changing paper size has no effect

[linuxtest]

Hi to all

I am trying to setup a epson lq-590 and LX 300+ dot matrix printer on ubuntu 8.1
i have managed to install the printer and i am able to print a test page

the problem is, i want to do continuous printing for invoices, but there is no paper size matching my preprinted invoices

if i change it to the closest one on the printer settings it has no effect
the paper stil moves up to a4 size

i have changed the paper size in /etc/papersize to another size but then the printer does not print

Anny help would be appreciated

EDIT: changing papersize anywhere (Jaunty release candidate) has no effect. Only sudo gedit /etc/papersize and adding your format there changes something. That has to be fixed. Why have all the printing options if they do not take effect unless a "human being" edits a system file...

[Ian Weisser (ian-weisser)]

What applications are you printing from?
Are you using cups, or a different print handler?

[linuxtest (lappies)]

Yes we are using cups and we also tried gwenview

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

For continuous printing the chosen page size must have exactly the same length as your invoice paper. As it seems that this paper has not a common standard format, you should print supplying a custom page size:

lpr -P <printer> -o PageSize=Custom.<width>x<height><unit> <file>

If your invoices have a size of 5x7 inches, use

lpr -P <printer> -o PageSize=Custom.5x7in <file>

Floating point numbers are allowed, units are in, mm, cm, pt (1pt = 1/72in).

Note that custom paper sizes are not available with all PPDs. If this does not work, you have to choose another PPD/driver for your print queue in system-config printer.

If your invoice paper is a common standard size, please tell, so that we can consider adding it to the PPD files.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Please put the unit only once, at the very end of the expression.

WRONG: lpr -P <printer> -o PageSize=Custom.20.32cmx17cm <file>

CORRECT: lpr -P <printer> -o PageSize=Custom.20.32x17cm <file>

Keep in mind that this only works if your printer's PPD offers a custom page size.

If you use the paper very frequently, create an "Instance" of your printer:

lpoptions -p <printer>/invoices -o PageSize=Custom.20.32x17cm

Now two queues appear in your printing dialogs: <printer> and <printer>/invoices. The latter is for invoices and uses your custom paper size by default.

NOTE: Always where I have written <printer> put your print queue name without the brackets,

If this does not help you, please attach the PPDs of your dot matrix printers (/etc/cups/ppd/<printer>.ppd) so that we can give you further help.

[linuxtest (lappies)]

Hi i have tested the command but still no effect,

here is the pdd file content

*FormatVersion: "4.3"
*FileVersion: "1.1"
*LanguageVersion: English
*LanguageEncoding: ISOLatin1
*PCFileName: "TEXTONLY.PPD"
*Manufacturer: "Generic"
*Product: "(Generic)"
*cupsVersion: 1.0
*cupsManualCopies: True
*cupsModelNumber: 2
*cupsFilter: "text/plain 0 textonly"
*ModelName: "Generic text-only printer"
*ShortNickName: "Generic text-only printer"
*NickName: "Generic text-only printer"
*PSVersion: "(2017.000) 0"
*LanguageLevel: "2"
*ColorDevice: False
*DefaultColorSpace: Gray
*FileSystem: False
*Throughput: "8"
*LandscapeOrientation: Plus90
*VariablePaperSize: False
*TTRasterizer: Type42
*DefaultImageableArea: Letter
*ImageableArea Letter/US Letter: "18 36 594 756"
*DefaultPaperDimension: Letter
*PaperDimension Letter/Letter: "612 792"
*OpenUI *PageSize/Media Size: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *PageSize
*DefaultPageSize: Letter
*PageSize Letter/Letter: "<</PageSize[612 792]/ImagingBBox null>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *PageSize
*OpenUI *PageRegion: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *PageRegion
*DefaultPageRegion: Letter
*PageRegion Letter/Letter: "<</PageSize[612 792]/ImagingBBox null>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *PageRegion

*OpenUI *SendFF: Boolean
*DefaultSendFF: False
*SendFF True/True: ""
*SendFF False/False: ""
*CloseUI: *SendFF

thank you for all the help thus far

[linuxtest (lappies)]

Any news yet

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Your printer model was not recognized at all. system-config-printer has simply assigned a text-only PPD file as it did not get any ID information from the printer.

