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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

32 replies

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

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Oct 6, 2010 2:25 AM in response to Rusty K

Rusty K wrote:
I'd still like to know how to delete Preview prefs.

/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/ com.apple.Preview.plist

-mj

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?

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.

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???

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.

Petzl20

Level 1

5 points

Feb 11, 2012 12:31 PM in response to WGPNY

WGPNY --

You are a golden god. Thanks for the help. Solution works perfectly. I thought I was going crazy and kept thinking it was me that was doing something wrong.

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.

Level 2

448 points

Jun 18, 2012 1:02 PM in response to Jim_witte

Leave out the $ sign. Won't work as shown.

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.

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???

Jun 28, 2013 9:40 AM in response to Rusty K

There is a very simple solution to this.....press TAB after entering the scale, hey presto you get a preview.

See below KB

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3043

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2014 5:41 PM in response to Oldskoolflash

This worked great but I'd still like the final solution so that I don't have to remember.

Rusty K Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2014 6:00 PM in response to Jim_witte

This finally solved the problem once and for all...Thanks Jim_witte

Feb 26, 2015 1:05 PM in response to Rusty K

Yes, pressing the tab button works, as i discovered independently by asking a nearby teenager. He explained to me that pressing the "Tab" button forces the numbers that you type into the scale box to "take," by advancing to the next field in the dialog box. Evidently there are other programs that he uses that also require this technique. It still looks like a bug to me, but at least we can now do what we want.

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