Printing problems

[geoff.crabb@ntlworld.com]

This does not seem to be a bug as I can find no reference to the problem I am having as a new user of Imatch 5.5 recently upgraded from 3.6. I cannot get the Design and Print module to print reliably, most of the time I receive a totally blank page.
I have kept my testing as simple as possible:
1. Set up a Standard Template: Landscape
2. Add a file container
3. Fit the container to the page with a small margin: Save template
4. Add an image from the database - image appears on template. Image also appears in Print Preview
5. Print: Firstly, printer properties have not been set by Imatch to Landscape - so I do that manually
6. Printer outputs a totally bank page, although on one occasion it was a totally black page!
7. I have found that if I play around with the cell margins in "Container Properties", for example above 0.5" all round worked, but nothing smaller, then the page prints OK
8. However the same saved template tried today does not print anything unless I set the cell margins to 1"!

What have I overlooked? All other settings are at defaults.
Using Windows 10 and a HP Envy 4500 printer.

[Mario]

Have you tried one of the templates shipped with IMatch?
Does your template look OK when you print it to an image file?
If you have a PDF printer driver (standard on Windows 10), does the template look OK when you print to a PDF file?

Probably this is a specific issue with your printer settings or something. Maybe if the outer page margins are too small, everything is clipped.
Have you tried using larger page margins or larger margins around your container. Try an inch on each side.
Do you use the fit-to-page print setting or do you print at 100%?

Maybe the IMatch log file contains helpful error messages or warnings.
Please attach (!) the log file in zipped form after you made some prints.

For more information about the IMatch log file, search the IMatch help index for log file.

[geoff.crabb@ntlworld.com]

Thank you for the impressively quick answer. You gave me the pointer to the cause. If I switch from "fit to paper size" to "scaled" in the "Set print target" dialog, leaving "scale" at the default 100% the image prints perfectly, so it appears that this might be a bug with the " fit to page" function.

To answer you particular questions:
1. Printing to an image file worked OK at all times.
2. The failure to print the image (blank page output) was identical when printing to "Microsoft PDF". i.e. when printing the page to the printer produced a blank page it also produced a blank PDF and vice-versa.
3. Once I set the "Position and size" to "scale" I can reduce all margins to zero if I wish and images still print, so the problem does not seem to be related to trying to print smaller margins than the printer can handle. (HP Envy 4500 margins Top 3.26mm, bottom 3.26mm, left 3.18mm, right, 3.13mm).

If a log-file would help, please specify which operations you would like me to carry out in the light of the above; I imagine perhaps one print that does not print the image when printed to "Fit" and the same print with all other settings unchanged to "Scaled"?

[Mario]

1. Open a bug report in the bug report board so I can track this.

2. Create a log in debug mode (Help > Support > Toggle Debug Mode) of an IMatch session where the print fails.
Include info about the paper size, page size related settings you made in your printer driver (which also may have a fit to paper option which may interfere) etc.
Include your template as well so I can run it  here.

The log records the measures returned by Windows for the printer and paper, and maybe there is a problem here. Printing is still super-complicated and there are often hardware- or driver issues. I have only access to about 10 different printers, and IMatch prints fine on all. This does not necessarily mean that I tried any printer with any printer setting in combination with all IMatch D&P options...