Printing Issues with PrintCentral (Windows)

[sgbater]

I've been using PrintCentral wirelessly through my PC without a problem, until I changed printers. It's probably a setting I have screwed up somehow, but since hooking up my Brother printer, I cannot seem to print a full PDF page from my iPad. The page sends, and prints, but the entire page is reduced to about 1/20 the page size and appears in the upper left portion of the page. The entire image is about 1"x1.25".

What settings do I need to change to ensure the page prints out in its original format?

Thanks, folks!

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Is your new printer coupled to your PC wirelessly or via USB/Ethernet? I guess you're using the PrintCentral 'WePrint' app on your PC. This is a strange problem!! One quick idea - the universal fix it solution - have you tried switching the iPad on and off - i.e. a complete power down rather than simply putting it to sleep? Also, does the 'test page' in the PrintCentral app print OK - or is that one coming out small as well?

Tim
Scotland

 

[sgbater]

Is your new printer coupled to your PC wirelessly or via USB/Ethernet? I guess you're using the PrintCentral 'WePrint' app on your PC. This is a strange problem!! One quick idea - the universal fix it solution - have you tried switching the iPad on and off - i.e. a complete power down rather than simply putting it to sleep? Also, does the 'test page' in the PrintCentral app print OK - or is that one coming out small as well?

Tim
Scotland

Hello Tim,

Thanks for your response, and I apologize that I have not been able to be back on this forum for a while.

In answer to your question, yes, I have completely rebooted the iPad, powered down my printer and rebooted my computer numerous times. What fascinates me is that I was able to print fine when I first installed the new printer. I'm not sure what has changed, though clearly something has done. The test page and any document I attempt to print (formats: PDF, .docx, html) are all printed perfectly in a 1x1.25 inch rectangle at the top left of the page. The entire page is reduced to a mere fraction of the its actual size.

I am at a loss. I suppose what I am wondering is if I should ditch this program and get something else, though I'm not sure what. My computer is running Windows 7, I'm using office 2007 and 2010, and the printer is a Brother DCP-7030 connected to my laptop via USB.

Any thoughts would be seriously appreciated!!

Thanks!
Sid

 

[DontUnderstandMyIpad]

Just out of curiosity, when you select print, there is an option 'Paper Size:'. Have you changed that to A4, to see, whether that makes any difference?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Is your new printer coupled to your PC wirelessly or via USB/Ethernet? I guess you're using the PrintCentral 'WePrint' app on your PC. This is a strange problem!! One quick idea - the universal fix it solution - have you tried switching the iPad on and off - i.e. a complete power down rather than simply putting it to sleep? Also, does the 'test page' in the PrintCentral app print OK - or is that one coming out small as well?

Tim
Scotland

Hello Tim,

Thanks for your response, and I apologize that I have not been able to be back on this forum for a while.

In answer to your question, yes, I have completely rebooted the iPad, powered down my printer and rebooted my computer numerous times. What fascinates me is that I was able to print fine when I first installed the new printer. I'm not sure what has changed, though clearly something has done. The test page and any document I attempt to print (formats: PDF, .docx, html) are all printed perfectly in a 1x1.25 inch rectangle at the top left of the page. The entire page is reduced to a mere fraction of the its actual size.

I am at a loss. I suppose what I am wondering is if I should ditch this program and get something else, though I'm not sure what. My computer is running Windows 7, I'm using office 2007 and 2010, and the printer is a Brother DCP-7030 connected to my laptop via USB.

Any thoughts would be seriously appreciated!!

Thanks!
Sid

I saw DontUnderstandMyIpad's suggestion, which sounds like an interesting idea to investigate this further.

In addition, you mention above you're using Office 2007 and 2010 and I wondered what the significance of that was and why you mentioned it? Maybe you simply 'mentioned it in passing', but since Office would not normally be involved in printing from the iPad I just wondered....

Having said that though, what happens if you transfer a document you've authored on the iPad to the PC, then open it in Office and try to print it or look at it. i.e. is the document 'really' that size - postage stamp size - or is it actually a printing problem? I guess I'm trying to say - is the problem a printing problem or an app problem?

