Printing Custom Size Photos with Epson PM-400

I've followed along with Ali Edwards and her December Daily project for many years now.  I only wish I had found this project sooner, when my kids were little.  How I would love to have albums like this to look back on now that they are all grown up.  Last year, my album was 4"x6" and I loved how simple and easy it was to create pages in this smaller size.  And the photos were super easy to print with my Epson PM-400 printer using my iPhone and the Project Life app.  A great combination and really all you need!  

For this year I decided to stick with a smaller album again, choosing a 3" x 8" album page size.   The exact album I'm using is no longer available but there are currently some other options available in her shop.   Albums from this company may also be a good option for this project.   You can see how I used this 4" x 8" size album for a past project here.   

Ok lets get back to printing photos!   I seriously LOVE this photo printer and the amazing quality & quantity of photos it can churn out on just one cartridge.  It's portable with a small footprint, just 7"x10" it can fit just about anywhere, and it's wireless printing capability makes it compatible for printing from most phones & computers.    This little printer is designed to print 4x6 and 5x7 photos.   Hands down it's my favorite printer!  
I'm going to walk you through how I use my Epson PM-400 photo printer to print larger photos, specifically how to print on 4" x 8" photo paper.   However, It does have the capability to print photos up to 5 inches in width with custom lengths.  

The Project Life app doesn't have an option for a 3"x8" photo,  So for this blog post I've chosen to print and compare two different ways (app vs design software) to print custom sized photos with this printer with my honest opinion and tips from what I've learned in the process.   For the purpose of this tutorial I've chosen two of my favorites, but also keep in mind there may be additional ways to achieve the same results. 

Printing using apps.
For this first tutorial I'm using the Image Size app (free version), an iPhone 7, and the Epson PM-400 photo printer.   

1. Download the free Image Size app onto your iPhone.  (android)
2. Open the app and set the width to 4 and the height to 8.5 inches.
3. Choose your photo.  Select the photo you would like to print from your photo library. (vertical photos work best for this) 
4. Set up a custom paper size on your Epson PM-400 printer.   This is key to getting your photo to print on the larger size page!  Follow these steps:​​ Set Up > Printer Settings > Paper Source Setting > Paper Set Up > Paper Size > User Defined > 8.5" Portrait x 4" Landscape > DONE.
5. Using a paper cutter, I cut down 8.5" x 11" matt photo paper to measure 4" x 8.5".  You should get two strips from one large sheet.  
6. Load the cut down photo paper into the photo printer. 
7. Select the print icon on the app, sending your photo to the photo printer. 
8. Print photo.​

Original Photo

Image Size is a free app available for iOS and Android.   A paid version is offered which removes advertising. 

Here's how my finished print turned out.  It did leave an uneven white boarder around the entire photo, and the photo size didn't measure exact to 4" x 8.5".   After trimming this to remove the white space, I do think I could get away with using this as a page outside the page protector.   It could be trimmed down further to fit inside the 3"x8" page protector easily as well.   Or I could adjust the photo in the app to print 3"x8" on the same size paper & then trim.
Pros:  easy to use app, well laid out editing screen.
Cons: auto crops photo - you cannot adjust the placement, uneven white boarder on print, in app ads.  

Printed Photo using Image Size App

Next up I'm going to use my laptop and an easy to use design editing software, Canva.  (an app version is also available). If you've read some of my tutorials on using Canva you'll know I'm quickly becoming a super fan of using this design software for just about everything to do with scrapbooking/memory keeping.   (Mac & PC on any device)
Here's how I re-sized the same photo in Canva: 

1. Create a new template in Canva sized to 4"x8.5"
2. Under ELEMENTS click/select a single full photo grid.  This will appear on top of the white template.
3. Upload your photo into Canva. (the drag & drop feature is awesome)
4. Click on the uploaded photo and it will automatically appear in your template

Note:  These steps work for any desired photo size.  ​​

Here's what I love about using Canva for photo resizing:  you can select which part of the image you want to resize.   In this case the program is intuitive, and will place the image where it works best, however, double click on the image and you can slide it left or right to crop the image to your liking.  How cool is that! 

Here's how to print the photo from Canva:

1. Click the download button on the top right of your screen, and select the photo(s) to download  as .png files to your computer.
2. Open the photo on your computer.
3. Select print, and configure your print settings to match the photo size.  For my computer I set custom size to 4"x8.5"
4. Click print to send to the Epson PM-400 for printing.  

Here's how my finished print turned out.  It printed an even white boarder around the photo and the image appears to be cropped slightly larger.   
Pros:  full design suite of features, adjustable cropping of photo, easy to use software on multiple devices; computer, tablet, phone, full suite of quick tutorials. 
Cons: requires a few more steps to create & print a photo. 

Here's a comparison of the two methods side by side.  Left-Image Resize app // Right-Canva
My final thoughts:  In the end I'm happy with each photo for different reasons.  If you need a mobile printing option, meaning print from your phone, the Image Resize app is a great solution for printing custom print sizes with this printer.   If you want more control over how your photo is cropped, or want to add additional design elements then my go-to design software would be Canva.   If you are familiar with using PhotoShop, then I recommend this tutorial. 
You may want to check out this post for a photo tutorial on how to set up your printer for custom sized paper. 

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