Greetings from Carlisle, PA!

[ammcmillin]

Hello!

My name is Ann, and I am relatively new to the world of paper models. My husband and I stumbled upon this fascinating hobby while attending the Army Heritage Days in Carlisle a few years ago, and my husband was immediately hooked! He loves the boats and planes, while I have been more interested by the animals and cartoon characters.

I am becoming a bit of a paper model hoarder, because too many times I have followed a dead link to THE model I wanted to make. Now, I have dedicated flash drives filled with model files, "just in case" I ever get the urge to make them. LOL!

In recent days, I have been struggling with finding A4 paper. Many of the designs done with the Pepakura designer that I've been getting are formatted for the A4 paper, and it's not easy to find! My planned workaround is to print them out on legal sized paper instead, but even legal doesn't seem to be available in all the different paper weights. How do you work around the A4 issue?

Ann

[Burning Beard]

Welcome Ann,

Check with Staples (or maybe Office Depot) on line,  I think you can order 65# legal cardstock, and they will deliver it postage free to your nearest store.

Beard

[Vermin King]

That's what I would do, if I really wanted to do it on A4, but I usually just print to pdf, then open the pdf's in Gimp and re-arrange to fit on letter.

Welcome to the forum

[Dave Winfield]

Hi Ann




You know, most A4 model pages, (unless they have been completely filled edge to edge) will print on a Letter page.
Just make sure you set No Margins.
And watch the top and bottom coverage.

The A4 page is narrower, so it will fit easily on Letter.
However, the A4 is longer(taller), by about 3/4"... so if it is filled to the edges, it won't fit completely on Letter.
But most designers don't fill top and bottom of the page (with parts).

Usually printing with No Margins will take care of it.

[ammcmillin]

Gimp! What a great idea! Thanks!

Have downloaded it to my laptop, and will give it a go this evening after work...

Dave, maybe its because my laptop is a Windows 10, but I have had no luck reducing margins to make it print correctly. Is there a trick to it?

Knew someone here would have the answer!!!
Thanks again!

Ann

[Dave Winfield]

Windows can install just about any printer when you hook it up.
Drivers and print control are automatically taken care of.
This is the ideal way in my opinion
...although it is good to check regularly for related driver updates through the manufacturer.

But with some printers, there are more advanced printing controls and print options available
and you may need to install the Software that comes with the printer.
Avoid the editing, album and image transfer softwares.
Just opt for the control/print management software.

...

Generally, when I send something to print, I wait for the print control window to appear
and then click on Properties.
This should open a control window related to your specific printer and its own software.

Go through the available options, set whatever choices you want,
and make sure to save changes, or Apply changes.

My printer is a Brother printer...and when I get to the Brother printer Control options,
I can choose Borderless print (regardless of page size, quality, etc.)
This is a quick option that does not affect the preset page margins (which are also adjustable somewhere).

You may also need to apply when you get back to the original print window.

Also...make sure you have selected the proper Page size.
This is not the page size of the file...set the actual paper size you are printing on.
So, if the file is A4 and you want to print Borderless on Letter, you choose borderless + letter as your output.

[Vermin King]

Most printers will do a preview when you are printing, also.  If the page sizes don't match, the preview will show whether or not you need to do anything.  If everything you want to print lies within the borders, then you don't need to do anything.