Current Events > Anybody know what might be wrong with my printer?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's brand new, I've only had it for maybe 5 days. I'm also technologically illiterate, so... I'm not 100% sure that it's not user error.

Anyway, I got it all set up, installed the driver, printed test page and everything was fine... Until I actually tried to print something. The margins are way off. It keeps cutting off like and inch or two of the picture.

I've tried adjusting the settings, making sure the everything is installed right. But it keeps getting worse and worse.

It's especially bad if I try to copy a picture, it only prints a tiny portion on the page, like an inch right at the bottom. Simply printing is better, but still not good.

Here's a pic of the test page which is fine, and one of the few pics that printed almost right...
https://imgur.com/a/6Y3Eo5T

Will post another pic in a minute of the messed up ones.

https://imgur.com/a/ljHiT3s

It cut off the bottom of one, and the top of the other. I'm not doing anything differently.

I reinstalled the driver and got a new test page printed. Once again, perfect. Next picture was only half there.

Edit: Troubleshooting and googling haven't yielded anything about this type of issue.

Why not just go return and get another printer?

IdiotMachine posted...

Why not just go return and get another printer?

Because, I'm not totally sure that it's not something I'm doing wrong. Just wanted to be sure that I tried everything before deciding to return it.

Plus, I got this one online and returning online stuff is always a hassle.

maybe check what size paper it's set for? if the default is something weird for some reason that could do that

thronedfire2 posted...

maybe check what size paper it's set for? if the default is something weird for some reason that could do that

I'm using card stock, 8.5 by 11. I have the printer set for Letter, cardstock, 8.5 by 11.
I've tried other settings and it seems to be the same.

It almost just feels like it's out of alignment or something, based on how it prints partial pictures. But idk. I don't even know how to check that, everything looks good and when I check the system status it says there's no issues.

Its application side.

The printer test page printed correctly.

Try printing from something else. Use something basic.

And maybe try a smaller picture. It could be printing it at its full size instead of fitting it to a page.

Did the rest come out on page 2?

divot1338 posted...

Its application side.

The printer test page printed correctly.

Try printing from something else. Use something basic.

And maybe try a smaller picture. It could be printing it at its full size instead of fitting it to a page.

Did the rest come out on page 2?

Ok, so I printed an email and it came out just fine. Looks great.

So, the pictures are just too big then? Some turned out perfectly fine while others are all messed up.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Ok, so I printed an email and it came out just fine. Looks great.

So, the pictures are just too big then? Some turned out perfectly fine while others are all messed up.

Probably. There should be a printer option to fit your printout on one page and/or an option in the program to change your margins and paper size.

Serious_Cat posted...

Probably. There should be a printer option to fit your printout on one page and/or an option in the program to change your margins and paper size.

I'm pretty sure it's set to just one page. I haven't seen any margin options on the printer itself or in it's settings on my PC. I do have a few in the actual print screen. I use these ones...
https://imgur.com/a/kvuuSrf
Set margins to uniform, shrunk the image to fit the page. I could set it from full page to a smaller size, but it sometimes still only prints half an image. None of my pictures are bigger than a page as far as I know.

And yeah, the current picture is upside down. It tends to mess up the top of the image,vso I was trying to find a work around to just lose part at the bottom.

You might mess around with margin settings and see if there's anything interesting in the "More settings" section.

Serious_Cat posted...

You might mess around with margin settings and see if there's anything interesting in the "More settings" section.

There are no more settings for margins. Just the ones to make them even, and to shrink the image to fit the page. Neither of which fixes the problem.

Some print just fine, while others don't, and they're all in the same settings. I can just print one, then another and they'll be totally different.

Here's one that came out perfect, vs the copy I attempted to make if it.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/1/2/AAOK_sAAD0b8.jpg

Gah, I'm so mad at this thing. I tweaked a few settings and got it to print a page decently, and make a good copy.... Once. It immediately went back to half pages.

