This might be because of the "Cropt to Fit Print proportion" option in the print dialog. If it is checked then the result preview/print will be cropped.
Hope this helps.
Ellen,
I have an HP5650 (very similar to your 5550) and PE3 on XP and have never had the problem you describe. I doubt very much that it is a monitor problem. It probably is caused by a size or aspect ratio difference between the image and the print size that you want.
Although the situation is a bit different in this thread since the poster is getting prints from an outside service the principles apply to printing from the PC:
Robert F Carruth, "Elements printing problem" #1, 6 May 2005 3:24 pm </cgi-bin/webx?14/0>
Give us a little more information. Is this a new problem that worked OK in the past? Are you printing from Editor or Organizer and what settings do you choose? In Editor go to Image, Resize, Image Size and tell us the Document’s Width, Height, and Resolution. What are the Printer settings for paper size and, if printing 4×6 borderless, whether auto fit is checked. With this info we can probably correct the problem.
Bob
Ellen
You don’t have one of these cute "wide-screen" monitors do you?
Colin,
I’ve never worked with a wide screen. Do they distort the view like my widescreen TV if it’s on the wrong setting?
Bob
Thank you, Deepika. I tried printing with and without checking "Crop to Fit". The results were the same. The photo is not being cropped – the person in the image takes on a narrower and longer face.
Thank you, Bob. I am printing from the Editor with settings: Print Size 4 x 6 and Crop to Fit checked. The document’s dimensions are:
4 x 6 inches; resolution 300. I’m printing on 4 x 6 with tab.
Yes, this is a new problem.I just did a little further testing and find that when I scan a photo into Elements that the face of the image appears broader and shorter (the opposite of the printer results). That leads me to believe it’s a monitor distortion. I haven’t been working with Photoshop for a while and am not sure when this problem surfaced. Perhaps it was when I installed XP over ME – or – when I installed Elements 3.0 not long afterwards. Do you get any clues from this?
To answer Colin’s question – No, I don’t have a wide screen monitor – just a regular HP pavilion mx70.
Ellen
Ellen,
Several people have hit upon the idea of the aspect ratio of your monitor being a potential problem. Look in your control panel display settings for the monitor resolution. You need a 4:3 aspect ratio, like 1024 x 768, 1280 x 960 , etc .
:-~
Thank you,Brent. My resolution is ok – set at 1024 x 768.
Ellen
Ellen,
Since this just started and all your settings are correct let’s try resetting preferences if you haven’t already.
With Elements closed go to C:\Documents and Settings\ [user] \Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements (where [user] is replaced with your user name). Rename the folder 3.0 to 3.0.old. Then start Elements and the Preferences will be rebuilt to their default.
This is the first line of defense when Elements get’s weird.
Another thought if the reset doesn’t work. If you kept HP Director or something similar what happens with a print and/or scan outside of Elements?
Bob
Is your monitor a CRT (a big tube, like an old TV) or is an LCD (like a laptop)?
If it’s a CRT, does the image spread out to all 4 corners or is part of the monitor blank? Are there controls to adjust the width and height?
Bob,
I tried printing from HP Director and scanning with Epson SmartPanel with same results. So – now I suspect the problem is not with Elements but, possibly, with XP. The following message from Lou might have the major clue and I will pursue that thought. I thank you for all your input – it really helped to encourage new thought and new roads to investigate. I’ll keep trying – Ellen
Lou,
I think you might have honed in on my problem. When I took a close look at my desktop I noticed that it does not spread all the way to the bottom of the screen and the width extends a little beyond. As far as I can tell my montitor has adjustments for brightness and contrast only. Do you have any idea where I would look for a height and width adjustment? I think we’re on the right path. Thank you. Ellen
Ellen,
If you still have the manual for your mx70 look on page 12 and following. If you don’t have it you can download a copy from here:
<
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph06493.pdf>
Hope you can get it back into adjustment. Still under warranty?
Bob
Bob,
Thank you so much. I feel foolish for suspecting Elements 3 without remembering that I had installed XP at about the same time. I am so grateful for the help in identifying the culprit and for teaching me to look beyond the front of my monitor for adjustments. By the way – I love Elements – have always loved 2.0 – and 3.0 is even better. Ellen
Ellen,
Never feel foolish. There are so many areas that can go wrong you just have to eliminate them one by one. (And I was dead sure it was a print problem which didn’t help.)
Hope everything is back to normal.
Bob
