This is driving me crazy - Image size printing question

[Clueless]

I need to print a 110mm square image centered on a A5 sized canvas (the image consists of 3 elements - the image itself and 2 borders) I have set the canvas size to A5 centered the image correctly but i cannot get it to print the correct size. I have tried both the resize options on the template canvas resize dialogue screen but I can only get a image 70mm square to print - help !

[Ofnuts]

(11-01-2024, 09:26 AM)Clueless Wrote: I need to print a 110mm square image centered on a A5 sized canvas (the image consists of 3 elements - the image itself and 2 borders) I have set the canvas size to A5 centered the image correctly but i cannot get it to print the correct size. I have tried both the resize options on the template canvas resize dialogue screen but I can only get a image 70mm square to print - help !

Depends on the printer.... You printer probably has an unprintable margin somewhere (usually, around 1cm at bottom for consumer inkjets) and so scales the whole image to find the printable area.

Also, see this: Image size in Gimp

Last, if all else fails, you can always insert the image in a word document, set the print size precisely there, and print the document. These are usually very size-accurate.

[Clueless]

(11-01-2024, 09:26 AM)Clueless Wrote: I need to print a 110mm square image centered on a A5 sized canvas (the image consists of 3 elements - the image itself and 2 borders) I have set the canvas size to A5 centered the image correctly but i cannot get it to print the correct size. I have tried both the resize options on the template canvas resize dialogue screen but I can only get a image 70mm square to print - help !

[rich2005]

(11-01-2024, 09:26 AM)Clueless Wrote: I need to print a 110mm square image centered on a A5 sized canvas (the image consists of 3 elements - the image itself and 2 borders) I have set the canvas size to A5 centered the image correctly but i cannot get it to print the correct size. I have tried both the resize options on the template canvas resize dialogue screen but I can only get a image 70mm square to print - help !

Remember Gimp works in pixels and the size in millimetres depends on the printing resolution usually set in pixels-per-inch (ppi).

You sizes are so different 70 mm <> 110 mm that that there is probably a discrepancy between the Gimp A5 template 300 ppi and your image ??? ppi.  Your image before planting on a A5 canvas should be 1299 x 1299 pix (some rounding errors)

This is how I might do it. I have a image - 3 layers Using Image -> Print Size,  the canvas is larger than the image I want (1) and the ppi (2) is not 300 for a Gimp default A5.
I can fix the first with an Image -> Crop to content (3) and the ppi in the Print size dialogue.

   

Now I can scale the Image to suit the A5 template. You can use mm if you want but that 1299 x 1299 pix should show and the 300 ppi (4) and (5) .
For printing preparation, easiest is export the image as a png, Open a New A5 image and Open as Layers the your newly exported png.  To avoid the printer margin problem, crop some space off the right side and the bottom. (6)

   

Now in the Windows Print, depends on your printer but...
Page setup for A5 (7)
Print setup: Check Ignore Page Margins (8) Set the resolution to 300 (always seems to be more with Windows) (9) Set the margins Top and Left to zero (10) 
And it should work, but Gimp printing with Windows is always a bit of a challange.

   

[Clueless]

Thanks for your reply. So do I understand this correctly ? I can open a image in gimp simply by selecting open with Word then set my printing parameters to A5 and the image will print the correct 110mm square ?

[rich2005]

(11-01-2024, 11:12 AM)Clueless Wrote: Thanks for your reply. So do I understand this correctly ? I can open a image in gimp simply by selecting open with Word then set my printing parameters to A5 and the image will print the correct 110mm square ?

Maybe the other way round.

Export your image as a jpeg or a png.
Open Word (or LibreOffice (LO) for example)
Set the page size to A5
Import your 110 x 110 mm image into Word and check the properties.

Word / LO will use the image ppi information to set the correct size. From the info you gave in your first post your image ppi is about 200. It should print OK, the rule-of-thumb for photo quality is 300 ppi. See: that forum post on printing that Ofnuts referenced.

[Clueless]

I have just exported the image I can't get to print correctly in Gimp and changed the file format to jpg then opened its with Photos then changed all printer setting to A5 etc and it worked!! My only concern is now the quality of the image. I will update you. Thanks for your help so far. John in Essex UK

[Tas_mania]

Quote:My only concern is now the quality of the image.

Go into your printer settings and take it up to the highest 'print quality'. It was once called dpi or dots per inch but that tech is long gone.