Expert: LizaL - 2/4/2005

Question
I cannot get the Stroke command in Photoshop7 to provide an all round border. I get an edge on three sides but not the last side to be printed. I am printing through an HP deskjet 5550, using Mac OS9.2.1

Answer
Hi Janet,

Would it be possible for you to send me one of the files you're having trouble with? It would help me a lot if I could actually see what's happening.

My email address is:
lizal@little-works.com.

Meanwhile, let me ask you a couple of things:
1. Is your document's canvas size large enough to accommodate the stroke? Are you sure you're not placing the stroke off the edge of the document?

2. If everything's OK with your canvas size, your problem might lie with your overall page setup. You might not have your page setup synchronized with your printer.

Select the File pulldown menu in Photoshop, and drag down till you get to Page Setup. In this dialog box you can choose the specific page setup specs for your particular printer.

Check out the screenshot of my page setup menu in Photoshop:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/page_setup.png

In Page Setup, you can also choose a different paper size, as well as orientation for your file's output. These settings will synchronize with how you've set up your printer, and here's how to check out those:

Again, go to the File pulldown menu in Photoshop, and this time select Print. If you look at the dialog box, you'll see that you can set a lot of preferences here for your particular printer.

Here's a screenshot of my HP's settings:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/hp_settings.png

In essence, the Page Setup dialog and the Print command work with each other to give you the right output for your printer. So if one's not right -- for instance, the Page Setup is wrong -- it'll prevent your image from printing correctly. You might have the margins for a default page set up wrong for your printer, in other words.

The other thing we should think about here is when you installed your HP's software. You probably went through a "wizard" type program where you were asked questions about the printer, and the page sizes. Different printers have different margins, and perhaps your printer's margins aren't allowing you to print fully on all sides.

If this is the case, you might want to go back through the installation steps for your printer and see what those margins are. The installation software for your printer is located here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?product=71896&lc=en&cc=us&dl...


These things *might* have something to do with your image not printing totally on the page. But I could probably tell you a whole lot more if you're able to send me a sample file.

Anyway, in the meantime, do check out your page setup, and also the Print settings for your HP. And if you can, please email me a sample file that you're having trouble with.

Please post back and let me know what happens!

Lisa