1100d Size Error: Common Problem?

I've noticed an problem with my 1100d (I had this same problem with my
old Canon BJC-4300. The Epson R340 doesn't do it). If you design
something with a lot of white space, the printer will screw up the
dimensions of the image.

I just designed a newsletter in Illustrator 9, with a 1" header and 1"
footer with color on the front page. I then made templates for the
next three pages. Printing the front page, then the template with less
images on the back (which is the exact same height, except the header
is .25" and the bottom border is only a 1 point line) and holding it
up to the light, the second page is over 1/4" smaller than the front
page. Exporting it as a TIFF to Photoshop 6 wound up with the same
error. I know Photoshop and Illustrator aren't page layout programs
but it surprised me to lose this much accuracy. Using Paint Shop Pro
5.0 Beta (which has a better print layout function than Photoshop 6.0)
did the same thing.

The solution: Two vertical 1 point lines on the extreme edges of the
print margins that are extremely light grey (RGB 250/250/250). The
printer actually tries to print them, and thus measures the distance
properly. Once the newsletter is done this won't slow down the
printing, as it will have to print the full *** of text anyway. I
may not even need to leave the lines in after the text and ads are
filled in. I do not know if this is a common fault on inkjets. I had
the exact same error with the old Canon printer, where if I tried to
print business cards on pre-scored stock, it would lose about .1" per
card, thus after the first two rows of cards, it would be severely out
of alignment. My first thought is that it's a problem with the print
rollers, but if that were the case, it wouldn't be able to print a
page with full graphics without having overlap (which isn't a
problem).

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