I am trying to print a HO scale 3rd planit trackplan on A4 paper (210 x 297 mm). But the printer will not print on the whole paper. It leaves around 20 mm on the short sides and around 4 mm on the long sides. So when I try to lay the paper out on the floor I must cut all 4 sides to make the trackplan look right. This is very tedious. How can I make the printer print on the whole paper so I just have to lay the papers side by side without any cutting?
Many printers are incapable of printing to the edge of the paper. It sounds like you have one of them.
The easiest solution is to buy a paper cutter. That will make trimming the edges quick and easy.
Some higher end photo printers can print “borderless”, but buying a new printer is an extreme solution to a minor problem.
If you check your printer’s page setup options you can be sure of your printer’s capability.
ANother option is to turn on registration marks, then you don’t have to cut the sheets, you can line up the marks by overlapping the edges of the paper. Unless you’re using some really thick cardstock-like paper, you should be able to see the marks through the top sheet.
I did this on my previous layout, printed out the entire track plan to full size and taped it all together on the table. ANd promptly vowed to never EVER do that again. he reason for my computer-drawn track plan is to make sure I was ‘honest’ about what fits in my space - no fudging on curve radius, or making improbably #1 turnouts to fit a siding in. I printed out maybe 3 pages full size to get started where the spacing is somewhat critical to allow vertical clearance under the sloping side of the ceiling, but that’s it. The only other hardcopies I’ve done are to small scales (easily measured with a ruler, like 1/12, of if I had an architect’s scale I’d do 1/10, or if using metric some other equally easy to convert scale) so I knew about where tracks had to be. Will my actual track match the draw plan to the millimeter? Nope, but then it doesn’t really matter. Between the curve gauges I have and trammels I made, I get the curve radii correct, so it all fits approximately where I drew it and that’s plenty good enough for me.
–Randy
I used 3rd planit about 7 years ago and had the same problem. My rauilroad was about 23’ X 16’ with aisles. I cut the sides off and taped it together and then placed it on the benchwork making adjustments here and there. I did make some changes after this and it was woorth the trioble. If possible, number the pages. I do remember that was a forum for 3rd planit.
The suggestions about turning on Registration Marks and Page Numbering will help a lot. Laying paper side-by-side will introduce small errors that accumulate from sheet to sheet and you end up with a large error. If you need more help try at …
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3rdPlanIt/
There are a lot of very knowledgeable 3rd PlanIt users there who will do their best to give you solid guidance.
I recently used 3Pi to plan and test-fit my new layout (11’x15’).
I installed a pdf driver on my pc and plotted the layout onto virtual 36"x48" sheets. I then took the pdf files to a print shop and had them printed on a drafting plotter. I spread the large sheets out on the floor of the train room and taped them together to make templates for benchwork and sub-roadbed. It worked quite well.
Two keys to success:
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Plot the plans with gridlines turned on so you can use a long ruler or yardstick to keep things straight.
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Do a test plot first to ensure that the final scale is 12"=12" (or whatever). My output worked fine, but you need to ensure the pdfs are printed ‘without scaling’.
Good luck.
Dwayne A