3.9 x 5.8" print size not working for Selphy CP1200

[underscore24]

Hello,

I am currently testing out this app with my Canon 760D, iPad Air and Canon Selphy CP1200.

Everything seems to work fine from shots to print, excellent job!

However, changing the print size within the event setttings doesn't seem to work.

The print size for the CP1200 is 3.9 x 5.8" which I set on the app, but it appears to print 4 x 6" leaving some of the photo 'cut off'.

I also tried changing the print size to 3 x 5" to see if it would print smaller, but it printed the same as before.

Is there a way to fix this?

Also, does the app allow to print a default layout after the shots are taken (i.e. people don't get to choose and alter photos)?

Any help you could provide would be awesome!

Cheers, Jesse.

[tim]

Hi Jesse
Thanks for the compliments
Re the prints being overscanned: that is almost certainly the printer doing that, not the iPad. Selphys all overscan to fill by default. Im not sure if the CP1200 has any setting you can change.... let me know if you find any app that does better and ill investigate -- does the photos app or any other app on your ipad not do the same?
There's no totally fixed layout but you can fix the orientation if you like. At live events we find that the amount of flexibility is enough to provide the feel of customization, but small enough that guests are quick.

A note about paper sizes: picking an arbitrary size doesnt actually work. The way it works is that the printer advertises a set of paper sizes and the app has to choose one. So if you enter 3.8x5.9 and the printer advertises 4x6 (which selpys do i believe), the effective size is 4x6. The overscan is a limitation of consumer printers like the selphy line.

One additional thought: did you try making the collage border bigger?

[harry]

Hi Tim,

Is there a way I can fix this? The logo I have on the bottom of the photo - seems to cut-off just a little bit.

It prints the whole logo, but when you "snap" the borders on the selphy photo papers - the logo gets cut -

[tim]

Hi Harry
You need to play with the settings on the printer itself. Does it have settings for overscan or bleed?

[harry]

See attached image -

The borderless or bordered are the only size options I see on printer setting.

[tim]

Yes the selphys are not good at printing precisely. As i mentioned earlier in this thread, apps like wifibooth can only choose a paper size that the printer offers. There isnt much else it can do. In the future i will think about building a feature that undersizes the image sent to the printer!

[tim]

Hi Jesse
Just a quick update that this feature was added to the next version coming soon: you can independently control the outer border size, which can be used to intentionally create an underscanned (smaller) image for printers like the Selphy.

[Englscream]

Hi Tim,

do you know when the feature will be available?
I have the same issue with the Selphy CP910 printer.
Thank you in advance.

[tim]

The ability to control the outer borders independently is already available in v4, which I'm hoping to launch in July. I'm working my butt off on it, it is coming along fast. It's huge and needs to be translated into 11 languages still...

[underscore24]

Hi Tim,

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, never received a notification!
Thanks for the update, I didn't end up getting the v4 app update until last month (not sure why). I've testing it for the last couple weeks.

This update is really great, cheers for putting in all the hard work.
The new look is very pleasant and the functionally is much more refined.

Border Settings
I've tried out the new border settings on my Selphy printer. It definitely allows more flexibility, however in order to completely fix the Selphy's printing issues, we will need to be able independently control the top outer borders seperate from the side outer borders.
(See example below - settings CB:2%, IB:4%, OB:6% - ignore uneven cutting on right side)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iv2wmheauth94 ... 5.jpg?dl=0

Autopilot
The Autopilot feature is a great addition. I remember wanting this feature since I got the app, really glad to see it make it into this version.
One suggestion for a future update, allow Autopilot settings to:
- Automatically print after photos are taken
- Set number of prints for Autopilot

It would be really helpful to have things mentioned above, but completely understand if there are more important things to tend to.

Thanks again

Kind Regards,
Jesse

p.s. I have been looking into getting a DNP RX1 printer but I'm having a lot of trouble finding the WSP product in Australia. Also I was playing with connecting my Fuji X-T10, but was unable to figure it out. Any tips?

[tim]

Hi Jesse,
Thanks for the feedback! Great to see your creation with wifibooth, it looks great, well done!

Re autopilot: good news, both of those things you asked for are already possible
- Automatically print after photos are taken: make sure you connect a printer, and set autopilot to "Full"
- Set number of prints for autopilot: when you put autopilot on Full (with a printer connected), you get a popup asking for the number of prints. If you set it to 0 or empty, the user chooses. If you set it to a non-zero number, that's the number of prints.

Re your Fuji X-T10, that cam should work with wifibooth. What is happening, where are you stuck? Did you already connect it once to the official fuji app? One thing to check: make sure that once the fuji is ready for a wifi connection, hit the OK/middle button to "reset" the last-remembered device/connection, so that it can pair new with wifibooth

[underscore24]

Hi Tim,

Great news about the autopilot, I should have figured that out! I'll test it out tonight.

With the Fuji, I was able to make a direct connection to the wifibooth app a get it working that way.
But I wasn't able to connect it the the app via a wireless router. I'll need to set it up that way to use the Sephy printer simultaneously.
It comes up with something like 'unable make connection to computer'. I'll see if I can get the exact message.

I'll keep tinkering tonight, but please let me know if you have any insight.

