Print module - print to file options

When creating JPEGs using the Export function of the Library module, Lightroom 4 offers you very detailed control over the export options, including automated rules for the folder/filename structure.
When creating JPEGs using "print to file" in the Print module, the controls seem to be much more limited. Notably, the folder/filename has to be specified manually for each print job.
Is there a way to keep (or append to) the original filename when exporting from the Print module, short of typing it in by hand for every single image?
(For context: My print lab requires that submitted files exactly match the print, pixel-for-pixel, for everything to work correctly. If the file doesn't match, their print driver will scale and crop until it does. So, if I use the Library module's Export function and the aspect ratio of the file is different from that of the closest available paper, two edges may get cropped. Or, in other words, I have to pad the image with white bars to fill the paper's aspect ratio if I want it to print the way I want it to. The Print module creates files that are perfect for my purposes. But, since I can't figure out how to get it to keep the filename, the back print data on the paper copies- which I will need 8 years later to find the original when a re-print is ordered- is useless.)

Thanks Effeegee. At your suggestion, I tried LR/Mogrify + ImageMagick and, with a bit of tweaking, it does exactly what I need (and far more efficiently than LR4 Print).
For other users' reference, the LR/Mogrify configuration to do this is:
In Lightroom Library -> Export, LR/Mogrify adds "Post-Process Actions". Turn on "Background Canvas" and "Compress to file size".
Under the regular "Image Sizing" control, turn on "Resize to Fit: Dimensions" and set the paper size (long side first) and printer resolution. This resizes the image to fit within the specified paper size.
Under "Mogrify Canvas", set the paper size again (in pixels, long side first), and turn on "Adjust for landscape/portrait". This pads the image with blank borders to exactly fill the specified paper size.
Note that if the short side is specified first, LR/Mogrify sometimes pads on all sides....
To minimize additional JPEG artefacts, I suspect that under Lightroom export's "File Settings" the JPEG quality should be 100 (i.e. negligible loss) and the final compression should be done only after all post-process actions, i.e. use LR/Mogrify's "Compress to given file size". (But don't quote me on that as I haven't traced the actual code path.)

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Print Module - Page Panel: Page options & Photo Info lost

In the print module there are only 4 features left now in my final release version of LR3:
1. Page Background colour
2. Identity Plate
3. Watermarking
4. Cut Guides.
Victoria Bampton described also the features with a screenshot of LR3b2 in her "Missing FAQ-Rough Cut" (page 366):
4. cut guides did not exist, but instead Page options with tick boxes, then 5. Photo Info drop down box, then 6. Font Size.
What has happened?
How do I cover the following use case: Create an invitation with photos and own free text about date/time/venue?
Please don't answer "export a jpg from Lightroom and then use MS Word or some other editor".
From the beta phase I got the impression that creating such a pdf should be possible directly from Lightroom.

How do I cover the following use case: Create an invitation with photos and own free text about date/time/venue?
Lightroom's text layout features might not be as powerful as you might thought. You're option are:
Use a custom Identity plate to add some static text or graphic anywhere on the page.
Use watermarking to add some static text or graphic anywhere on the photo.
Use Photo Info to add some metadata, such as IPTC location or capture time, somewhere around your photo.

LR3 Print Module: printing to profile - unable to change Color Matching

Hi
I use LR3 in 32 bit mode (there is no 64bit driver for HP DesignJet 130n).
I always print to profiles. In LR2 I had to make sure that in the PrintSettings the option Color Matching was set to "Vendor Machine", because although I saved this setting, LR never remembered.
Now with LR3 the option is again set to"Color Sync" but this time it cannot be changed.
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Bob,
My problem is exactly what you say: you must find the appropriate place in the printer interface where you can disable all color management performed by the printer driver.
In OS X (10.5.) I know only of two places where I can handle Color Management: "Print Settings" and "Profile" in the LR3 Print Module.
By default LR3 sets the Print Settings "Color Matching" to "Vendor Machine" if I choose "Managed by the Printer" for the Profile.
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Photoshop Print Module Prints the Previous Number of prints instead of current selection Number

Does anyone have this problem?
Is there a fix?
Win XP64
PS CS5 v. 12.0.4 x32

It was reported a lot right after Photoshop CS5 was released.
Apparently it's really rooted in problems in the printer drivers. You might check to see if you can get a newer driver for your particular printer. Your workaround is to make your settings changes in the Photoshop Print dialog then go through the Print Settings button and press [OK]. This has the effect of getting the Print dialog settings to stick this time around.
On another subject: For what it's worth XP x64 isn't officially supported by Adobe. If you have a system that can run XP x64, why not upgrade it to Windows 7?
-Noel

