"Shrink oversize pages" printing default = bad

[Max Heim]

I can't figure out why Acrobat defaults to "shrink oversize pages" and "enlarge small pages" when printing. After going to all that trouble to preserve fonts and precise layout, it then defaults to printing the layout the "wrong" size. I can't tell you how many times I
have heard from clients that "the label layout doesn't fit the sheet" or "the logo prints too small", just because of this inane behavior. But above and beyond protesting this as a bad design decision, my complaint is that it applies this behavior inappropriately.

For example, I just created an invitation layout, to be printed 4-up on a letter-size sheet. It was designed so that all elements were within the printable area for the page setup of the target printer. I sent it as a PDF to the client so that I would not have to send them the half-a-dozen font files. They responded that it would not print "centered" on the page. After some fruitless manuevering (such as telling them to turn off the "fit to page" print options), I finally sent them the Illustrator file with the fonts, which proceeded to print perfectly. Looking at the printed Illustrator piece, the client remarked that Acrobat had persisted in printing the PDF at a reduced size, even with the option "shrink large pages" unchecked -- and anyway, the document was not an "oversize page", it was precisely letter-size to start with.

Similar incidents have occurred frequently, with clients using Acrobat 5 (full version) and Acrobat Reader 5.x, on Mac OS 9.x.

[Nathan Strong]

The reason it shrinks is because the PDF is a full bleed. Acrobat reduces the full bleed so that it fits within the printable area, and thus printing the PDF looks smaller than both the original document and the PDF on the screen.

You could work around this by determining the minimum margins for your printer, then define a custom page size that letter minus the minimum margins.. i.e. 8x10 instead of 8.5x11. You'll notice that the Acrobat 5 help does exactly this.

Nathan

[Max Heim]

But why is it calculating a "bleed" dimension when no artwork even approaches the page margin?

Plus, what is the point of a "bleed' in the first place if it prints smaller than the supposed "trim" size? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

I have no way of knowing the actual printable area of every possible printer that a recipient of the PDF might choose to use. There is no good reason why I should have to know. I can see another problem with this workaround -- what if Acrobat decides to automatically "enlarge" this "smaller" page to fit (as the other default setting has it)? Why can't it just print at 100% when the page setup is 100%, like every other application on the planet?

I would bet that the vast majority of Acrobat Reader users don't even know what a "bleed" is -- it seems ludicrous to build a bleed allowance into every page, as you imply.

[Nathan Strong]

But why is it calculating a "bleed" dimension when no artwork even approaches
the page margin?

It's not. It's saying "I've got a page that's a full 8.5 x 11 inches, and this printer only prints 8.2 x 10.5. Therefore I need to shrink this page to 8.2x10.5 so it will all print."

I agree that it's kind of a silly default, but I think the reasoning is that a smaller version that has all of the document is better than a 1:1 scale version that loses information around the borders. *shrug*

You also wouldn't need to build a bleed allowance, per se. You could simply make your PDF as normal, then use the Crop tool to crop your pages down to, say, 8x10 or whatever.

Nathan

[Sam Lowry]

I agree this is bad also. Many times I have clients who try to output the
PDFs I do for them only to complain that the size is wrong.

"Max Heim" <mvh...@studiolimage.com> wrote in message
news:2ccd7...@webx.la2eafNXanI...

[Max Heim]

[Replying to Nathan]

"You also wouldn't need to build a bleed allowance, per se. You could simply make your PDF as normal, then use the Crop tool to crop your pages down to, say, 8x10 or whatever."

Well, see my comment about the "enlarge small page to fit" default -- if you don't have the dimension absolutely perfect it will just enlarge that cropped size to "fit", distorting the size yet again.

And if you manage to prevent this behavior, you are still assuming the printer will center the output on the page, which is not likely to be correct -- more probably it will print starting from the leading edge of the printable area.

[tcserpa]

we are having a similar problem, but not quite the same.

the printer here in the office can print no larger than legal, and we frequently make soft-proofs, just to see what things look like.

so, i print a .ps file out of quark, set to fit on a legal sized sheet, then distill it. when i attempt to print the resulting PDF, from either acrobat 6 or reader, it ignores the fact that i have set the page size to legal in page setup and prints too small.

have turned off fit to page, auto rotate, and any thing else i can to no avail.

any clues?

[Max Heim]

That sounds like the problem I was complaining about. I don't have Acrobat 6 yet -- it's disapointing to hear that it still behaves the same way.

One thing that always works is to open the PDF in Ilustrator 10 and print from there. But you can't expect most people to have Illustrator, or all the fonts.

I wonder how Mac OS X Preview works for printing?