My margins are off...

[strunz]

Dear Mac Persons:

I come begging, hat in hand, for help with a problem that has been plaguing me for, literally, years. I've wasted hours upon hours trying to find a solution. I'm at my wit's end, and hope someone will be able to demystify this debacle for me.

Whenever I print a document of any kind, the margins are never as they should be. It doesn't matter what software I use. Let me give a simple example:

If I compose an 8.5 X 11 document with half-inch margins all the way around, the printed margins are shorter on the top and left, and larger on the bottom and right. Every time.

I use both a Lexmark Z23 and an Apple Stylewriter II. Both printers produce the same results.

I've used AppleWorks 6, QuarkXPress 3.31, Avery Mac Label Expert, Avery Click 'N Design and a demo of Adobe InDesign. None produce a correct result.

I've tried changing the scale. I've tried everything I know to try. Nothing works. I don't know what to do.

Please, if anyone has a suggestion, I'd appreciate your help. Perhaps you could pass this along to a friend who might know. I thank you in advance.

I'm using a B&W G3, 400MHz, 1 gb RAM, OS X 10.3.9.

 

[MisterMe]

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Please, if anyone has a suggestion, I'd appreciate your help. Perhaps you could pass this along to a friend who might know. I thank you in advance.

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It sounds like you are not doing Page Setup. Select File > Page Setup....

 

[strunz]

Yes, I've checked and double-checked Page Setup in each instance. That is also where I experimented with percentage scaling. It did not help.

 

[zo219]

Setting margins is a little tricky; depending on the application and on the printer used, the print settings may override what you've set in the document - and then there's your system printer window. I don't remember back to Jaguar, but in Tiger and now in Leopard, there are a series of settings in a the pulldown menu in the second setting from the top - in Leopard called "Presets."

If you open those you have, you may find this is where your margins are being ignored - or you may wish to create a Setting of your own choices of margin, paper handling etc.

If, however, your printers are older, there may not be those options. Have you upgraded your drivers to the level of your OS? How long has it been since you installed your printers? And if either presents an onscreen utility, I would run it and see how things "line up."

Some ideas to at least get started with.

 

[strunz]

Thanks zo219!

There is no such option "presets" in any of my print dialogs. I'm using Panther (10.3.9).

I'm using the latest driver for the Lexmark z23. The Stylewriter II is utilizing the Foomatic driver for old serial printers.Both are older printers.

I'm thinking the problem HAS to lie somewhere betwen the printer and the computer. It would be too weird if all the software exhibited the same problem.

Still searching for the answer.