Printable Area Question

[Terry_Dickerson@adobeforums.com]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to print a DVD case label that I have designed in Illustrator CS for Windows. However, the printable area for my printer (HP Photosmart P1100) is not large enough to print the entire label. I've tried setting the crop area to cover the entire label and then selecting Crop Area in the Print Settings dialog box, but it still cuts off at the printable area. Is there anything I can do, or do I just make the label small enough to fit into the default print area?

Thanks in advance,

-terry-

[John_Slate@adobeforums.com]

tiling?

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

Terry,

If you want the whole label in one print (reduced size) for viewing/presentation while keeping the actual size in Illy, you may set the artboard size (File>Document setup) to match the label, move the label to fit the artboard area, save as PDF (File>Save As), and choose Shrink + Autorotate before you print. With this, you will still have the original AI file unchanged.

[Terry_Dickerson@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for the quick replies. Unfortunately, I want to print the label at actual size so it will fit a standard DVD case. The print area on my printer will not allow that. Tiling won't work because the printable area is the same on each page (unless there's something I'm overlooking). What I'm asking is if there is some way to force the printer to enlarge the print area.

Thanks again!

-terry-

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

If the printable area is large enough broadwise but not lengthwise (portrait format), and if you can feed longer sheets (which you can on many printers) you may set the artboard to the required size, save as PDF, and define a custom paper size in Properties before you print.

Which size is a standard DVD case/label?

[Terry_Dickerson@adobeforums.com]

Jacob,

That's a good idea--I should just get some legal size paper and print to that. Duh. <smacks forehead>