Printing with Adobe Reader

[OldTroll]

I recently got involved in a discussion of fit problems on a model that had been printed using Adobe Reader. The original model was in A4 format (8.3" x 11.7") and was being printed on U.S. letter size (8.5" x 11") paper. The following is offered because I was not previously aware of how Adobe handled the options and I felt some others might not be also.

Adobe offers four options for printing a document:
1. No scaling (print as is)
2. Fit to printable area
3. Shrink to printable area
4. Scale to a fixed percentage of the original (e.g., 112% or 98%, etc.)

NO SCALING - when printing A4 pages on letter size paper this often results in "clipping" at the top and/or bottom of the page. This can be avoided by printing on U.S. legal size (8.5" x 14") paper or some other paper that has dimensions greater than A4. I use a 9" x 12" art paper, for example.

FIT TO PRINTABLE AREA - Bad dog! No biscuit! This option will force the original to fit the paper size on which you are printing. In the case of A4 to letter the height is squeezed into 11" while the width is expanded to 8.5". This distorts the original AND SHOULD NEVER BE USED for dimension critical pages, i.e. those with parts on them. This was the cause of the fit problems mentioned at the beginning.

SHRINK TO PRINTABLE AREA - Bad kitty! No catnip! A little different than "fit" because the original dimensions will be changed only if they exceed the paper on which you are printing. In the case of A4 to letter, the height is reduced but the width is not. Again, this option SHOULD NEVER BE USED for dimension critical pages.

SCALE TO A FIXED PERCENTAGE - Because no distortion is introduced, this option can be used to reduce the size of the A4 page to fit on a letter size page - 94% will ensure that nothing is clipped top or bottom. The disadvantage here is that your 1:33 scale model has now become a 1:35 scale model (but at least the parts should fit.)

One other (less desirable) method can be used - print the page with no scaling and with the "auto center" option deselected. Then use the "View, Rotate" option to invert the image and print it again. You will have the info that was clipped on one of the sheets. This uses twice the paper and twice the ink so is NOT recommended.

Bottom line - print with no scaling on paper that can accommodate the 11.7" height of A4 paper or print at 94%.

I hope this has been of help to someone else out there...

[cgutzmer]

Yes indeed it does help! When I printed I almost always used fir to page. I figured it would "fit" every page the same! If it uses a differnt "fit" per page that could explain some of the problems I had along the way
Chris

[ccoyle]

Thanks, Ron!

I confess I did not know what all those various printing options actually meant.

Originally Posted by OldTroll

The disadvantage here is that your 1:33 scale model has now become a 1:35 scale model

Yes, but now one can incorporate their model into dioramas featuring 1/35 p*****c armor!

[rmks2000]

An old trick I learned from DeWayne was to tape a 3/4" strip of card to the letter-size cardstock in order to make it as long as A4. In most cases with Marek's kits, all of the parts will print on the actual letter portion of the card. You'll need to determine where the strip is added (top or bottom) based on how the parts are located.

[cgutzmer]

ooohhhh very cool tip!

[Retired_for_now]

I always wondered what the red button did ...

[Wilfried]

Hello Ron,

nice, thank you for this explanation! This will be stop a lot of questions about fitting and scaling problems ..

With lovely greetings
the Wilfried

[dansls1]

Very good explanation of what can be a confusing topic Ron - thanks

[Retired_for_now]

Ron,
Using Adobe Reader 8 I have options of: none, fit, shrink, multiple pages per sheet, and booklet. To do the scaling trick I have to select none on the Adobe print page, then click printer properties (HP inkjet) on that page and use the printer's effects tab to print at a "percent of normal size."

Yogi

Just when you thought it was safe ...

[OldTroll]

Yogi - I might have misled a little - as you said, the scale to a percentage is reached by clicking the printer "Properties" button and then selecting the "Page Layout" tab (at least for my Epson.) Each printer may have its own variation of this. My original rambling made it sound like the options were all in the same place - sorry.