Printing Your Images with Balanced Borders

(Includes a Handy Print Preview Screen)

While printing images really has nothing to do with compressing and combining images, many of our early users requested print capability. We asked ourselves what value we could add to print routines and implemented the following features:

Printing Features

Print images with professionally balanced borders* (results in a somewhat smaller printout)
- Compensates for designed in margin imbalances
- Compensates for your printers mechanical idiosyncrasies
Print the native (actual) size of your image
Print the image in the exact size you desire
Print the largest possible printout (with balanced borders*)
Turn off margin corrections to print the largest possible printout
Use Print Preview to confirm settings and avoid wasting expensive ink and paper

When the "Print a Bitmap or Jpeg Image" button is clicked on the programs main form, a select file dialog box will appear. Select the image you wish to print making sure you set your printer properties (paper size, portrait or landscape, color options, etc). Click the "Print" button on the dialog box and the AIPS print form will appear looking similar to:

Print Form Picture

After making your desired dimension selections, click on the "Print" button to print your picture.

Examples

The following examples were produced by printing an image in landscape mode on an HP DeskJet 720C, then scanning the printed page(s) and reducing them for display on this web page.

This image illustrates the largest possible printout with professionally balanced borders*. Selections were:

Both margin correction boxes were NOT checked.
"Stretch to Fill the Page" was checked

Maximum Print Size

In this example the width was set to exactly 7.00 inches. The height was determined (automatically) by the shape of the original image to retain the aspect ratio. Again note the attractive balanced borders*. For this example the form settings were:

Both margin correction boxes were NOT checked.
"Change the Size" was checked.

Fixed Print Size With Balanced Borders

This illustration shows the image printed as large as can be (with margin corrections turned off) on a sheet of paper with this particular printer. The actual image width is nearly a half inch larger (a full 10.5 inches) than in the previous full sheet example however note the borders are definitely not balanced. To obtain the largest possible printout the form settings were:

"Turn Off All Margin Corrections" was checked
"Stretch To Fill the Page was checked

Maximum Print Size No Balanced Borders

AIPS Scaled Print Preview with Rulers

Print Preview displays a simulation of the printer page which is about to be printed providing you a visual confirmation that everything (paper size, paper orientation, the correct image, etc) has been set correctly before you actually print it out. By using the print preview feature you can avoid printing errors which will save you time, ink and the cost of printer paper.

Print Preview Features

The preview is scaled to show the paper size you have selected.
The preview is scaled to show the complete page regardless of your monitor size
The form header details the page size and orientation as well as the size of the printed image.
Scaled ruler bars provide visual confirmation of all paper and printed image dimensions

Print Preview Example

^
(Return to Print Description)

* Balanced Borders means that the top and bottom borders will match and the left and right borders will match. The top (bottom) and left (right) borders will not necessarily match depending on the aspect ratio of the image being printed.

Home Printer Calibration