Save As function not available in the Print Module

Out of nowhere, the 'Save As' function isn't available in the Print Module. I have updated to 4.4, restarted Lightroom, etc. I can still export the images, just not save as a jpg. Can you help?

kwhitworth7,
There never was a <Save As> function in Lr, not in the Print Module and not anywhere else. Not in Lr1, Lr2, Lr3 or Lr4.
Lr does not do <Save As>. Lr works with a database, called the catalog, and every step done in Lr is automatically and instantly saved in the catalog. There is no need for a <Save As> - there is not even the possibility of a <Save As>.
<Save As> means that you save the image file itself (under a new name). Lr does not save anything in the image file (except xmp data and you cannot save the xmp under a new name). This is simply not possible.
What is possible - as the previous posters have pointed out - that you create a <Saved Print> in the Print Module. This saves the print in the catalog and adds it to a Collection.
It is also possible that you save your print as a JPG. To do this select <JPEG File> in the <Print Module / Print Job panel (right side) / Print To> (you have to click on the small double-triangle, see screen shot:
Then click on <Print to File ...>. You then get a dialog box (which is part of your OS) where you select a location for the JPG-file and indeed you have to give this file a name.
And, yes, that is a "save-function".
Are you saying that when you click on <Print to File ...> nothing happens?
Message was edited by: web-weaver

My Lr5.7.1 doesn't recognize my Epson XP-760 printer and after customising the printout in the Print Module the Print options (lower right AND Main Menu Archive Print) are disabled

I am running Lr5.7.1 on an iMac Retina 5K (OS X Yosemite 10.10.1). My printer (Epson XP-760) works fine with all other applications but not with Lr!!! After selecting my printout preferences in the Print Module it works if I select Print File and save it to the desktop and then take it up as a Preview and print it from there. This is not what I want. I expect that the Print button (low right corner) should be abled rather than disabled and send to printer directly from within Lr's Print Module. It doesn't matter if the printer is on Wi-Fi or USB (or even both).
What is the problem? What else can or should I do to make it work as I expect?
Gunnar

Thank you very much, Modesto,
I have updated Yosemite to 10.10.2 and my problems remain. Reading About Lightroom 5.7.1, the pop-up window doesn't specifically say 5.7.1 and there is no choice to select More details (I can only trust that I am running really 5.7.1). I am sure that I really am Printing to file since this is the only choice I have ever seen enabled in my Lr5.7.1, whereas I have NEVER seen the Print option enabled. I enclose a screen dump (in Swedish) fyi.
So, I am still confused but on a somewhat higher level!
I really appreciate your help, Modesto
Gunnar

More text options in Print Module

It's frustrating to be able to do just about everything in LR - but not quite. I'd like more text options for the printing module. For example, when I'm printing a limited edition print, I put the edition number in the bottom left corner, under the image, within the border of the print. The title goes in the middle, slighty larger font, and then possibly a watermark.
I can use the Identity Plate to create a nice looking title, but the Photo Info will only print in the middle with no options for positioning it anywhere else, or no options for other fonts.

I would second this proposal..... with a serious passion. I think it is unbelievable that Adobe will not provide us with the option to print the metadata with our images.
The current metadata print options are in the dark ages, a joke and an insult to anyone trying to put a proper caption on a printed image. For example, one cannot currently control the postion or font of a basic caption, never mind a considered template which might incorporate copyright, date, author, etc.. I also make folios (ala Lenswork). Unfortunately, a detour to PS also means that this must be done manually, rather than using a template. Adobe have all the tools to make this work, many of them are in the Slideshow module, so already the code is inside Lightroom. It is so sad that a company like Blurb can provide these tools free of charge in free software, but Adobe seem incapable of providing these basic features. I was disappointed they were not in version 1, frustrated when missing from version 2 and apoplectic when not in version 3. I might excuse the omission if I could build a template in PS which allowed me to place text from the metadata into a formattted page layout, but this is not possible either. So despite the fact I have purchased both Lightroom and Photoshop, and paid for upgrade after upgrade of both products, this basic facility is still missing.
I can only deduce that people in Adobe print images in two modes.
1) a lonely image in approx middle of the page with no text formatting or
2) an image in draft mode with a caption and a name plate and uncontolled other text in ad hoc placements (totally unsuitable for presenting to a client).
I would put this requirement ahead of so many other popular requests (even ahead of requests such as networked storage, soft proofing, etc). I can mention other software products who do a really good job of printing meta data with images, do serious work on sharpening, etc. for a fraction of the cost of the Lightroom / Photoshop combination. Becasue I am on an Adobe site I will not mention the names of these non Adobe products. If these small companies can solve this problem, surely Adobe can do so as well.
I also find that I cannot trust the page setup templates that I do create. It seems to me that many of the properties (ie page size, orientation, matt / gloss options) disappear without warning. I suspect this happens when I have problems printing to networked Epson printers (maybe others, but I only use Epson ...with Windows 7.) This is very frustrating when my template changes from Matt in to Gloss, with subsequent wasted of ink and frustration and lost time in correcting and re-updating the template.
Adobe, please finish the Print Module. I do not want any more glitzy updates to publishing to the most recent social media exchange medium. Can we not get basic printing working first.
(..... thanks for listening.....end of rant).

