Printing problems using Illustrator

Question

I made a brochure for my internship this summer using the brochure template illustrator already has available.

Now, I am having trouble printing the document. I have the settings as US letter borderless and it is set to print double sided.

When it prints the front of the brochure cuts off an inch from the right side of the front page. The inside of the brochure is absolutely fine there isn't anything cut off at all.

I'm just feeling a little lost on what I can change so it prints correctly. I've tried fitting the images to 98% instead of 100% of the page. That didn't work, and also I have tried printing from other printers but they still have the same problem.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer 1

You cannot get a borderless printing if:

1) Your printer cannot print to the edges

OR

2) Your paper size is the same size as your layout

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Using the "fit to page" feature might not print equal white borders all around.

If you use a standard printer and you don't mind the white border but want it to be equal on all sides, you should try to do your design with a white border of about 0.125" (3 mm) all around. Print it at its full size (100% or "actual size") and the difference of thickness of the borders should be less obvious.

If you really want to not have any border but your printer cannot print a bigger paper size, you can add trim marks and bleed around your design, print it on your printer and then cut that sheet! You can use a "fit to page" for this, it doesn't matter; everything outside the edges of your design and trim marks will be remove when you cut the sheet. But yes, your print will be smaller this way unfortunately!

There's not other way around unless you use a printer that can do borderless printing or use a printer that can print tabloid size (11 x 17") for example. Your only other option is to go at a photocopy center or a print shop and specify you want the final trim size to be a lettersize with bleed!

Answer 2

To print US Letter borderless you probably need to print on a 11x17 then trim down the page. Your print most likely doesn't print to the edge because it needs area to grab onto to move the paper through.

Make sure to add a 1/8" bleed on anything and to add crop marks to get a full edge to edge print.