Weird Picasa bug (only affects Lexmark printers?)

In article ,
newshound wrote:

After much trial and error, I've found it is the Picasa Export which
causes the problem. If you open and then save the JPEG in Paint
(overwriting the original file) the problem goes away.

that doesn't mean it's a bug in picasa.

if the jpeg from picasa is valid, then it's word and/or lexmark.

But they behave fine with picasa files that havn't been compressed by
Picasa export. So I think there is something wrong in the file header
which either the Word print engine or the Lexmark is getting confused
about.

And the fact that just importing the file into Paint and saving it again
clears the fault points to something in the JPEG.

different doesn't mean one is wrong.

can you post a sample jpeg exported from each app?

Well I could, but as far as I am concerned I have a fix. I can certainly
do that if anyone confirms they would like to do some investigation. I
was partly posting this in case anyone already knew about it, or so that
someone Googling the same problem in the future would find it.

you don't have a fix. you have a workaround that avoids the issue.

the content of the photos is completely irrelevant, as long as the
sizing issue can be duplicated.

take a photo of something random, or even fill it with black. no need
to share internal photos if you don't want to.

Happy to share something. With a solid black image I wouldn't be able to
see that the process had failed.

then post real images. the point is they the images do not need to be
anything internal to your company or you personally.

all that matters is that the issue you describe can be duplicated.

two solid black images would still be sized differently.

without examining the files, it sounds like the resolution tag, which
is sometimes used for initial image sizing/placement in some apps, is
set differently.

Yes, that was one of my guesses but I am not all that familiar with this
stuff.

then post samples so that those who are can investigate.

if that's the case, there is probably a default setting which can be
changed.

Yes but what setting?

default resolution, which is usually ignored, except by some apps.

In Word, you check page layout via print preview.

word is probably working as designed. however, that you get different
results with lexmark suggests an issue with lexmark.

And you expect the printer to give you the same thing (although
occasionally a line of text spills on to the next page).

that's not good either.

how did you validate the jpeg? or did you?

I don't know how to.

that would be a no.

Indeed. Suggestions would be useful. The export files look fine in
several different viewers.

that means nothing.

what does exiftool show for tags, notably resolution?

On Sun, 29 Oct 2017 20:15:21 +0000, newshound
wrote:

On 27/10/2017 21:39, Bill W wrote:
On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 21:11:06 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 27/10/2017 16:23, nospam wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:

I guess the serious posters here don't use Picasa, but thought it might
interest some lurkers or future searchers.

I use Picasa as a cheap and cheerful filing system that provides simple
basic editing (mostly I only need cropping and straightening).

I also write technical reports containing photographs of broken bits of
industrial plant, using Word. To keep the final file size down I tend to
use the Picasa "export" function to downsize the images to 1024 pixels.
(I know I could downsize further without affecting the printed report,
but this lets people pull reasonable images out of the Word file later
if they want to).

My reports look fine on screen (including print preview) and print
perfectly on a mono Laserjet and a Brother inkjet. But I use a Lexmark
(CS410dn) if I want hard copies. And these exported JPEGs, when inserted
into Word, don't then print correctly on the Lexmark, they print in the
correct sized frame on the paper but the image part is enlarged, showing
only the top left hand corner of the image, and cropping the rest.

that suggests word is the problem in how it's placing/sizing the jpeg,
not the exported jpeg itself.

But it is *only* exported files that have the problem, and *only* on the
Lexmark. They print fine from other apps (including picasa) so I agree
that Word is probably involved in some way. But Word versions 15 years
apart behave the same way.


what does the jpg show for resolution?
what happens if you use another word processing or page layout app?

After much trial and error, I've found it is the Picasa Export which
causes the problem. If you open and then save the JPEG in Paint
(overwriting the original file) the problem goes away.

that doesn't mean it's a bug in picasa.

if the jpeg from picasa is valid, then it's word and/or lexmark.

But they behave fine with picasa files that havn't been compressed by
Picasa export. So I think there is something wrong in the file header
which either the Word print engine or the Lexmark is getting confused about.

And the fact that just importing the file into Paint and saving it again
clears the fault points to something in the JPEG.


how did you validate the jpeg? or did you?

I don't know how to.

The printer dialogue should be specific to the Lexmark, and there is
probably a setting in there that you are overlooking. If you see the
same printer dialogue for all your printers, you need to find the
correct drivers for the Lexmark and install them.

Drivers was the first think I looked at. I'm just printing a word file.
The print preview is fine. The lexmark output fails, other printers are OK.

Did you download and install the latest printers from the Lexmark
site? Did you dig through all of the advanced options in the printer
dialogue?

I have no idea if this is the issue, but since this is specific to
only the Lexmark printer, it seems to be the most likely cause.

Another option might be to resize the jpg and save to a new file
before printing.

That's what I am doing. I was using Picasa to do the resize because
that's what I use for cropping and straightening (and maybe occasionally
a tweak on fill, contrast, or colour). My point is that the resized
picasa file fails to print *to one specific printer* when put into the
word document. But if I import the file into paint and re-save it before
the insert then everything is fine.

