1
\$\begingroup\$

The Canon Selphy CP1300 dye-sublimation printer offers borderless edge-to-edge printing on 100x148mm media ("Postcard" size, in Canon's language).

Unfortunately whether printing from a computer (macOS in my case) or from an SD card attached directly to the printer, what is actually printed is always cropped, on all four edges, by a few mm.

This is even the case when the image is in precisely the same 100x148 proportions as the media.

For most photos losing a few mm doesn't matter, but for images that have already been carefully cropped it does.

The image below shows how a particular image appears in the print preview, both in macOS and on the printer's own display when printing directly from an SD card; the yellow border approximately contains the area that is actually printed.

None of the settings applied either in the printer driver or on the printer itself call for images to be cropped in this way.

It seems pretty clear that this behaviour is in the print engine itself, though I can't think what purpose it serves. Is there any way to override it? The printer has a configuration web page and I was hoping I might find some low-level settings (no luck).

It's mostly just annoying, and for the occasional photo where it's really crucial to get all the edges in, I could add a border so that the cropping removes the border rather than the image - but that's not a very satisfactory solution.

Incorrectly-cropped image

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$
6
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Please don't cross-post to multiple SE sites. Pick one & stick to it, or flag for migration. Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site? - apple.stackexchange.com/questions/451734/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetsujin
    Dec 11, 2022 at 19:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ I've answered the other question, which was really about macOS; now that I realise I am dealing with a printer problem, this one seems more appropriate here. \$\endgroup\$
    – Daniele Procida
    Dec 11, 2022 at 19:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ Fair enough - the answer was posted after I linked it. It does seem more appropriate a question for Canon support, though. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetsujin
    Dec 11, 2022 at 19:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ Already there! \$\endgroup\$
    – Daniele Procida
    Dec 11, 2022 at 21:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ Not really a solution, but the legacy of this seems to go back all the way to standard practices at the enlargement table in darkrooms a century ago. The edges of negatives were always trimmed in prints and enlargements to eliminate the rough edges caused by the felt that sealed the edges of the exposed area of film. For 135 format ("35mm") this worked out to about 5% of the linear dimensions. Even today, professional printing labs that print digital images using photosensitive paper still enlarge ≈2mm larger along each edge than the paper size. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael C
    Dec 11, 2022 at 23:38

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1
\$\begingroup\$

There is only one way, that might (rightfully) annoy you:

You basically have to add the margin that the printer crops away.

  1. Print a test photo and take note of how much is cropped into the image on each side
  2. Then open the image to be printed in Photoshop (or your favorite image editing software), add the cropped amount as extra working area to each side, fill the empty space with content aware fill to have a bit of fitting content here, in case that the printer does not center the printing medium in a precise manner.
  3. Print.

If the border sizes fit, you can record this as a Photoshop action to apply on the push of a button. If you did the calculations in percent for adding the borders, the action should work out for any image in that aspect ratio.

Limitations:

  • The border size might be different between different operations systems.
  • It is no solution for direct printing from camera/SD Card to the printer.
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ So far, I think this might be the only way round it. I mention adding a border as a "solution" in the question itself, but as you note, it's a pretty hacky and unsatisfactory one. I like your suggestion of using content-aware filling, but what a rabbit-hole to find oneself in. \$\endgroup\$
    – Daniele Procida
    Dec 12, 2022 at 11:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, it is about as hacky as it gets. The content aware fill sometimes saves me, when I print busy stuff on german DIN sized papers, which are a different aspect ratio on an inkjet photo printer. BTW feel free to accept the answer if no better solution comes around. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kai Mattern
    Dec 14, 2022 at 7:52
1
\$\begingroup\$

I don’t use my CP1300 with a Mac.

I know bordered prints are possible when printing from an SD card in the CP1300 card slot using the on device menus, because I do this on the road with mine.

That is probably the simplest workaround for a limitation with MacOS.

I know bordered prints are possible on iOS using the Canon Selphy App when Canon Print app is also installed, because I also print that way.

Finally, I know the Windows driver also allows printing with borders but requires allowing the image to be scaled via the settings and produces non-uniform borders when the aspect ratio is maintained (per the nature of proportions).

Also just to be clear, all common printers resize images for borderless printing because the tolerances of manufacturing and the dimensional changes to paper with humidity and temperature make pixel perfect printing impossible.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Bordered prints are possible, and when borders are printed, the actual image is not cropped - so it's kind-of sort-of a workaround, but not a good one if you don't want borders. Pixel-perfect printing is not possible, but the pixel loss in this case is far more than is needed to provide tolerance. \$\endgroup\$
    – Daniele Procida
    Dec 15, 2022 at 11:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @DanieleProcida All printers crop images for borderless printing because of mechanical tolerances in the printer, manufacturing tolerances with paper, and because paper is dimensionally unstable when temperature or humidity changes. (See the last part of my answer). The only way to get full bleed prints without cropping is to print on larger paper and then cut off the border. What you are experiencing is not unique to the CP1300. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Macaroni McStevens
    Dec 15, 2022 at 16:26

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.