fun!

<br>Godfrey

[will king]

Thanks Mark.

 

Godfrey, thanks so much for the tips. I looked up the Rotatrim cutter at B&H and I might go with that one. Thanks for the suggestion.

[godfrey]

Glad to help.

<br><br>

Rotatrim:

<br>

I bought the 15". In retrospect, I should have spent the additional $20-40 and bought the

18" or 24" model ... that way you can cut up to a full-sheet A3 size paper lengthwise. It's a

convenience that proves useful occasionally. I figured that since my current printing

capability is limited to 13x19" cut sheet, if I could handle at least the 13" dimension I

could get the cuts I wanted done. But I've occasionally missed on that convenience.

<br><br>

Godfrey

[jas1]

Hi Will,

It's actually quite simple to print multiple smaller images on a bigger size of paper and take out all the guess work on resolution size etc. Go to FILE...AUTOMATE...PICTURE PACKAGE. Here you can dictate the size of paper etc. By default, if you are printing 5x7s on an 8.5x11" paper (for example) you get two copies of the same picture you have been working on. But you can select one or the other picture and change it to any other you want to print.

I hope this helps.

Jas