On 29/10/2017 20:42, Bill W wrote:
On Sun, 29 Oct 2017 20:15:21 +0000, newshound
wrote:

On 27/10/2017 21:39, Bill W wrote:
On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 21:11:06 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 27/10/2017 16:23, nospam wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:

I guess the serious posters here don't use Picasa, but thought it might
interest some lurkers or future searchers.

I use Picasa as a cheap and cheerful filing system that provides simple
basic editing (mostly I only need cropping and straightening).

I also write technical reports containing photographs of broken bits of
industrial plant, using Word. To keep the final file size down I tend to
use the Picasa "export" function to downsize the images to 1024 pixels.
(I know I could downsize further without affecting the printed report,
but this lets people pull reasonable images out of the Word file later
if they want to).

My reports look fine on screen (including print preview) and print
perfectly on a mono Laserjet and a Brother inkjet. But I use a Lexmark
(CS410dn) if I want hard copies. And these exported JPEGs, when inserted
into Word, don't then print correctly on the Lexmark, they print in the
correct sized frame on the paper but the image part is enlarged, showing
only the top left hand corner of the image, and cropping the rest.

that suggests word is the problem in how it's placing/sizing the jpeg,
not the exported jpeg itself.

But it is *only* exported files that have the problem, and *only* on the
Lexmark. They print fine from other apps (including picasa) so I agree
that Word is probably involved in some way. But Word versions 15 years
apart behave the same way.


what does the jpg show for resolution?
what happens if you use another word processing or page layout app?

After much trial and error, I've found it is the Picasa Export which
causes the problem. If you open and then save the JPEG in Paint
(overwriting the original file) the problem goes away.

that doesn't mean it's a bug in picasa.

if the jpeg from picasa is valid, then it's word and/or lexmark.

But they behave fine with picasa files that havn't been compressed by
Picasa export. So I think there is something wrong in the file header
which either the Word print engine or the Lexmark is getting confused about.

And the fact that just importing the file into Paint and saving it again
clears the fault points to something in the JPEG.


how did you validate the jpeg? or did you?

I don't know how to.

The printer dialogue should be specific to the Lexmark, and there is
probably a setting in there that you are overlooking. If you see the
same printer dialogue for all your printers, you need to find the
correct drivers for the Lexmark and install them.

Drivers was the first think I looked at. I'm just printing a word file.
The print preview is fine. The lexmark output fails, other printers are OK.

Did you download and install the latest printers from the Lexmark
site?

Yes

Did you dig through all of the advanced options in the printer
dialogue?

Yes

On Sun, 29 Oct 2017 21:21:34 +0000, newshound
wrote:

On 29/10/2017 20:42, Bill W wrote:
On Sun, 29 Oct 2017 20:15:21 +0000, newshound
wrote:

On 27/10/2017 21:39, Bill W wrote:
On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 21:11:06 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 27/10/2017 16:23, nospam wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:

I guess the serious posters here don't use Picasa, but thought it might
interest some lurkers or future searchers.

I use Picasa as a cheap and cheerful filing system that provides simple
basic editing (mostly I only need cropping and straightening).

I also write technical reports containing photographs of broken bits of
industrial plant, using Word. To keep the final file size down I tend to
use the Picasa "export" function to downsize the images to 1024 pixels.
(I know I could downsize further without affecting the printed report,
but this lets people pull reasonable images out of the Word file later
if they want to).

My reports look fine on screen (including print preview) and print
perfectly on a mono Laserjet and a Brother inkjet. But I use a Lexmark
(CS410dn) if I want hard copies. And these exported JPEGs, when inserted
into Word, don't then print correctly on the Lexmark, they print in the
correct sized frame on the paper but the image part is enlarged, showing
only the top left hand corner of the image, and cropping the rest.

that suggests word is the problem in how it's placing/sizing the jpeg,
not the exported jpeg itself.

But it is *only* exported files that have the problem, and *only* on the
Lexmark. They print fine from other apps (including picasa) so I agree
that Word is probably involved in some way. But Word versions 15 years
apart behave the same way.


what does the jpg show for resolution?
what happens if you use another word processing or page layout app?

After much trial and error, I've found it is the Picasa Export which
causes the problem. If you open and then save the JPEG in Paint
(overwriting the original file) the problem goes away.

that doesn't mean it's a bug in picasa.

if the jpeg from picasa is valid, then it's word and/or lexmark.

But they behave fine with picasa files that havn't been compressed by
Picasa export. So I think there is something wrong in the file header
which either the Word print engine or the Lexmark is getting confused about.

And the fact that just importing the file into Paint and saving it again
clears the fault points to something in the JPEG.


how did you validate the jpeg? or did you?

I don't know how to.

The printer dialogue should be specific to the Lexmark, and there is
probably a setting in there that you are overlooking. If you see the
same printer dialogue for all your printers, you need to find the
correct drivers for the Lexmark and install them.

Drivers was the first think I looked at. I'm just printing a word file.
The print preview is fine. The lexmark output fails, other printers are OK.

Did you download and install the latest printers from the Lexmark
site?

