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Posted

I print quite frequently from Affinity Photo for Windows, using a Canon Pixma TS6250. This is usually for bordered images.

Recently I have needed to print 6"x4" borderless but cannot get the Affinity print dialogue to work with my Canon printer: having reduced my document size to 6"x4", set the print dialogue to the correct orientation and scale 100%, I click Printer Properties to bring up the Canon print dialogue.

The latter is set to borderless on 6x4 photo paper, preview box checked. I click OK to return to Affinity print dialogue, click OK again and the Canon print preview is invoked - but shows paper size changed to A4 with the image placed in the corner! I have tried this with the document at original size with Affinity print dialogue set to 'fit to printable': same result.

I have tried every combination I can think of between the Affinity and Canon dialogues to achieve this borderless print but the Canon preview always shows the paper size changed to A4. I check the paper settings on the printer - all OK. If I go ahead and print anyway, I get just a portion of the image on a 6x4 paper. If I leave everything as is but uncheck the borderless setting in the Canon properties then the image prints correctly but of course with borders.

Now I feel this must be an Affinity issue because my old Photoshop CS2 software will produce a borderless print of the same file (Canon printer settings same as used with Affinity) with no fuss at all.

The burning question is: do I now have to export all my borderless image printing to CS2, or have I missed or misunderstood a setting in Affinity?

I can't believe Affinity is lacking in such a basic requirement, so if anyone can point me to a solution I will be so, so grateful!

Affinity borderless question_2019-12-26.png

Affinity borderless question2_2019-12-26.png

Posted

I would try specifying the paper size in the Affinity Print dialog as "Set by driver", and specifying the 4x6 size in your Canon printer settings.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
    Laptop 2: Windows 11 Pro 24H2,  16GB memory, Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E80100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) 12 Core CPU 4.01 GHz, Qualcomm(R) Adreno(TM) X1-85 GPU
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 18.3, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1

Posted

Thanks for your quck response Walt.

Since posting, I have found another question on the same subject (really sorry for having started a new topic!) where the chap having trouble mentions that after a restart of AP he found a setting under 'Paper Size' specifying 'Defined by Driver'. So I restarted Photo, loaded my image and sure enough there was 'Defined by Driver' in the Print 'Paper Size' box, right at the top above 'Custom'. Now I'm pretty sure that option wasn't on the menu before; but I chose it and yes, the borderless print worked correctly. Do you think it only appears after setting 'Fit to Printable'? If that's the case I could have missed it - whatever, definitely one to watch out for.

So, success; but I have to add that while I think AP is fantastic for editing, the print side of it sucks compared to Photoshop! (Just compare among other things image sharpness after printing with each program - the Photoshop version is noticeably sharper when printing the exact same file. Have you found this?)

Anyway, thanks again for your interest.

Posted

Glad to hear it's solved. I think that Set By Driver is always available, or maybe I've been lucky.

Don't use Photoshop so I can't comment on its printing. But perhaps your Canon driver has some sharpening settings you could use?

Personally, I would be annoyed if the application applied sharpening automatically during printing. If I wanted it sharper I'd sharpen it myself :)

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
    Laptop 2: Windows 11 Pro 24H2,  16GB memory, Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E80100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) 12 Core CPU 4.01 GHz, Qualcomm(R) Adreno(TM) X1-85 GPU
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 18.3, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1

Posted

Yes it's there, I checked the drop down paper size menu - it shows a long list with 'custom' at the top. But hidden above was the option 'Defined by Driver'; once used then the drop down defaults to showing it first. But I don't think you would ever see it if you didn't know it was there!

I don't want to disparage Affinity Photo. It is a really good alternative to Photoshop and remarkable value for money but I still think AP needs to sharpen up (pun intended!) its print side. I think you are quite right not to want any hidden sharpening process - Lightroom, for one, does give you the option to choose what level of output sharpening might be appropriate for photo prints, web etc and you can 'proof' this on screen to get an idea of how it will look as a print. With Affinity you have to sharpen to a level that looks misleadingly awful on screen to get a good print result, making it difficult to judge. Photoshop just gets it right. (I say this as someone who prints close shots of botanical subjects requiring the best possible detail for comparative purposes.)

Nonetheless, as I said, Affinity is fabulous and I will certainly continue to use it. And thanks again for your interest.

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