I don't think the pictures are too big. They're not trying to print on multiple pages. It just doesn't put the image on the page correctly.

But it has to be something I'm doing wrong, since it prints normal documents just fine.

How did you install it?

Is it just using the default driver or did you install something from the manufacturer? And if so was it includes in the package or downloaded?

divot1338 posted...

How did you install it?

Is it just using the default driver or did you install something from the manufacturer? And if so was it includes in the package or downloaded?

It came with a disk. I installed it from that. When it was acting up, I went to their website and installed it from there. I thought maybe the one on the disk was out of date.

Have tried turning it off and on again?

KogaSteelfang posted...

It came with a disk. I installed it from that. When it was acting up, I went to their website and installed it from there. I thought maybe the one on the disk was out of date.

The printer properties window you showed earlier seems a little basic.

When you expand out that menu at the bottom (more settings) you should have a bunch of options like fit to page, zoom %, etc.

Then at the bottom of that section you should have an option for something like use system settings. That would switch over to the native windows driver.

One of those always has a way to print something regardless of what whackadoo program or weird document you have to print.

Id honestly just go buy a different one from Best Buy or Walmart or something. If that works return that shit and chalk it up as a lesson that you get what you pay for.

divot1338 posted...

The printer properties window you showed earlier seems a little basic.

That's the one that pops up when I hit Ctrl+p, or select to print from the menu. I did manage to get a different print window at one point, but I don't recall how I got there.

divot1338 posted...

When you expand out that menu at the bottom (more settings) you should have a bunch of options like fit to page, zoom %, etc.

That was as far as it expanded. The "more options" looks like this.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/5/9/AAOK_sAAD0fz.jpg
It's just the same options again in a new window.

divot1338 posted...

Then at the bottom of that section you should have an option for something like use system settings. That would switch over to the native windows driver.

One of those always has a way to print something regardless of what whackadoo program or weird document you have to print.

Ugh, I'll try to find those options somewhere. Hopefully I can get it sorted that way...

divot1338 posted...

Id honestly just go buy a different one from Best Buy or Walmart or something. If that works return that shit and chalk it up as a lesson that you get what you pay for.

I've already thrown out the box it came in. Well, not thrown out, but it's outside for the cats to play in. I guess if nothing else works, this'll be my next option. I just really don't want to have to do that.

Thanks for all the help guys.

In that case, uninstall everything.

Unplug the printer.

Reboot.

Download the software again. Look specifically for a printer suite rather than just a driver.

If you dont see that just get whatever they have. You can also sometimes find a beta driver if you poke around.

Reconnect the printer and install it.

If those menus are still jacked up I dont know what to tell you.

I did manage to access a different print menu by right clicking and trying to print from there. It allowed direct access to the printer settings... which looked like this.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/5/AAOK_sAAD0gD.png
Thats literally the only option I have for borders, and I can't change it.

Id still repeat those steps I said. you may have a fucked up installation.

Otherwise Zoom % is the best youre going to do.

divot1338 posted...

Id still repeat those steps I said. you may have a fucked up installation.

Otherwise Zoom % is the best youre going to do.

Okay, so, I did all that. Here's the test page it printed...
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/3/AAOK_sAAD0gL.jpg

It sounds like it starts printing before it actually pulls the paper in. Sometimes it makes a whining/grinding noise when trying to pull it in.

I'm uploading a video of it. It's obviously screwed up at this point. That noise is relatively new.

https://youtu.be/BhvHl1JBw5w
Jeez YouTube is so stupid now. I couldn't get the link if it was listed as a private video. I had to make it unlisted instead.

Anyways... Obvious problem is obvious now.

@divot1338
I caved and bought a new one. It was a massive pain to get set up, but it works perfectly. All my pictures are coming out perfect size. Well, except one that was tiny, but that's a much more manageable problem than not even printing in the page.

Thanks for all the help everyone. Sorry for posting million times in a row. Guess I'll be returning my other one.

yw