Print module- MS XPS Doc is only option?

After watching Matt K's video on how to work around LR's lack of Export as JPEG via the Print module, I tried to follow the same steps however I quickly hit a major roadblock...
When I click Page Setup, Print Settings, or Print, I get the Print Setup dialog box with 'Microsoft XPS Document Writer' listed as my printer with no apparent other options (this is where he selects Adobe PDF as the 'printer'). In addition, where Matt was able to enter a custom paper size in this dialog box, that option- those fields- do not exist. I simply have a Paper Size drop down with all the standard paper sizes listed- no option for a custom size.
Any ideas on why this might be, what I can do do fix it, and/or another workaround that would let me export what I have arranged in the Print module as a JPEG?

You will need Adobe Acrobat (not just Acrobnat Reader) installed. Then you will have the PDF print driver.
- Morey

Print module - exporting to a .jpg file - borderless printing

I'm attempting to export a picture as an 8 x 10 .jpg file in the Print Module - I want the image to be borderless. I have gone ahead and changed my page setup to reflect the same dimensions, I've removed margins and I've also gone into the Layout section and adjusted my cell size dimensions and removed margins...I can't seem to get two borders to disappear - if it's a portrait image, the sides have white borders and if it's landscape, the top and bottom have white borders.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. If more information is required, let me know. Thanks!

If your image is not in exact 8x10 (4x5) aspect ratio, you'll need to select the "Zoom to fit" box.
Phil

I cannot and never have been, able to open a file that has been previously saved to hard disk by choosing the print to file option in the print dialogue box

'''I cannot and never have been, able to open a file that has been previously saved to hard disk by choosing the print to file option in the print dialogue box. Firefox displays gooblygook even though the file name is an html, Windows Notepad crashes, MS Excel does not recognise the file type. MS Word displays goobblys also when the file has no filename extension.'''

If you use print to file then you get a file that is meant to be send to a printer and that file has all kind of formatting code for that specific printer.
Opening such a file in Firefox or a text editor can only work if you use a text only printer to print the file to, so make sure that such a printer is installed and selected.

No Print To File option in Photoshop Lightroom (Mac OS and Windows)

Q - Where do I find the "Print To File" option in Photoshop Lightroom (Mac OS and Windows)?
A - Photoshop Lightroom does not have the ability to print to file, but some print drivers can access the ability of the operating system to print to file. See
TechNote for further information.

If you use print to file then you get a file that is meant to be send to a printer and that file has all kind of formatting code for that specific printer.
Opening such a file in Firefox or a text editor can only work if you use a text only printer to print the file to, so make sure that such a printer is installed and selected.

How do I get a print to pdf file option from Word and PP?

I have windows vista. How do I get a print to pdf file option from Word and PP?

Do you own Acrobat? If so what version? If not what version of Word and PP do you have? Newer versions contain non-Adobe software for creating pdfs. If you do not own Acrobat that it would be best to check in a Microsoft forum on how to use Word to create pdfs.

