Solved Printing "Contact Sheets" from Thumbnails

I've been trying to print a Contact Sheet from thumbnails in a Pictures folder using Vista Home Premium 64 bit, however the print job will never print, or even spool to the print queue. It will not print single pictures either. It does not return any errors.

My operating system and printer drivers are all up to date, and my HP C6380 printer works fine with all other applications.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

re: Printing "Contact Sheets" from Thumbnails

It is my understanding that you need to use 8.5 x 11 size to do Contact Sheets (in case the problem is you are using a different size).

But in any event, I'm not sure what program you are using to do the printing. Here's a free program designed specifically for contact sheets that works with Vista: Photo-Freeware.net - Index Print: Contact Sheets Download. Give it a try and see if that resolves your problem.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

re: Printing "Contact Sheets" from Thumbnails

Lorien,

I downloaded the program, and it printed a nice contact sheet. I like the fact that it saves a .jpg file of the final contact. Couple of comments - the interface is a bit quirky and it gives exception errors when I exit the program - but it gets the job done.

By the way... I am printing on 8.5x11 plain paper, and I was using the Vista print utility originally, not an external application.

Thanks for the advice !!! :D

re: Printing "Contact Sheets" from Thumbnails

It has been my pleasure and you're quite welcome. I'm glad it worked for you and that you like how the program works. I don't know about those quirks or exception messages when you exit - what do they say exactly word-for-word and what are the quirks? Perhaps we can find another program that does the same thing but doesn't cause the quirks or messages (unless you're satisfied and like how it does the contact sheets - then maybe we can overlook the exceptions or find a way to elminiate them once you tell me what they are).

Otherwise, if you're satisfied with this solution, don't forget to close out the thread by clicking the far right triangular icon at the top of your post and typing "solved" in the box and submitting it. The moderators will notice and put a green check next to the thread title. That way others seeking answers by searching the forums will know that this thread contains a solution to the issue identified in the title - and people seeking to help will not waste time checking out this thread since it has been resolved.

And welcome to Vista Forums! Now that you know where we are, bookmark the site and post anytime you have further questions or problems or if you just want to browse and learn (especially the Tutorial section offers some excellent advice on a wide variety of topics) or even if you want to try to help answer a question if you happen to see one where you know the answer and it hasn't already been posted. While it most likely won't be me the next time (though it might), there are many very skilled, experienced, knowledgeable, and friendly people here who, like me, volunteer their time to help others and one or maybe even several will respond to your post to assist you. While there are other forums on the web that do this sort of thing, you've now found what I think is the best (and I've posted in and/or checked out quite a few) so don't lose this link - you never know when it might come in handy again.

Good luck and best wishes.

re: Printing "Contact Sheets" from Thumbnails

The first quirk is a design thing, the second is really a bug. There is no print button - it took me a while to figure out that I had to highlight the list of image files in the first tab, right click, and select Print that way. Another would be the Print Preview function - if you use the Print Preview button on the interface it shows the sheet in Landscape; but if you choose Print then Preview, it is shown in Portrait. It actually printed in Portrait, which is fine.

Program exit would be another bug. When I right click and Exit, I get the exception error below. However, I can exit cleanly if I go to Task Manager/Processes and kill the process manually. The exception text is shown at the bottom.

I can live with both of these now that I figured them out. I will close the thread, thanks again!
________________________________________________

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Echo Images\Contact Sheets 1.7.0.1\StartUp.xml' is denied.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options)
at System.IO.StreamWriter..ctor(String path, Boolean append, Encoding encoding, Int32 bufferSize)
at System.IO.StreamWriter..ctor(String path)
at QSoftware.MainForm.MainForm_FormClosing(Object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmClose(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4206 (VistaSP2GDR.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework64/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
Contacts
Assembly Version: 1.7.0.1
Win32 Version: 1.7.0.1
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Echo%20Images/Contact%20Sheets%201.7.0.1/Contacts.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4205 (VistaSP2GDR.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
CSWinLib
Assembly Version: 1.1.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Echo%20Images/Contact%20Sheets%201.7.0.1/CSWinLib.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
xwzl0odg
Assembly Version: 1.7.0.1
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4205 (VistaSP2GDR.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

Just to give you another option for printing contact sheets (without the hassles), if you're using MS Office 2007, you've got Microsoft Office Picture Manager on your system. It has an option for printing contact sheets and it's a pretty easy way to go.

Unfortunately I don't have MS Office at home, I'm using OpenOffice which works okay for home use (and it's free ). I checked my version of the free MS Works software that came on my computer, but did not see any contact sheet or photo capability. But I will remember your suggestion if I spring for Office.

Thanks