Yes

Did you dig through all of the advanced options in the printer
dialogue?

Yes

Okay. I'm out of ideas then.

On 29/10/2017 20:37, nospam wrote:
In article ,
newshound wrote:


you don't have a fix. you have a workaround that avoids the issue.

OK but it is a fix as far as I am concerned.

the content of the photos is completely irrelevant, as long as the
sizing issue can be duplicated.

take a photo of something random, or even fill it with black. no need
to share internal photos if you don't want to.

Happy to share something. With a solid black image I wouldn't be able to
see that the process had failed.

then post real images. the point is they the images do not need to be
anything internal to your company or you personally.

all that matters is that the issue you describe can be duplicated.

two solid black images would still be sized differently.

without examining the files, it sounds like the resolution tag, which
is sometimes used for initial image sizing/placement in some apps, is
set differently.

Yes, that was one of my guesses but I am not all that familiar with this
stuff.

then post samples so that those who are can investigate.

Might have a go tomorrow, I deleted all the stuff that was giving me
problems.


if that's the case, there is probably a default setting which can be
changed.

Yes but what setting?

default resolution, which is usually ignored, except by some apps.

OK. Sounds plausible.


In Word, you check page layout via print preview.

word is probably working as designed. however, that you get different
results with lexmark suggests an issue with lexmark.

And you expect the printer to give you the same thing (although
occasionally a line of text spills on to the next page).

that's not good either.

Agreed, but it's not difficult to tweak the word file to fix that. I'd
always thought it might be something subtle to do with the printable
area. I've seen this with several different applications.


how did you validate the jpeg? or did you?

I don't know how to.

that would be a no.

Indeed. Suggestions would be useful. The export files look fine in
several different viewers.

that means nothing.

It means that *if* the problem is in the EXIF data, it is a subtle one.


what does exiftool show for tags, notably resolution?

Had a look at that, but ATM it's not unzipping to an .EXE for me. I will
have another go. I think I used to use it in XP or W7 days, but W10
brings a whole load of new problems with all sorts of stuff.

Don't disagree with your implied point that if application B gets
confused by code produced by application A, then is not immediately
obvious which application is at fault, or even if it is meaningful to
assign "fault". In this case, I can't change the way the Lexmark
interprets the Word file, but I have an easy fix by modifying the Picasa
file that I inserted into Word. So it feels *to me* like the Picasa file
is "wrong".

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 11:00:20 AM UTC-4, newshound wrote:
I guess the serious posters here don't use Picasa, but thought it might
interest some lurkers or future searchers.

I use Picasa as a cheap and cheerful filing system that provides simple
basic editing (mostly I only need cropping and straightening).

I also write technical reports containing photographs of broken bits of
industrial plant, using Word. To keep the final file size down I tend to
use the Picasa "export" function to downsize the images to 1024 pixels.
(I know I could downsize further without affecting the printed report,
but this lets people pull reasonable images out of the Word file later
if they want to).

My reports look fine on screen (including print preview) and print
perfectly on a mono Laserjet and a Brother inkjet. But I use a Lexmark
(CS410dn) if I want hard copies. And these exported JPEGs, when inserted
into Word, don't then print correctly on the Lexmark, they print in the
correct sized frame on the paper but the image part is enlarged, showing
only the top left hand corner of the image, and cropping the rest.

After much trial and error, I've found it is the Picasa Export which
causes the problem. If you open and then save the JPEG in Paint
(overwriting the original file) the problem goes away.

(I just had to tell someone).

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 11:00:20 AM UTC-4, newshound wrote:
I guess the serious posters here don't use Picasa, but thought it might
interest some lurkers or future searchers.

I use Picasa as a cheap and cheerful filing system that provides simple
basic editing (mostly I only need cropping and straightening).

I also write technical reports containing photographs of broken bits of
industrial plant, using Word. To keep the final file size down I tend to
use the Picasa "export" function to downsize the images to 1024 pixels.
(I know I could downsize further without affecting the printed report,
but this lets people pull reasonable images out of the Word file later
if they want to).

My reports look fine on screen (including print preview) and print
perfectly on a mono Laserjet and a Brother inkjet. But I use a Lexmark
(CS410dn) if I want hard copies. And these exported JPEGs, when inserted
into Word, don't then print correctly on the Lexmark, they print in the
correct sized frame on the paper but the image part is enlarged, showing
only the top left hand corner of the image, and cropping the rest.

After much trial and error, I've found it is the Picasa Export which
causes the problem. If you open and then save the JPEG in Paint
(overwriting the original file) the problem goes away.

(I just had to tell someone).

Of course, I do external hard drive backups.

Thanks.

Mort Linder

On Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 3:11:19 PM UTC-4, nospam wrote:
In article ,
wrote:

Picasa has one great advantage that is seldom discussed. It makes new copies
of the photos on the hard drive, and so you can ruin the Picasa copy and
still have the original untouched image on the hard drive.

if you're relying on an image editor to do backups, you have problems
you don't even realize.

you should always have backup copies, no matter what app is used, or
even if no app is used.

Thanks. Of course, I do external hard drive backups.

Mort Linder