Other than that, I'm sort of short of ideas. You mention ditching the program. You probably have read in the Forum that PrintCentral and the Developer's other printing programs are all being 'upgraded' to remove the in-app printing capability that was, for me, one of the apps biggest selling points. I, therefore, have not upgraded my version of PrintCentral so that I can retain this feature.

It appears that Apple forced them to remove the capability because it used an undocumented API (application programmer interface) in iOS.

Tim
Scotland

 

[sgbater]

Well, thanks everyone.

Tim: Yes I can transfer the docs from the iPad to my PC and they print full-sized. Yes, we-print is installed on my PC. Remember, with my previous printer, the Cannon MX850, everything worked fine. I could even fax from my iPad (all through the computer, of course!). I simply do not know what has happened since changing the the Brother printer. I've even re-installed the we-print app on the PC when I could not seem to rectify the problem.
Don'tUnderstand: nope, paper size is not A4, but letter, tried switching it back and forth though, just in case there was a glitch somewhere. It didn't change my problem.

As for mentioning Office, yes it was just in passing; the only way I've been able to use PrintCentral on my iPad is to pull any doc/pic/file into the PrintCentral App and print it from there. It seems, Tim, that you have been able to print directly from 3rd party apps prior to the upgrade. If I have understood you correctly, I have never been able to do that with either printer.

I should say that prior to writing on this forum, I engaged in a considerable amount of online reading and research to see if I could solve my problem without bothering others. Just recently, i purchased an iPad info book, "Take control of working with your iPad 2.0." I thought it might be helpful, but alas, I it is not. It was in reading the section on printing from the ipad that I began to wonder if I should delete the PrintCentral app and go with another.

So I guess, with all this frustration and no real answers, what print app(s) would you folk recommend?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Well, thanks everyone.

Tim: Yes I can transfer the docs from the iPad to my PC and they print full-sized. Yes, we-print is installed on my PC. Remember, with my previous printer, the Cannon MX850, everything worked fine. I could even fax from my iPad (all through the computer, of course!). I simply do not know what has happened since changing the the Brother printer. I've even re-installed the we-print app on the PC when I could not seem to rectify the problem.
Don'tUnderstand: nope, paper size is not A4, but letter, tried switching it back and forth though, just in case there was a glitch somewhere. It didn't change my problem.

As for mentioning Office, yes it was just in passing; the only way I've been able to use PrintCentral on my iPad is to pull any doc/pic/file into the PrintCentral App and print it from there. It seems, Tim, that you have been able to print directly from 3rd party apps prior to the upgrade. If I have understood you correctly, I have never been able to do that with either printer.

I should say that prior to writing on this forum, I engaged in a considerable amount of online reading and research to see if I could solve my problem without bothering others. Just recently, i purchased an iPad info book, "Take control of working with your iPad 2.0." I thought it might be helpful, but alas, I it is not. It was in reading the section on printing from the ipad that I began to wonder if I should delete the PrintCentral app and go with another.

So I guess, with all this frustration and no real answers, what print app(s) would you folk recommend?

I am so sorry that you are continuing to have this problem. Is there any chance of borrowing another printer from a friend or colleague and seeing if that 'solves' the problem? I know it doesn't fix the problem with your current set-up but it might indicate whether the problem is with the printer, the iPad or PrintCentral. It would be a pity to buy a new printing app only to find you have the same problem with that.

Tim

 

[col.bris]

Who is The developer for print central

 

[col.bris]

I would email Martin at

[email protected]. He is great for support. I have other products fr same company

Cheers Colin

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

It's Eurosmartz. They don't list the printers that arn't supported on their website for direct printing with WiFi, but there's been relatively little trouble with printing via the PC. I have a Samsung Colour Laser Printer that's not directly supported, but it works just fine via their PC app 'WePrint'. In this case, too, it appears as though 'something has changed' rather than the app being at fault, because the poster was able to get it to work originally.

I thought that, by trying another printer, it would be possible to narrow the 'search field' down a little and more accurately identify where the problem lies.

Tim