Printing large panoramas

VP
Posted By
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 28, 2004
Views
671
Replies
32
Status
Closed
I have a printer – Epson 2200 – that is capable of printing panoramas up to 129 inches long. But independently of what value larger than 38 inches I set in printer driver for paper size Adobe Photoshop CS always "thinks" that paper is only 38 inches long. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a way to convince Photoshop that paper is really 120 inches long?

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BO
Burton_Ogden
Aug 28, 2004
Vitali,

I don’t have an Epson 2200 so I probably should wait for someone who does have one to clear this up for you, but I have used the "Custom" sheet size from time to time in my venerable Epson Stylus Photo.

— Burton —
ND
Nick_Decker
Aug 28, 2004
Vitali, your 2200 must be different than mine. The manual for mine states that maximum length is 44 inches, which it prints very nicely.

I seem to recall reading somewhere, a long time ago, that there was a way to fool the printer into printing longer panos, but I don’t remember where I saw it. In any case, I think the limitation is in the Epson print driver, not Photoshop.

Nick
IL
Ian_Lyons
Aug 28, 2004
In any case, I think the limitation is in the Epson print driver, not Photoshop.

It’s the Epson driver. For prints longer than 44" you need to be looking at something like ColorByte ImagePrint (that’s what I use).

<http://www.colorbytesoftware.com>
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 28, 2004
Nick,

You might have older driver. I have newest driver downloaded from Epson website. And in driver I can set custom sheet size up to 129 inches long.

But at least you can print 44 inches, which is still better than 38 inches which is the longest I can make Photoshop to print. Do you set 44 inches in Epson driver by specifying User Defined size? Or is there a place in Photoshop to specify that?

Thanks
Vitali
ND
Nick_Decker
Aug 28, 2004
Vitali, right you are, or so it would seem.

My driver is the latest (v5.4), and in the Epson User Defined Paper Size, I now see that it goes up to 129 inches. I hadn’t noticed that before, and was going by what I had originally read in the manual, which said 44 inches.

I’m afraid I can’t tell you any more, because I’ve never tried to print anything longer that 44 inches. Have you tried specifying User Defined in Photoshop’s Page Set Up?
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 28, 2004
Have you tried specifying User Defined in Photoshop’s Page Set Up?

Yes.
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 28, 2004
Is the image you’re trying to print is less than 30,000 pixels long? (This is still a limitation with output, even though CS allows 300,000 px).

Fred.
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 28, 2004
Yes. It is 28,007 pixels long and 2048 pixels high.
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 29, 2004
I don’t have a 2200 printer, but the only place I can see 38" (-38.333 to be exact) when I set up a file of those dimensions in CS is in the File>Print with Preview dialog, in the "Position" section. Unchecking the "Center Image" box allows that dimension to be altered – but to what effect I cannot tell without going to print.

Fred.
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 29, 2004
Fred,
That’s right. The image is actually limited by 30". 38" is how much I loose on each side. If I don’t select centering then image is simply cropped at 30".
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Aug 29, 2004
I don’t think it’s a PSCS limitation. I just printed an image 16" x 39+" (1 meter exactly) running on an Epson 9600. No problems surfaced setting this size.

Perhaps PSCS "knows" the limitation of the 2200.???
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 29, 2004
Something weird’s going on there – although I usually use a RIP for printing quad-blacks with an Epson 1160 in unlimited length, setting this size file up to print through the Epson driver (which is limited to 44") resulted in everything going through at 44" until spooling to disk – no 38" switch back at all.

Have you tried trashing your prefs? Maybe there is some setting hidden somewhere causing this that needs restoring to default.

Fred.
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 29, 2004
Fred,
How do I trash my preferences?
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 29, 2004
It’s in the FAQ, but go C:\Documents and Settings\*USER NAME*\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop\8.0\Adobe Photoshop CS Settings and delete the file "Adobe Photoshop CS Prefs.psp" – that’s the easiest way.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Aug 29, 2004
Fred, why do you use a RIP? The Epson 9600 I use came with an Onyx RIP, (it’s an Ilford dedicated system) but I cannot see any difference in output between running the printer with the RIP or running it directly from PS. I am told that it’s more efficient with handling a series of prints, but I can queue several up in PS also.

