39

I have paint .net and I got an image in PSD and PNG format and the print size it says is width 9.5cm and height 14.5cm.

When I go to print, it shows up with that default Windows 7 print option where you choose full page, or wallet, all those template sizes etc.

But I don't want that, I just want to print an image out at the actual print size specified, is this possible?

5
  • 1
    Its a bit of a hack, but you could set the canvas size to the same as the paper and print it?
    – Journeyman Geek
    Jan 19, 2012 at 2:37
  • Sounds like that's what he did! (see below)
    – HaydnWVN
    Jan 19, 2012 at 12:37
  • Very annoying issue. Still no improvements in Windows 8.
    – Roman
    Oct 30, 2012 at 23:50
  • 1
    @Roman : I hear ya. But try one of the two answers below. They worked for me.
    – RoboShop
    Oct 31, 2012 at 1:35
  • Digital images don't have a direct real-life size... the size they come out at will depend on the DPI (dots per inch) you use during design/print... Print an image using half the DPI, and it'll be twice the size in reality. Typical print is between 100-300 DPI. I'd expect your image to be approximately 1122x1710 pixels (for a 300 DPI print). PSD and PNG can specify the expected DPI, but this can be readily changed.
    – Attie
    Jul 18, 2017 at 17:41

12 Answers 12

23

The quickest solution I found that uses only Paint.Net without having to resort to other software was doing what Journeyman Geek suggested in the comments:

  • Go to Image / Canvas Size
  • Select By absolute size
  • At print size, type the width and height of the desired paper format (e.g. 21x29,7cm for A4)
  • Set Anchor to Middle (if you want it centered on the page -- if you don't, you can use Rectangle Select and Move Selected Pixels to move it around afterwards)

Then

  • Go to File / Print
  • Select Full page print
  • Uncheck "fit picture to frame"
  • Click Print

It should come out almost exactly the actual size.

4
  • Seems like those steps would work in @RoboShop's case where the image is smaller than the paper. However, if the image is bigger, then Windows scales it whether or not "fit picture to frame" is checked. Mar 15, 2016 at 11:40
  • @TomAnderson I am not sure I agree, I think it would also work for images that are larger than the paper. Of course, the net effect of (the first half of) the procedure would then be that you crop the image, instead of adding whitespace around it, like in RoboShop's case. But it would have the correct print size.
    – M-Peror
    Mar 21, 2016 at 16:21
  • I tried these exact steps in Paint.net 4.16, and it did not work as expected. I had to use NitroxDM's answer using Windows Paint.
    – Gundark
    Jan 13, 2022 at 0:16
  • I just tried again using Paint.Net 4.3.7 on Windows 10 and the steps still work for me. What exactly did not work as expected for you? Otoh if you don't mind switching to Paint then there's no harm in that of course.
    – M-Peror
    Jan 14, 2022 at 14:54
10

GIMP has lots of options when printing.

In my image below of the 'Image Settings' tab i've: Opened an image 216x21 pixels size, gone to print, chosen 'Image Settings', then changed the setting after the Height box to read 'points'.

It correctly measures the image dimensions rather than any approximation from using inches, centimeters etc.

I'm unsure if Paint.Net has any options similar, if not then GIMP may well be an easy 'solution' for printing (even if you don't like to use it for editing) as it's free! :)

enter image description here

2
  • 3
    Paint.NET unfortunately doesn't have this option - it goes straight into the default Win7 dialog. Sep 12, 2013 at 20:00
  • Shame, no 'Page Setup' in there elsewhere?
    – HaydnWVN
    Sep 19, 2013 at 13:44
10

It's amazing that the default Windows 7 print option doesn't have a print actual size functionality.

What I ended up doing was just cutting and pasting it into Word and then adjusting the image to the right size. It printed out pretty nicely, plus I could print two images on the same page to save paper.

Didn't try GIMP but I imagine maybe the quality could be better (?). However, like I said, I was happy with the images and using Word was a quick way of doing it, especially when you may not be able to just install applications on the computer u want to print from.

2
  • 6
    adjusting to the right size doesn't strike me as the correct answer to your original question... :)
    – HaydnWVN
    Jan 19, 2012 at 12:26
  • 1
    @HaydnWVN I think he meant (re)setting the dimensions of the copy/pasted image in Word. Word resizes the image to fit on the page. Mar 20, 2013 at 18:13
9

You can't. Paint .net doesn't support it. However you can save the image as a PNG then open it with MS Paint then click File(Icon on the top left) -> Print -> Page Setup -> Scaling -> Adjust to 100% normal size. Then just print.