Cheers,
Jesse

[tim]

Hi Jesse
OK great. Let me know if you make the fuji connect to something else: as fas as i'm aware, that's not possible, because I thought Fuji cameras do not support infrastructure wifi. I'm under the impression they only support direct mode wifi (ie. everything must connect to the camera).
You can still print! That's what I designed "BluePrint" for. You need an extra iOS device (old iphone or ipod), but I made it free.
You can read more here: https://wifibooth.com/article/blueprint/

[Cranfan]

I'm also having the border issue with my Selphy CP1200. Very annoying. I know it's not your fault.

I also think that if we are able to control top/bottom/left/right independently we could play with the borders to make it perfect. It would be nice to be in "mm" instead of "%". That would make it easier ton control.

[tim]

I don't think it is possible for Wifibooth to do this. All the app can do choose the size of the image (in pixels) that it is sending to the printer. There are no margin settings for the printer. So Wifibooth could choose to make the image bigger on one side, but then the aspect ratio of the image it is sending is wrong. This will cause the printer to crop the image to the correct aspect ratio, which means unpredictable "zooming". Wifibooth could choose to inset the image with white on one side and still send the correct aspect ratio, but then the image itself is being "squashed". Is that what you are asking for?

[tim]

Update: I implemented print insetting in 4.4.0 build 5409. I'll PM you some beta details.

[Cranfan]

I will test the beta versions tonight.

But basicallly what I mean is you already have a feature to add a border (internal external). I’m talking about the slider with the percentage.

Since the printer is actually a bit mess up, if I could control the external border independently, i could cheat the printer. (Example : 2% inside, 7% bottom, 5%top, 3% left, 4% right) and I think that willl work without casing an issue with the size of the photos.

Luc

[tim]

Yes, I implemented what you appear to need:
- existing border controls are unchanged -- use these to make the image look like you want it to, not only for printing but also dropbox uploads etc
- new printer inset settings in printer popover -- use these to fool your printer.

For example if the bottom is cut off when you print, try setting the bottom inset to 10 (pixels). That adds 10 pixels of white space inside the image boundary. It has to be inside, otherwise the printer changes how it crops the image. Note that if you have high values for these insets, and the values are very different, then you'll see the aspect ratio of the image change enough that you notice it (bad). These settings are designed for minor corrections only.

[Cranfan]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the Beta. Unfortunately, it did not work

In the first picture (https://app.box.com/s/0qym13wj5xn9gspfq9tmsyhmpguoqrqy), 3 different print out. one with 10pixel around, one with 20 pixel and the other one i went extreme to see, 60 pixel. as you can see they are all the same. Does not seems to change anything

On the second picture(https://app.box.com/s/w50997ykb4pworgc2gdi8qbg7wg7smo4), I played only with the External Borders in the Collage. First one is 2% inside and 8% outside. Second one is 2% inside 4% outside. The dotted lines is where you "snap" the photo.

So as you can see, you might understand why I say that it could help if I can control External borders separately. I would likely need something 2% inside, 6% top and bottom, 3% left and right. I know that would not make a good result on the screen, but it would make a great result on the printout. So not easy. In my case, I don't mind the result on the screen/dropbox/mail because I will not use the electronic version. I'm handing out only a print out.

On the same topic, a good news, the printing in general seems better with the new version, In general, it's "cropping" less in the "Beta" compare to the "Public" version.

[Cranfan]

You know what? I realize something.

In your app, when you pick the collage size, there is an option to chose the format. I of course picked 4.0X6.0. Even if the Selphy Paper size on the box say 4X6, it's actually not 4X6. It's 3 15/16 X 5 13/16 or 3.9375 X 5.8125.

When I mesure What print "outside" of photo (past the dotted lines to snap the photo) It's actually exactly 4.

I created anew paper size, 3 15/16 X 5 13/16, but it did not change anything

[tim]

Hi cranfran
perhaps the printer is able to detect white pixels in the image and is zooming past them — the insets make white pixels. I could make them black to check this.
One question: after changing the print insets, you are then making a new collage each time right?

Changing the paper size will not help. The printer will always overscan whatever you give it.

[Cranfan]

Hi Tim,

Yes I'm recreating a new collage every time.

You are right, changing paper size did not help..

[Cranfan]

I think you are right about the white being detected by the printer and actually resizing it.

Check this post :
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/1913260

Not same size of paper, but same concept. They say something like "it is important that the driver believes that the picture size is 150x100 mm (even if paper size is really 148x100). "

[tim]

Not sure yet about the white. It's potentially a lot more CPU overhead for the printer to do that...

Can you please try these settings with the build you have now? These are from a PSD from the Medium article linked to from the article in your last post.
Printer insets: top & bottom = 50 pixels, left & right = 25 pixels
Paper size: add a new size with 5.827 inches on the long side (ie. height for potrait), and 3.937 inches on the short side. Note that the UI will show you rounded versions, but the app is using the unrounded versions during any actual printing.

[Cranfan]

Unfortunatly, same results as : https://app.box.com/s/0qym13wj5xn9gspfq9tmsyhmpguoqrqy. The "added pixels" does not seems to make any difference.

The best I can achieved is : https://app.box.com/s/uo7rpb2l08vuplehq7en0m6g34mz9bv2 with 2% border inside and 7% border outside. Not too bad

Thanks for all your help.