Quark documents print with wrong margins

[prrcomm]

Hello, design experts. I have a problem that's been causing me much grief and consternation. I've tried posting all over the Web, but have received no help.

I'm using Quark 6 on a Mac G3 running Panther. I'm utilizing two printers: a Lexmark Z23 and an old Stylewriter II. All my documents have a margin of 0.5 inches all the way around. When a document prints, the margins are uneven, i.e., 3/8 in. top, 11/16 in. bottom, 7/16 in. left, 9/16in. right. All documents come out the same way on both printers. I've been researching and working on this for months. I've checked all the settings, double-checked drivers, etc., to no avail. It's driving me insane.

Might anyone have an idea what the problem is? I would much appreciate the help. Thank you.

[cornfed]

A few questions. Are you sure you have your document size set properly? I assume you're on 8.5 x 11, or at least think you are! If not, that could throw it off. Did you set the margins at .5"? Maybe take one page and set the margin at say .75" and see how it prints. If it does right, then that narrows the problem down a bit. Did you check your page setup to make sure you don't have it set to scale when printing? Are you trying to print it with registration marks? Sometimes it will make the registration marks print by making everything else all wonky. Just some ideas that popped in my head for troubleshooting.

[cornfed]

Also, if you have taken these documents and copied them into a new document, then some settings don't necessarily carry over. For example, if I have modifications to a text box (Like align it in the center of the box) and move it to a new document, then those settings don't carry over.

[SpugNothuson]

When you make a PDF of the page that has the margins set, does that look acurate to what you want?

Some printers have built in margins that you can't override, but have to compensate for.

[PrintDriver]

Especially the older ones. They usually have a unprintable area all around. 1/4" on top and sides and 1/2" on the bottom. Sounds like you are 'fitting document to page" with the registration set to the left on the Setup tab.

[prrcomm]

Thank you all for your kind responses. I will try them all, and let you know how successful I am!!

[prrcomm]

It's me again...let me tell you that the problem hasn't been solved, and here's what I've done...

The Document Size is set at US Letter. Scaling at 100%. I've tried all the alignment settings: Left Edge, Center, Center Horizontal, Center Vertical. Nothing works.

I noticed on the Preview tab a set of Page Margins unique to each printer. I tried subtracting them from 0.5 inches to no avail. I can get the margins to move, just not correctly!

I'm spending way too much time on this. Any other ideas are appreciated. Else I must try AppleWorks.

Thanks again.

[jimking]

It could be the G3 running panther with some sort of conflicted with the ppd. To me and only me, running osx on a G3 is risky and I'm sure there are some bugs doing this. What version of Panther are you using? 10.3.9 is the most updated version before moving into Tiger.

[PrintDriver]

I haven't had so much trouble running Panther on a G3 (other than being molasses slow). I'm more apt to agree that there is a ppd conflict though... I'm surprised the old Stylewriter even works with Panther. I'm not familiar with the Lexmark. Is that an all-in-one?

Are you by any chance trying to do this over a network with a printserver in the line somewhere?

[prrcomm]

Well, I've just spen another five hours on this quagmire. Know what I found out? 8.5" x 11" on screen is not 8.5" x 11" on paper!! Imagine that! I tried percentages, ratios. I quit.

Thanks for all your help. BTW, inkjet printers don't have PPDs; only PostScript printers.

[PrintDriver]

Know what I found out? 8.5" x 11" on screen is not 8.5" x 11" on paper!!

^That's a new one on me. Quark has done some stupid things with my files in the past but an inch is still an inch.

I didn't know the Lexmark was an inkjet. But inkjets are the reason I asked if you are printing to a network with a printserver on it. Printservers, Macs and inkjets do not play well together.