I needed to print some eQSLs for a CQ award. The least expensive method appeared to be to upload them to an online photo printer and order a 4 x 6 print of each. I uploaded them to my local Walgreens store, half a mile from my house, where they would be ready in an hour for $0.19 each. You'd think there would be no way this could go bad. Wrong!! They printed the 3.5 x 5.5 images on 4 x 6 paper with some of the text cut off all the way around on every card. After I complained, they re-did the order and the new prints each have a bit of white border around the image, and every one is a different size! They apparently can't print them at the actual 3.5 x 5.5 image size.

I guess I'll be printing them myself from now on on card stock. Printing one card on a sheet is easy to do, but also wastes most of the card stock. What I'm wondering is if there is a simple (free would be nice!) program which will print 3 or 4 card images on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of card stock?

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K9MM John E. Becker

John,
Windows print will do that. Display the eQSLs you want to print. Do a 'Save As' to a folder on your PC. In that folder, select 4 different eQSLs, right click and select print. A window will come up where you can select how you want print them (select 4 on one sheet).
73
Andy - n1ork

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N1ORK Orest 'Andy' Zajac

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3. The procedure you describe brings up the Photo Printing Wizard. Unfortunately, it only give you choices of standard photo print sizes, which for QSLs could be either 4 x 6 or 3.5 x 5. It also "crops and rotates to fit". The test prints I just did cropped the QSL borders, cutting out some of the text, just like the problem I had with Walgreens. I wonder if they are using the same program?

What is needed is a program which will take the full image, keep it at it's original size, and fit three or four onto an 8.5 x 11 sheet. This may require little or no gap between images, but since they are going to be cut into individual cards that isn't a problem.

73,

John, K9MM

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K9MM John E. Becker

John,
You must be applying for the CQDX award. That's the only one that requires you to print them. Have you tried to save the eQSLs in your PC, them make them alittle smaller (like 3.5x5") before you print them? Most print programs leave a border on your paper unless you have a borderless type photo printer.
Good luck! Maybe someone else out there has a better answer.
73
Andy - n1ork

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N1ORK Orest 'Andy' Zajac

I'm printing a few cards I need for 5 Band WAZ.

I'm noticing something else which is strange. When I view an eQSL and then click on the box to get a 4 x 6 printable image, that works fine. (Although many of the images are actually 3.5 x 5, which is fairly standard for QSLs.) But if I save the image as a .jpg file on my computer, the image size varies all over the place. For example, VE4EAR's eQSL has an image size of 7.04" x 4.48", and a resolution of 75ppi. 8N5A's eQSL has an image size of 1.76" x 1.12", and a resolution of 300ppi.
KL8DX's eQSL has a correct image size of 5.5" x 3.5", and a resolution of 96ppi. If I use Photoshop Elements to change the image size of the VE4EAR and 8N5A cards to 5.5" x 3.5", they end up with a resolution of 96ppi. It's as though they all started out as 5.5 x 3.5, 96ppi images and somewhere along the line they got larger or smaller.

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K9MM John E. Becker

I use Word to print eQSLs and my own QSLs. It allows me to adjust the size of each one, and to print as many as will fit on one sheet at a time (up to three).

I have Word on my computer anyway, so it is "free."

Frank
KF6E

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KF6E Frank Kirschner