Why won't preview print the actual size of the photo?

Question

Level 1

8 points

Why won't preview print the actual size of the photo?

Why can't I print directly from Photoshop instead of having to print through preview? I believe I've checked the proper settings in preview preference but it keeps scaling my photos.

IMAC, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 3.06 GHz Intel

Posted on Oct 5, 2010 10:14 AM

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Answer 1

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2010 3:51 PM in response to Rusty K

I think I figured it out...under View, Preview defaults to "Automatic Resize" every time it's opened. I have to deselect this and select "Actual Size"...fine but how can I change this default setting? It's annoying a wasteful (if I forget) to have to do this on every print.

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Answer 2

jayvee2

Level 1

25 points

Oct 5, 2010 11:58 AM in response to Rusty K

Sorry, I guess I was asking about why you're printing through Preview. Does Preview automatically come up when you try to print? Anyway, It's either a scaling issue with Photoshop (in page setup) or in the print dialog box. Regardless, It's not a Mac issue per se. If all these appear correct to you, I suggest Adobe's Photoshop support. Here's a link to something that similar (even though it's for Acrobat).
Hope this helps!
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2893816

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Answer 3

jayvee2

Level 1

25 points

Oct 5, 2010 12:38 PM in response to Rusty K

When in Page Setup either in the application or the printer dialog box, you can manually enter the scaling such as 25, 75, or 100 (percent). After entering that, you should hit the Tab button. That will "set" the value.

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Answer 4

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2010 12:43 PM in response to jayvee2

Let's just stick to Preview for now since it seems to take over all my printing chores. Besides I think I've covered all those bases in Photoshop. But, if you can tell me how to eliminate Preview from the printing chain that would be good too.

Message was edited by: Rusty K

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Answer 5

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Oct 5, 2010 1:42 PM in response to Rusty K

Rusty, you always get a preview before printing whether from Preview.app or from PS.

This is the dialogue I get printing from within PS....

and this is the one I get printing through preview...

I'm not sure what your issue is with printing from PS, perhaps try on the Adobe forums?

-mj

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Answer 6

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2010 3:31 PM in response to macjack

Yes I've work with PS for several years and I understand page set up. Preview is not printing what I have set up at the proper dimensions. I've tried saved file just with Preview and gone back to PS to redo from the beginning and Preview continues to scale my work.

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Answer 7

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2010 5:15 PM in response to macjack

Ok...did that and everthing looks ok. I had previously changed my options trying to fix this problem...

Pref...Under Images I've had Initial Scale set to "Actual Size" and under Define Image Scale to..."Size on screen equals size on printout"

Pref...PDF Scale is set to 100% and "Size on screen equals size on printout"

How do I delete Prefs?

Message was edited by: Rusty K

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Answer 8

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2010 11:02 PM in response to Rusty K

I did my printing project ok through PhotoShop. I'm still not sure that Preview will print properly alone. I switched the setting in preferences to 1 mpix image equals 1 screen pix. That works for PS but I'll have to wait and see about Preview.

I'd still like to know how to delete Preview prefs.

Thanks for the help

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Answer 9

ultimato

Level 1

0 points

Oct 22, 2010 6:37 PM in response to Rusty K

I'm having the same problem as the person who started this topic. I am trying to print cover art for a CD using Preview. The image dimensions are 5 inches by 5 inches. No matter what changes I make though, when I print it out the image takes up the complete 8 inch width of the paper.I've tried unchecking and checking everything and I've even tried it on two different printers with the same result. There must be something obvious that we're not doing if we can't print the image at the size we want it to be, but what?

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Answer 10

Dec 8, 2010 8:52 AM in response to ultimato

Me too. I'm trying to print a .png file from Preview and it insists on scaling it. In Preview > Preferences > Images I tried clicking "Actual Size" but it still scales. Is there a way to make it print the actual size without scaling?

In File > Print you can choose to scale to a percentage, or to the page, or to the paper. But I can't find a way to choose not to scale at all.

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Answer 11

Dec 20, 2010 7:13 PM in response to Rusty K

I a currently having the same problem. Two days ago all was fine. I would go to print from Photoshop and it would go directly to my 7800 Epson and print the photo! Now two days later it INSISTS on defaulting to "Preview" first ...then "Preview" turns my Tiff into a PDF file and changes the size. I can no longer print a picture the size I want and I can't stop "Preview" from taking over!
Has anyone solved this issue yet???

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Answer 12

WGPNY

Level 1

9 points

Jan 18, 2011 1:41 PM in response to Annie Katz

Clearly there is a bug, possibly in Preview. I'm a relative newbie to Apple stuff so I can't address the entire issue. My problem was scanning and then printing at the same size. That is, without scaling.

In Preview, when attempting to print, click the down arrow next to the printer model. The expanded dialog box has "Scale to Fit" selected. There is a percentage in the grayed out box after "Scale."

Select "Scale" instead of "Scale to Fit" and type 100 in place of the number in the box, leaving the "%" character. Then, WITHOUT LEAVING THIS BOX, type the "return" key. DO NOT click the "Print" button at the bottom, use the "return" key while the cursor is in the number box.

This must be done EVERY TIME you want to print. It looks like the 100% setting is saved in the Preview plist file but some rookie (or incompetent) programmer screwed up the code to read the plist file.

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Answer 13

Apr 2, 2012 7:43 AM in response to Rusty K

See http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20091220144703341

Snow Leopard's Preview application has scale-to-fit and auto-rotation enabled in the Print dialog by default, but it doesn't seem to retain changes to these settings between restarts when I disable them in GUI. To change these settings permanently, copy and paste these commands into Terminal:

$ defaults write com.apple.Preview PVImagePrintingScaleMode 0

$ defaults write com.apple.Preview PVImagePrintingAutoRotate 0

I'm not sure if these options are applicable in 10.4 or 10.5, but they work in 10.6.

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Answer 14

Jul 23, 2012 4:00 PM in response to WGPNY

WGPNY...amazing! Preview now prints perfectly to 100%. I was also going crazy trying to make it work - preview always printed 98% no matter what. I spent a whole day getting the run around between Apple and Epson phone supports trying to resolve what they said was a printer driver issue, and all along it's just a bug in Preview!

Thanks WGPNY. I don't know how you discovered this but it works.

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Answer 15

cadolfi

Level 1

13 points

Sep 5, 2012 8:12 AM in response to WGPNY

I tried it and when I hit return it tries to print but tells me the wrong paper size is in the tray and to change paper sizes. ARGH!! Why does this have to be so difficult? My doc is graphic that I told the guy to make it for a 6x9 book. What else can I do???

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