Do you have a separate computer strictly for RIP?
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 29, 2004
Fred,

Thanks for suggestion. Ufortunately it did not help. More than that after doing that I cannot get Photoshop to print more than 29".
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 29, 2004
Lawrence,
What settings do you use for large panoramas?
PH
Photo_Help
Aug 29, 2004
Vitali,

Is it that you can’t input a value higher than 29" or is that just the length that gets printed? I don’t have that model printer so I don’t know what you are seeing in the settings.

It is possible that it is the spool settings and you are running out of memory and the printout is just cutting off at that point?

Sometimes you can get around this by printing to file and exiting out of all running applications then send the file straight to the printer.
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 29, 2004
Photo Help,
Here is the sequence of steps I do:
Open file. Image size 116in x 8.5 in
Open Print With Preview dialog box
In that box click on Page Setup
In Page Setup dialog box click on Printer
And then open Properties for my printer and there set User Defined paper size to be 120in x 10in. I use roll paper so I can set user defined size.
Click OK in all dialog boxes to get back to Print With Preview dialog box. In there I see that my image will be cropped 43.8in on each side. I tried to print and it is actually cropped that much.
When I check "Scale To Fix Media" box then image size is shown as 28.978in x 2.118 in. From which I conclude that Photoshop for some reason "thinks" that my media is no longer than 29in.
PH
Photo_Help
Aug 29, 2004
Vitali,

From posts 7 and 8 you were asked about the pixel dimensions, but have you tried using a lower resolution image? Maybe you could try resampling it to half the current resolution say 120 PPI as a test?
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 29, 2004
I just tried what you suggested. Resampled to 120 PPI (image size in pixels decreased 50%). And then down to 60PPI. Result is the same – Photoshop CS says that image does not feet and will be cropped 43.8in. "Scale To Fit Media" gives me the same dimensions: 28.978in x 2.118 in
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 30, 2004
Lawrence,

I only print using quad-black inks from Inkjetmall, and use their earlier Piezography 6.0.2 software (the later renditions of Piezography use the Epson driver, so limiting the 1160 to 44" again). Whether or not it’s technically a RIP I’m not so sure, but it is a standalone that does not use the Epson driver. It results in dotless printing with the old 1440/720 dpi Epson print heads. At the time it was marketed as achieving over 2,000 dpi resolution in both directions, and from what I’ve seen (when the printer’s running well) that might well be true.

Fred.
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 30, 2004
Man, you’ve sure got problems there, Vitali. I can’t understand how resetting prefs actually made things worse. Anything now is guesswork – I’ve never had a problem such as that, though it does point to something screwy in the settings department if resetting the prefs changed things.

Maybe somebody with a 2200 will help.

Just one final thought – you have got your print orientation set to landscape – not inadvertently left to portrait orientation anywhere?

Fred.
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 30, 2004
Fred,
Of cause I set it to landscape.
Thanks for your help. Hopefully, someone else will have some other ideas.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Aug 30, 2004
If the 2200 is like the 9600, you need to pick User Defined twice. It is in the Epson setup dialog under the Paper Tab. You scroll to User defined and click on it. Then you get to enter the dimensions in it’s dialog box. On the 9600, it is entered in 0.01" (or metric, if you wish). 11′ wide paper is set to 1100, then the length to whatever.

Does this apply to the 2200?

I’m not at the printer, nor do I have the manual, so I am a bit vague here.

Sorry!

