I don't usually use this space to vent my
spleen but this problem has reached crisis proportions, not
just for me but for hundreds of people who are wasting lots of
money printing to Epson printers from Macintosh OS X.
Since 1995, I've been making high-quality photo prints from
Photoshop using Epson Stylus printers.
Reluctantly, I was forced by software upgrades to switch my
printing computer to Apple's OS X (Panther).
The printing computer ran on OS 9.2.2 and its print drivers
for my Epson C80 and Epson Stylus Photo 2200 controlled those
machines flawlessly. My standard print output from the 2200 is
1440dpi prints, centered on 13x19, 11x17 or 11x14 inch paper
with a small Photoshop drop shadow.
In Panther, the problem was centered. The majority of my
prints output with the image skewed with uneven margins top
and bottom and on the sides, depending upon which page setup
format is chosen.
Since I like to pop my prints directly into pre-formatted
frames, this is not satisfactory output.
Not Our Fault, It's Theirs!
So in attempting to find a solution, I've run afoul of a
debate that makes Kerry-Bush look civilized. If fingers were
loaded gun barrels, both Apple and Epson would be dead and in
their graves.
Apple tech folks denied any culpability, blaming Epson for not
following the X code in writing Print drivers.
Epson techs countered by claiming Apple's OS X, Jaguar and
Panther codes have been faulty. I haven't been able to receive
a response from Adobe on behalf of Photoshop.
In the meantime, I've spent more than $200 in ink and paper
for testing the solutions suggested by tech people.
Some of the Epson suggestions have come close to working. But
when they did not, I would get a conflicting set of
instructions with my next Epson email help plea. And after a
$9+ call to Epson Help, the tech rep flatly admitted that he
had no idea what was causing the 2200 problem.
The problem isn't confined to Epson printers. In testing
printers for Mac Design's inkjet printer shootout last year,
we found 13x19 prints to output uncentered in the Canon 9100
and HP's larger format printer.
So suspicions should point toward Apple's OS X, which was the
system we used in that test.
Finally, I sent a draft of this column to Epson's PR agency
and Jane Fainer of Walt & Company set up a conference call
with Epson's Steve Strong, Product Support Specialist.
It was a pleasant conference call and best of all, Steve came
up with a workable solution for Panther and here it is.
1. Set your Photoshop print command in keyboard shortcuts
(Menu File>Keyboard Shortcuts>Edit) to open with Page Setup
when you hit Command-P.
2. In Photoshop, use Command-P and go to the Page Setup button
at the bottom of the far right column.
3. In Page Setup, click on Settings and pull down Custom Page.
4. Click New and give it a name (for 11x14 I used 11x14).
5. In the Paper Size box, enter the paper dimensions using the
long measure as the height.
6. This will give you margins of .25 inch except for the
bottom which is .56. Select the bottom margin and change it to
.25 as well.
7. Save the new paper size. Note that you only need vertical
layouts as they can be changed by clicking on the Landscape
icon in Page Setup for horizontal images.
The side margins must have a 2mm leeway but this is negligible
as long as the top and bottom margins are even. Steve also
told me that nearly every driver for an Epson printer has to
be written from scratch. The company's working diligently to
solve existing problems and to avoid problems with new
drivers.
Thanks a Million, Steve and Jane. My faith in Epson is
restored by this fairly simple work-around.
Warthog Update
Was amazed when a number of readers responded to my Warthog
column, assuming that I was writing about their unfavorite
digital camera. Six respondents named six major manufacturer's
products as the Warthog. Which only proves that nearly every
photographer has a least favorite digital camera, often the
one he purchased.
Interestingly enough, none of the six identified the Warthog
as the digital camera I was writing about. And the Warthog
shall remain nameless, as well as very short of usable
features.
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