Printing Problems

[BibblyBob]

I'm running Affinity Designer 2.5.5 on my iMac with OS Sonoma 14.6.1 and  a Canon TS5150 to print proofs.

I'm having difficulty printing a borderless image.

I have selected 'Borderless" in the print dialogue, updated the printer's firmware but I still get a white border of 5mm on the short edge and 4mm on the long edge. 

I have checked in a s many areas as I can think of but there does not appear to be a setting to adjust this so if any of you more experienced people can point me in the right direction I'd be grateful.

 

[Making It]

me too!

[R C-R]

Some printers do not support borderless printing, or do so only for certain paper sizes. Check your printer's manual to see if that is an issue.

[BibblyBob]

23 hours ago, R C-R said:

Some printers do not support borderless printing, or do so only for certain paper sizes. Check your printer's manual to see if that is an issue.

Thanks for the reply but my Printer does print borderless when I'm using PhotShop so why not when I'm using Affinity Designer?

Edited November 25, 2024 by BibblyBob

[GarryP]

I can’t answer the question but I notice that the document looks like it has a Bleed area – there’s a rectangle inside the visible bounds and the visible area is larger than an A4 sheet.

Have you tried removing the Bleed area and then printing it?

I only mention it as there have been some issues with Bleed reported in the past and this might be one of them, or related to one or more of them.

[Oufti]

I also notice that you have chosen 'Fit to printable'. I wonder if it's the best choice (I don't know what are the other options you have)?

[BibblyBob]

4 hours ago, GarryP said:

I can’t answer the question but I notice that the document looks like it has a Bleed area – there’s a rectangle inside the visible bounds and the visible area is larger than an A4 sheet.

Have you tried removing the Bleed area and then printing it?

I only mention it as there have been some issues with Bleed reported in the past and this might be one of them, or related to one or more of them.

Thanks but there is no bleed area - what you think is a bleed area is actually me extending the document outside the bounds of the A4 page to try and get it to print to the edge.

[BibblyBob]

2 hours ago, Oufti said:

I also notice that you have chosen 'Fit to printable'. I wonder if it's the best choice (I don't know what are the other options you have)?

Thanks - I have tried all the oprions in that ddm but none work for me.

[R C-R]

From step 3 of this:

1.  

   Quote

    

   Check the paper size

   Check the Page Size list. When you want to change it, select another page size from the list. The list displays only sizes that can be used for borderless printing.

    

    

2. So have you chosen a size from that list that support borderless printing? Is there anything else on that manual page that might suggest why this isn't working with your printer?

[PaulEC]

6 hours ago, BibblyBob said:

my Printer does print borderless when I'm using PhotShop so why not when I'm using Affinity Designer?

That's irrelevant unless you're printing the same job, with the same settings from both apps! 

[R C-R]

13 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

That's irrelevant unless you're printing the same job, with the same settings from both apps! 

Or at least using the same paper ("page") size.

[nickbatz]

My Canon Pro-1000 (and presumably my Pro-4100 if were to feed it sheets) will only print borderless on some papers. 

I have no idea why, but I wouldn’t do it anyway. It gets ink all over the printer, even though that’s not supposed to happen.

If you do a lot of this, a paper cutter would be a good investment. (I got lucky and found a used 54” Rotatrim for a ridiculously low price.)

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, nickbatz said:

I have no idea why [my printer will only print borderless on some papers], but I wouldn’t do it anyway. It gets ink all over the printer, even though that’s not supposed to happen.

If you do a lot of this, a paper cutter would be a good investment.

Printing is never accurate enough to guarantee that a same-size print will completely cover the paper — which is why bleed is necessary for professional print jobs — therefore so-called borderless printing can only be achieved by stretching the image beyond the actual paper edges. Printing borderless to the largest supported paper size on an inkjet printer means that the excess ink is sprayed onto sponges, but printing to any smaller size inevitably means that there are no such sponges available to stop the excess ink getting all over the place.

[nickbatz]

11 hours ago, Alfred said:

Printing is never accurate enough to guarantee that a same-size print will completely cover the paper

That's interesting. I don't dispute it, but then I'm confused why things like business cards can align perfectly with pre-perforated sheets, never mind why setting, say, a 1/2" border results in a border that's exactly that size.

[R C-R]

13 minutes ago, nickbatz said:

... but then I'm confused why things like business cards can align perfectly with pre-perforated sheets...

How many cards per sheet are you thinking about, & are any of the cards printed all the way to the edges? If not, what does this have to do with borderless printing?

15 minutes ago, nickbatz said:

... never mind why setting, say, a 1/2" border results in a border that's exactly that size.

Again, what does that have to do with this? The problem, in its simplest form, is that inkjet printers can't print exactly to page edges without the possibility of a small amount of overspray getting onto other parts of the print mechanism, potentially causing smudges or other issues with ink building up on rollers, feed mechanisms, etc.

[nickbatz]

3 hours ago, R C-R said:

Again, what does that have to do with this?

I hate the Internet.

[PaulEC]

AKAIK, in professional printing, the need for a bleed area is not just due to possible minor errors in the actual printing, but also to possible errors when trimming the individual pages which are printed on a single large sheet of paper. This is not the same as making borderless prints on a "domestic" printer, which prints to the edge of the paper, not by using a bleed area, but by "spreading" the image to fill the full whole area of the paper, without leaving a white border. Borderless printers are fine for holiday snaps, or a limited number of posters for a small charity event etc, but for serious work, you really need to print (with a bleed area) on oversize paper, and then trim off the excess border area. It's more trouble and more expensive, but also more reliable and better quality.

[R C-R]

For those that do not hate the internet, may I suggest going to about 3:30 in this YouTube video where the narrator begins explaining the problems with overspray & paper transport inaccuracy when doing borderless printing? This may help explain why very few if any home printers support borderless printing on other than a small selection of paper sizes.