Fred, I am going to have a print made using that process, at West Coast Imaging. I had one made a year ago or so locally (Portland OR)and was disappointed by the fact that the software designers assumed you don’t know J.S about how your print should look, and applied a compensation to the shadows which opened them up far beyond what the screen says it will look like. I notice that Inkjetmall published a workaround for it, but I am really wondering what I might see from this vendor. Have you compared the Quad to a good print from a 9600, or 7600, so far as the scale is concerned? Is current software still applying that correction? I don’t care for my chiaroscuro look to be circumvented. Or spending lots of money to get it right.
FN
Fred_Nirque
Aug 30, 2004
Lawrence,

That’s what I was getting at with the landscape suggestion…..the 1160 works the same, having to effectively set the orientation twice.

No, I haven’t compared my Piezography prints with any from the x600 series.

I have stuck with the original Piezography software for the length thing (printing up to 8′ panos), but I don’t have, and they can’t/won’t supply a profile for my preferred Hahmemuhle 308GSM cotton rag paper and PiezoTone pure carbon pigment ink to use with that software, so I am battling a bit at the moment. At times I am getting harsh posterization where none is indicated on screen, other times all is fine. Can’t pick until printing, which is a pain.

I should mention that I get a really good chiaroscuro look with the Piezotone inks and the Hahmemuhle Photorag paper. I’d take a punt and say that with the right profiling, the quads will run circles around any cmyk ink Epson output. The output can be creamy-dotless in the light areas, and charcoal smooth in deep shadows, the problem I’m having is at the boundary of the dark & mid gray inks, but I’m sure that a decent profile would fix that.

It seems that the usual applies – the bigger the company grows, the less helpful or adaptive to customers’ requirements they get. Because it will run with Piezography ICC and their custom profiles, I am currently bidding on a slightly used 9500 – being forced to buy the whole Getrag Eye-One thing for close to $3K – plus inks – in order to get the 9600 working compared with $150 for the Piezography upgrade needed for the 9500 is a pretty convincing argument for the latter.

Fred.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Aug 30, 2004
Fred, with the 9600 configured correctly, I get similar results: Creamy highlight values, mezzotint-like shadows. I get a better black, though, from my Canon s9000, and probably would be true for Epson dye inks as well.

Try to print a step tablet with the 308GSM paper and see if you can find where the posterization is taking place. If you only posterize 1/2 the gradient to step tablet, you will have both a continuous and a step process to compare.

I will check with my supplier and see what a sample Piezotone will cost. The image I am using is from a superb 8×10 neg, drum scanned, so I have a top quality reference.
BO
Burton_Ogden
Aug 31, 2004
Vitali,

Have you elected to print directly to the printer rather than to the Print Spooler? If not you can do this by Start>Settings>Printers and on the Printers window select your printer in this folder and right click on your printer and select Properties to bring up the window for your Epson 2200.

Click the Details tab and on the resulting Details page click Spool Settings and on the Spool Settings dialog click Print directly to printer. Click OK to accept that and click OK on the Properties dialog to accept the change to your printer settings.

There are several printer settings that you can make in the Settings>Printers window including Port settings. This is an area in which you can experiment. Just make notes so you can get back to where you were.

— Burton —
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Aug 31, 2004
After experimenting for a while I think it is a bug in Adobe Photoshop CS. Here is what I found: – If I enter custom length up to 45in Photoshop shows correctly the size. – If I enter length between 45 and 92" it causes "Program Error" in Photoshop. – If I enter length more than 92" Photoshop "thinks" the paper size is (actual size – 91)
– Also entering some values yield very interesting results. For example, entering 91.02" results in Print Preview window completely messed up.

Looks like there is some kind of integer overflow in Photoshop. Any idea how should I report this problem to Adobe to get it fixed?
KH
Kirsten_Harris
Sep 1, 2004
Yes, this is a bug. Photoshop gets the paper size in printer resolution, which is reported higher than the actual resolution of the file and the resulting file size would exceed the 30,000 pixel limit for printing files. The workaround is to use the banner printing option.
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Sep 1, 2004
Then, why don’t I see it on the 9600?
VP
Vitali_Prokopenko
Sep 1, 2004
Kirsten,
I use banner mode in printer driver. It does not help. Is there any other place I should be setting banner mode in?

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