Bug in Print Module, LR3.6, custom package

Hi everybody,
After two days of unequal fight with Print Module bug I hope I finally pinned it down.
Hope it saves someone time
I have my photos usually cropped in DSLR format (2:3)
Printing I use often two popular formats 13x18cm and 15x21cm that are close to 5:7 (first one is 5x7in)
Initially I was using virtual copies and had them cropped to 5:7 format.
However this makes a little mess in my workflow and it's time consuming.
What I found was Custom Package in Print Module.
Having cell with target size I drag desired photo into the cell and using cmd-key drag this foto to have proper look as the width target format is smaller. So far so good, but ...
From time to time printed photo looked totally different from what I saw on-screen.
First of all there are couple threads about that problem. I visited them but they remain unanswered
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3344521
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3278739
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/697107
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3885690
There are visual samples there of what happens.
Photos in JPG file that was created from LR look differently than in LR. Photos in file are bigger or/and wrong positioned within the cell
What I managed to find is:
Everything goes fine until photo is rotated by 'Rotate to Fit' function. It happens in my case only with photos that have the same orientation that template.
Example:
Template is set on A4 borderless format set to portait (Page Setup... button).
Two cells 14,85cm height x 21cm width (A5 format). First one over second and both in landcape position.
When I drag photo cropped in Landscape orientation such a photo is rendered properly.
When I drag photo cropped in Portrait orientation it's atutomatically rotated 90 degrees (couterclockwise) by "Rotate to Fit option" and that is when **** happens.
Final print (to file or printer) shows that user dragging is omitted in render. What's more if "Photo border" is set to on, photo in this cell is not reduced. Instead of this (as far as I can see) photo border just crop some part of picture.
If I switch orientation of the A4 page from portrait to lansdcape, magically photos that are cropped in portrait orientation start to render good (they are not rotated now) while those in landscape start to render wrong.
This looks 99% as software bug.
I'm using LR3.6 on mac osx 10.6.8
I'd like someone to follow it and to check if the same happens on different Mac or Windows.
Cheers
Robert

Confirmed in LR 5.3, OS X 10.9.1.
Screen display is fine, user repositioning is ignored when printing if page is in landscape mode and the image is rotated 90° (Rotate to Fit on). A4, Epson printer. Bug also appears in PDFs generated via the "Printer…" button. I didn't check JPEG export.

How can I put current date and time in Photo Info (Print module)?

I often use the Photo Info option in the Print Module to caption my proofs with File Number plus the date and time the print is made. This allows me to match up the print to the History state for the image, so I know which print version I'm looking at. I've always wanted to get Lightroom to automatically enter the date and time the print is made. It obviously knows this info, since it stamps the History state with date and time. Currently I have to modify my caption manually with Custom text each time I make a print. This is a major PITA. Has anyone figured out how to get Lightroom to do this?

There is a Date/Time title in the titles browser, does just what it says...

LR 3 beta-Beef up develop and print modules

Time is costly and we really need some Photoshop retouching tools where LR is very weak.The CS4 clone tool with opacity adjustment,patch tool,and healing brushes are better than the circular clone tool in LR which cannot deal with irregular shapes.For whatever reason,the LR clone/heal tool slows up LR where it almost freezes when a lot of dust needs to be dealt with whereas CS4 spot healing brush copes well.The curves feature needs to be made more sensitive with points added.
I have not seen the ability to rename files in the develop mode to avoid having to transfer back to the Library module to rename.Also it would be better when making changes to an image in stages, particularly if the image has been sent to Photoshop a few times,if each variation could be clearly marked automatically in the film strip tool bar in the sequence the changes took place.The edit tags currently used get a bit confusing (although renaming the file with a description of the editing carried out does help)
Sharpening is a bit better but a texture enhancer for say clothing or in landscapes- rocks and stone like in third party plugins would be beneficial.The problem is that the masking slider is good at eliminating oversharpening but smoothes out texture too much.
In the Library and develop modules there is no file size or picture dimension information.When exporting from LR,there should be a targeted file size in MB which is required by some users.
Full support for Video files need to be added to process the latest SLR technology.
In the Print module,the abilty to position text with title to the left instead of centred should be possible.Sometimes text might be set out in say ,two or three paragraphs as explanation of the picture without text being centered.This is very difficult to achieve at present.An international copyright symbol (not available on keyboard) should be added as a prefix option for use with the Identity plate (adjustable with the size and opacity slider) to prefix the photographer's name and date.
There appears to be no ability to print to the edge of the paper even at zoom to fill.

Jeff,
Thanks for the clarification and link to Bruce's article. I'm acquainted with the 3 pass approach and am trying to use LR as much as I can without ducking in and out of other applications.
I've heard that LR is good for output of small prints, but for anything intented for the wall, I would be better served by PS or Qimage.
I look forward to LR improving sharpening so that for images that don't need localized adjustments, I can stay in LR. (Did Mark ever give you a commitment for localized adjustments in LR 2.0? I'll have to listen to Podcast #29)
I've always considered sharpening one of the most important parts of the workflow. I'll be taking Mac and John's workshop at the end of June, so I'll get their additonal insight on sharpening.
Reid

Print module - print to file options

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