(In the ISO-A series, each step up in paper size doubles the sheet width along its long edge. E.g., an A3 sheet is the same shape and size as a magazine of A4 page size, opened flat.)

I set a drawing to fit an A4 sheet in Landscape mode, and all the printer settings look right, but the printer disgorged 3 blank sheets before printing the image. That behaviour, and the page-image position in the preview window, suggests something is calculating the image as lying in one corner of an A2 sheet even though the printer itself is of A4 maximum.

The Manual doesn't seem to cover printing.

I should add I use direct copying via the 'Edit' menu, of image from Model to Paper,  but I don't see that as the problem because it works. Yet it is strange that the system is trying to use sheets 4 times the area I specify. Or is TurboCAD designed to print up to A2 size, and I am seeing some effect of that?     

So, can anyone tell me what's going on? 

The Manual doesn't seem to cover printing.

From the manual (see below), page 2122 onwards.

Or here:

    https://turbocaddoc.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/T2UG/pages/102563866/Printing

Regards Tim

(In the ISO-A series, each step up in paper size doubles the sheet width along its long edge. E.g., an A3 sheet is the same shape and size as a magazine of A4 page size, opened flat.)

I set a drawing to fit an A4 sheet in Landscape mode, and all the printer settings look right, but the printer disgorged 3 blank sheets before printing the image. That behaviour, and the page-image position in the preview window, suggests something is calculating the image as lying in one corner of an A2 sheet even though the printer itself is of A4 maximum.

The Manual doesn't seem to cover printing.

I should add I use direct copying via the 'Edit' menu, of image from Model to Paper,  but I don't see that as the problem because it works. Yet it is strange that the system is trying to use sheets 4 times the area I specify. Or is TurboCAD designed to print up to A2 size, and I am seeing some effect of that?     

So, can anyone tell me what's going on?

Nigel, Provide us a copy of your Drawing File, and we will make the adjustments and provide it back to you, along with some explanation.
Then you can use our notes to compare your drawing with our revised drawing.

Also:  We would prefer/suggest that you use Viewport for inserting what you want to print into Paperspace; but that's a subject for another time.

There are a few ways to achieve what you are after, but the easiest to explain via typed word across the Atlantic is:

Go to File/Page_Setup-->Layout tab and make your settings look like below.

Thank you-

The drawing fitted the sheet correctly, and I had picked the right size of paper, but could  not understand why it was one of four pages, the others all being blank.

I've just re-opened it though, and looked at the Page Setup / Layout tab you say.

I'd never previously used that because everything worked otherwise, but it looks as if the added pages were due to those "rows" and "columns" settings. They were both set to 2, I don't know if by default. I can only assume that's to allow spreading multiple elevations over extra printed pages so they are of legible size. 

'

The manual I mean is that  via "Help" on TC itself - and it has only 800 or so pages.

However, I had another look at it, and was surprised to find sections on printing, viewports and rendering, beyond those on architecture and woodwork. I'd not seen them previously, and think they are recent additions. That on Viewports is just their use in Paper Space for different views of the drawn object, or to make minor changes; but apparently all in 3D - so not helpful to me!

I know we're supposed to use that Viewport system but I don't know why and how, though I assume it has particular advantages over simply copying and pasting the image (adjusting its size to suit). Nor where to find it, and I have searched very carefully.

Don't copy-and-paste to place a view into Paper Space. TCad has a better way. Here's a very short primer on Viewports:
 
In Model Space, when the screen displays what you’ll want to see in Paper Space, go to View>Create View and follow the instructions at the lower left. The “Create Named View” dialog will appear. Either accept the default name or overwrite it with a name of your own, then click OK.

Go to a Paper Space; open the Insert menu; choose “Viewport”; follow the instructions at the lower left. The “Named View” dialog will appear. Select the name of the view you created in the previous step; click “Go to”; click “Close.”

You can drag the boundaries of the Viewport to change its size. And you can select the Viewport by clicking on its boundary. When it is selected, you can right-click to open the Properties dialog and fiddle with the various available parameters.

Henry H

...
That on Viewports is just their use in Paper Space for different views of the drawn object, or to make minor changes; but apparently all in 3D - so not helpful to me!
...

Viewports work with 2D also.
I've attached a drawing that you can use as a template.

I would suggest, if you like it, to save it as an actual Template in the "Template" folder, with the "Save As..."--TurboCAD Template file (.tct extension); but I don't know if we could coach you through that-- how to save it and how to access it in the future.
I guess I would just recommend that-- if you like this file for a starting point-- open it up and "Save As..." a newly-named Drawing file and proceed from there.  And perhaps build on it or incarnations of it, moving forward, and "Save As..." (new names).
I guess...

Thank you both!

I have saved the template. It arrived as a "Download" but I managed to place it in my TC Drawings folder. (My computer seems to have a particularly tangled directory set, and finding the Drawings folder is not very easy!)

Found the Viewport commands: I have just tried it on a simple drawing I made recently. I'd thought Viewport was a direct tool, not in a sub-set.

I noticed too, by experiment, that shrinking the viewport (in Paper Space) does not alter the dimensions - which also answers the question I had from ages ago, whether drawings of very small items can be enlarged; rather than the more common reducing of large items.