Printing one sheet of photo paper twice?

[mendel_leisk]

I'm thinking of strategies for getting additional print formats and sizes from

my HP B9180, by printing 2 or more images on a single sheet of paper. To get 2

8"x12" images printed on a sheet of 13"x19", for example, per the picture in

this thread:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00LZGu

 

I've tried it with plain paper and it seem fine:

 

1. With paper face down in input tray, mark one corner with pencil, for

reference.

 

2. Using the HP print driver in Photoshop, position the first image at one

extreme of the paper, and print it.

 

3. Return the paper to the input tray in the same orientation.

 

4. Using the HP print driver in Photoshop, position the second image at the

opposite extreme of the paper, and print it.

 

5. Trim for uniform borders around both images.

 

What I'm wondering: is there any issue with doing this, running the same sheet

of paper through this printer twice. Is there any overall treatment being

applied when printing to photo paper, say like the gloss optimizer on some of

the Epson printers?

 

Also, is there some much simpler method for doing this in one go, printing the

two images at once? I don't think it's possible with the HP print driver, but

not sure. Perhaps it's possible with Photoshop?

[sfdgs]

You should be able to open a new document in Photoshop sized at 13" x19" and drag the two 8x12 images onto it. This way you would only have to print one time rather than running it through twice. I haven't done it before, but there is no reason it shouldn't work.

[SteveH]

Check out the picture package feature in photoshop. You can customize the size of the paper

and the images and add them both to the same piece of paper. You can manually trim the

photos later.

[krisheylen]

I usually do it the way Jason explained.<p>

However, here's how my wife does it:<br>

Print the first picture - cut the paper in half - feed the other half back in - print second picture.<p>

She claims she never had any issues with that on my Epson.<p>

Regards,<br>

Kris.

[jennifer_durand]

I feed the paper in one way and then turn it around and feed the unprinted side in first.

Just make sure your images are small enough or you may ge overprint. Allow for white

margins if you like them.

[steven_clark]

Most programs have a way to do this pretty easily.

[brainbubba_motornapkins]

I've tried this with glossy paper, that felt dry to the touch (about 30-minutes after printing). It wasn't. The paper feed rollers picked ink off the first (printed) image, and tracked it across the blank half that was being printed, ruining both images. And I had to run several sheets of plain bond paper through the printer to clean up the rollers. Now I cut the paper to size. YMMV.

[mendel_leisk]

For some reason I could not get Picture Package to show more than one image. It would show 2 images the same. I tried it in Photoshop and in Bridge. I tried putting the specific images in an isolated folder. I persevered, but finally threw in the towel.

 

Jason's suggestion to create a new document and paste in the 2 (or more) images works quite well. I think that is the simplest way to go for me, using the HP print driver.

 

It really helped me to sort out in advance exactly what my images sizes and margins would be, in inches. AutoCAD helped in that regard, but you can do it with pencil and paper. I'm a PS duffer, so just to log the steps:

 

Assuming you want to print two 2/3 ratio portrait images to be 8"x12" on a single sheet of 13"x19" with a 1/2" margin.

 

1. Open the two images to be printed, and rotated if needed, to the orientation you want them to print (portrait).

 

2. Right click the bar at the top of each image, choose "image size", ensure "resample image" is unticked, and set the document "Width" and "Height" in inches, as needed to fit on the paper. In this example: the dimensions are 8"x12". Note the dpi.

 

3. With either of the images current, select the whole image and copy to clipboard: <ctrl> A + <ctrl> C.

 

4. Start a new image: <ctrl> N, but leave the new image opening dialogue open. In the new image dialogue box, change the units to inches. Photoshop always assumes you want your new image to suit current clipboard content, so the current statistics should match one the copied-to-clipboard image. It is good strategy to cop to clipboard before starting the new image, for this reason. Check the current dpi of new, it should match what you just copied to clipboard, but you need to revise the length and width (which should also currently match clipboard) to suit the paper size you will print to, with any margin deducted. In this example, that would be 18"x12". With the dimensions corrected, click ok.

 

5. With the new (blank) image current, paste in clipboard content (from Step 3): <ctrl> V.

 

6. Select the Move tool, and then drag the image to the left or right extreme. It should sort-of click to the corners, if PS is on it's defaults to snap to edges. Drag a corner of your image out to show a bit of blank beyond the image, to confirm nothing's clipping.

 

7. Set the uncopied image current, repeat steps 3, 5 and 6, and you're ready to print.<div></div>

[mendel_leisk]

Just a comment on the suggestions to cut paper prior to printing: I think the HP B9180 is "expecting" certain supported paper sizes. I'm not really sure, just got the printer, and I don't want to find out the hard way. So I figure it's safer to do my cutting after.

 

My other concern, as BrainBubba mentioned, is that it's just not good to run paper, especially photo paper, through the machine twice.

[mendel_leisk]

Here's the HP PhotoSmart Pro Print Diagogue, pretty straight forward:<div></div>

[jon_austin]

I also cut the paper to the desired size first, unless I want to print enough images at the same time to use the entire sheet.

 

Most printer drivers will allow you to enter a custom sheet size, but if not, so long as your print stays within the boundaries of the sheet you've cut, you can usually just specify the next larger size that the printer's drivers will accept.

 

Whenever I do something "out of the ordinary" like this, I always use the print preview function for a "sanity check" before committing ink to paper. It's saved me from wasting these expenses resources more times than I can remember.

[mendel_leisk]

Just to avoid cluttering up the forum with a new thread, if anyone's still following this:

 

Last night was my first try with a pack of HP Advanced Photo 13" X 19" sheet size, the Satin/Matte finish. Cut open the plastic bag inside the box, slide the first sheet out... hmmm, kind of thick, oh well.

 

Long story short: the top sheet is *not* print paper. It is an extra heavy cover card or something. I really wish it had something printed on it to explain this. I'm sure I'll never make this mistake again (and knock-on-wood) the printer survived, but HP really should identify this as non-print paper, or not put it in the pack.