I'm trying to make some business cards that are 3.5 by 2 inches. I set the ruler to inches and made a grid with a spacing of .5 inches, but for some reason I can't print from within gimp, so I have to save the file as a jpeg and print it, but the Images come out smaller. Anyone know why the gimp isn't printing? If you can't answer that is there a way I can save the file to a jpeg and have 2inches be 2inches on paper?

Maybe the application you are importing into does not respect the DPI for the image, which should be saved in the EXIF headers of a JPG file. You can check first if the resolution is saved in the EXIF headers using the exifprobe program (or similar). You should be able to see this in Gimp's image properties dialog.

Once you have verified that the resolution is in the EXIF headers, you need to check that the app you are printing with is respecting it. What is it?

Not sure why the gimp isn't printing. I recall doing something like your are doing myself in the past, so I think there must be some extra configuration step with the gimp.

Well, I can set the pixels per inch and then print it out. Seems if I set it at 87 pixels per inch, and inch is an inch. Does anyone know why I may have arrived at such a arbitrary number?

What program are you using to print with? What is your printer?

Okay, completely ignore my last post. It turns out the printers idea of an inch is slightly smaller than a regular inch. Is there a setting somewhere in cups where I can adjust this? I'm using konqueror to view and print my photos.

I don't know if there is some setting for this. I would imagine it is something internal to the driver, but that is a bit of a guess. If it is something internal to the driver (a bug), you should consider raising a bug report with the cups project (or whatever project maintains the cups driver for your printer).

I can't help with your "elastic inches" but as far as the Gimp is concerned, have you installed the printer? I know you've installed it on your computer, but the Gimp needs it separately installing as it prints with Gimp-print instead of Foomatic; if you don't do it, The Gimp assumes you're using a Postscript printer. If it doesn't list your printer, search out the .xml file in .../foomatic/source/printer/ and see if the comments list an alternative driver. I have an HP Deskjet 5940, but the Gimp runs it with a 990C driver.

Thank you. You are right in that I have not installed a seperate driver to print with the gimp, but the gimp does list my printer. I'm using an HP DeskJet F4135 printer. How do I set up the gimp-print driver?

You've probably sorted it out by now, but the answer is just:
1. Load something into The Gimp
2. Enter the menu at File - Print
3. Make the necessary choices in the Printer Settings area. The Gimp will remember them.

Gimp-Print is now called Gutenprint. Although distributions differ, you might try installing Gutenprint.

The dpi in gimp have to match the dpi your printer prints with. Your standard computer screen has 74 dpi, so 74 dots will make an inch on the screen. If your printer prints with 300 dpi, than 300 dpi make an inch. Any kind of data you could add to the file telling the printer how wide it should be, would be telling it to stretch the image. That is - even if possible, not a very elegant solution.

Hope that makes sense. You have to set the dpi of the picture to the dpi of your printer in the picture preferences.