2
  • This answer was created in the pre-Windows 10 era. Just to confirm that in 2022, it still works using Paint version 21H1, on Windows 10 build 19043.1415. I also tried it on Paint.net 4.16, and it still doesn't work, as this answer indicates.
    – Gundark
    Jan 13, 2022 at 0:14
  • This almost worked for me. I used image-resize in Paint.net to set the dpi to a non-standard value (350) in order to make my image the size I wanted and preserve as much resolution as possible. However when I saved to PNG the dpi information was not recorded (as shown in Windows file properties > Details). I then saved as a JPG and the updated DPI was recorded, and Paint was able to print correctly using this technique. With PNG Paint seemed to assume the default 96 dpi.
    – yoyo
    Jan 24, 2022 at 0:26
3

The best tool I found to do this was IrfanView. It is originally just a picture viewer but has evolved into a very powerful multi-tool and works on Windows 7 and 10. See the following picture from the print dialog for all the options.

Irfanview Print dialog

1

I ended up here after having the same problem and figured out on my own that if you open drag the image into a blank Word document, it stays true to the file size set in PSD. Just print from Word!

Mine was a jpeg, but I bet it would work with png too.

1
  • I found that Paint.net (version 4.3.7) sets the dpi (dots-per-inch) information correctly when saving to JPG, but not to PNG. I'm basing this on looking at the file Properties > Details from Windows Explorer. So it might not work with a PNG if you have a non-standard dpi. Default is 96.
    – yoyo
    Jan 24, 2022 at 0:34
0

I had a great idea and it works great for this problem, the best way I can put it is, if you are trying to print something on plain paper (8.5 X 11) and the image you want to print (in exact size) is 5 x 8...then open it in paint, you'll notice you can make the canvas bigger just by clicking the white boxes and dragging them to the desired length. What you'll need to do is go to the drop down bar in paint, hit properties, under units, select inches and then drag the canvas to be 8.5 x 11 inches, this way when it makes it as big as the paper, it literally can't be any bigger than exactly what you want.

0

Another way to accomplish printing at a desired size is the program IfranView - it's also another program, which is a downside, but it's a lot lighter weight than GIMP, and there's a way to specify the size right in the print dialog.

0

I had a similar problem, but was printing to PDF, so the option of having a small image on a large piece of paper didn't work. So I opened it in Open Office Draw (ODG format) and exported from there to a custom PDF size.

Paint.net unfortunately didn't work, but OpenOffice is also free.

0

you can convert the centimetres of your desired length into pixels. (1cm = 37.7952755906 pixels) . After you got the exact dimensions , go to paint and adjust the canvas to the lengths you recorded , then paste the image which you want to print and adjust it according to your canvas . And when you are about to print , just uncheck the "Fit to the page" or a similar checkbox . this shall give you the desired outcomes.

-1

A loooong time ago :-) there was Ulead PhotoImpact which has a FANTASTIC print interface: when you press print it brings up a kind of preview page with rulers on either side of the page (similar to Word) and you can literally drag the image around as you please and the printout will look exactly as you see it there. It also had tick boxes on top of the page to centre vertically or horizontally and scale up or down the image but whatever you did, the printout looked exactly as what you see on screen, simply brilliant!

1
  • this is interesting but I don't think it helps with paint.net
    – user273580
    Jun 14, 2013 at 10:05
-2

Here is a practical solution of the problem... Go to PSD file take canvas of A4 size. Then copy whatever xyz size of JPEG image suppose your jpeg image size is 10 centimeter by 8 centimeter.. then at the back groud fill up any light color. (example light yellow) now go for the print. Now you will get A4 size print which has 10 centimeter by 8 centimeter.. image.

Because practically many laptop or PC users do not keep printers at home. So we use to visit Xerox and Printing center. Those shopkeepers do never never have any computer knowledge. They will not allow you to adjust his settings. So use above idea.

I suppose, if you are wise enough, use maximum space of A4 size paper by copy paste image at the maximum...so that you can get multiple images thus can save money per image. Cut paper in image size and BINGO...

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .