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Printer scale check

A 1:1 formboard is only 1:1 if the printer prints it so. Print one sheet, measure two rulers, and know your printer's error.

No account. Nothing is stored. · Last updated

In short

Office printers and PDF viewers can shrink a page a little — by “Fit to page”, by the driver or by the paper feed. On a 2 m board a 0.5 % error is 10 mm. Print the calibration sheet at 100 % (“Actual size”), measure the 180 mm ruler across and the 200 mm ruler up the page with a steel rule, and enter what you read: you get the error in each direction and the correction factor Zorowire's formboard PDFs can apply.

Worked example

You read 179 mm on the 180 mm ruler and 200 mm on the 200 mm ruler: the print is 0.56 % short across and right up the page; the correction across is × 1.0056.

  1. Download the sheet and open it in your PDF viewer.
  2. Print at 100 % / “Actual size”. Never “Fit” or “Shrink oversized pages”.
  3. Measure the 180 mm ruler (across) and the 200 mm ruler (up the page) with a steel rule, from the 0 line to the last line.
  4. Check the 100 × 100 mm square too: its sides should agree with the rulers.
  5. Enter the two readings below.
Your readings

Your printer

180 mm ruler (across)Error 0.00 % (true to scale)Correction × 1.0000On a 2 m board: 0.0 mm
200 mm ruler (up the page)Error 0.00 % (true to scale)Correction × 1.0000On a 2 m board: 0.0 mm

Questions

Why a steel rule?
Because the error you are looking for is small — a few tenths of a percent. Use a rule you trust, with fine graduations, and read it square to the line.
Is the error the same on every printer?
No: it depends on the printer, the driver, the paper and even the tray. Check each printer you use for formboards, and again after a driver change.
What does the correction factor do?
It is the ratio of the true length to the printed one. Zorowire's formboard PDFs can scale each direction by it, so the next print measures true.
Does the sheet work on Letter paper?
Yes. It is an A4 page whose content stays inside a margin every A4 and Letter printer reaches.

Sources

Zorowire's own method, the same code as the Workspace; no outside data is used.

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