Please do the following:

Start the printer setup tool via

System -> Administration -> Printing

Remove the automatically generated print queues for your dot-matrix printers by right-clicking the icons and choosing "Delete" in the pop-up menu.

Click the "New" icon in the toolbar ate the upper left. Choose the parallel or USB port where your dot-matrix printer is connected to. Click "Forward". Then choose manufacturer and model of the printer, If the exact model is not in the list, choose Epson, then 24-pin or 9-pin depending on your printer.

After finishing you can adjust the print quality by right-clicking the printer icon and choosing "Properties".

Now you should be able to print custom page sizes as described above.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Did you do the steps which I described in my last comment? If you did not succeed with them, please tell with which step you had problems. If you have finished the steps of the new-printer dialog, and you are still not able to change the paper size (using the new print queue). Please post all your PPDs in /etc/cups/ppd/ and also go through the troubleshooting procedure ("Help"/"Troubleshooting") of the printer setup tool.

Note that you must be logged in as the first user of the system (or a user in the "lpadmin" group) to do this procedure.

[linuxtest (lappies)]

The steps work but it have no affect on the paper size it stays at A4 paper size.I can change the paper size but dont change when I print.
I will post the ppd's

Thank you

[linuxtest (lappies)]

here is the pdd file content
*FormatVersion: "4.3"
*FileVersion: "1.1"
*LanguageVersion: English
*LanguageEncoding: ISOLatin1
*PCFileName: "TEXTONLY.PPD"
*Manufacturer: "Generic"
*Product: "(Generic)"
*cupsVersion: 1.0
*cupsManualCopies: True
*cupsModelNumber: 2
*cupsFilter: "text/plain 0 textonly"
*ModelName: "Generic text-only printer"
*ShortNickName: "Generic text-only printer"
*NickName: "Generic text-only printer"
*PSVersion: "(2017.000) 0"
*LanguageLevel: "2"
*ColorDevice: False
*DefaultColorSpace: Gray
*FileSystem: False
*Throughput: "8"
*LandscapeOrientation: Plus90
*VariablePaperSize: False
*TTRasterizer: Type42
*DefaultImageableArea: Letter
*ImageableArea Letter/US Letter: "18 36 594 756"
*DefaultPaperDimension: Letter
*PaperDimension Letter/Letter: "612 792"
*OpenUI *PageSize/Media Size: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *PageSize
*DefaultPageSize: Letter
*PageSize Letter/Letter: "<</PageSize[612 792]/ImagingBBox null>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *PageSize
*OpenUI *PageRegion: PickOne
*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *PageRegion
*DefaultPageRegion: Letter
*PageRegion Letter/Letter: "<</PageSize[612 792]/ImagingBBox null>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *PageRegion
*OpenUI *SendFF: Boolean
*DefaultSendFF: False
*SendFF True/True: ""
*SendFF False/False: ""
*CloseUI: *SendFF

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

This is still the text-only PPD. Did you really fllow my instructions in

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/304285/comments/7

[Paul Dufresne (paulduf)]

We'd like to figure out what's causing this bug for you, but we haven't heard back from you in a while.
Could you please provide the requested information? Thanks!

[linuxtest (lappies)]

There are 2 options
1. Share printer through windows computer.
2. The program that u are printing from, must print in raw.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Please check with Jaunty. system-config-printer does not automatically create print queues with the text-only PPD any more. If you plug a printer and it does not get recognized, the new-printer wizard of system-config-printer will pop up and you can choose manufacturer and model manually. In your case you should try something like "Generic 24-pin printer" or "Epson 24-pin printer".

If this still does not help (and you have made sure to really have the correct PPD) you are perhaps running into bug 357732. Please follow the instructions there then.

[xteejx (xteejx)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!

[Repgahroll (alanqueiros)]

This is a bug. I have letter-sized continuous paper here and I couldn't find a way to make my good old LX300 print on them properly. I'm trying to get it working since version 7.04 and believe me, I've tried EVERYTHING, I've even tried to change the ppd file and simply it isn't possible to make it work. I've tried generic dot-matrix drivers, IBM drivers, they all works, some prints artifacts and wrong line breaks, but none of them prints in a size that's not a4.

Using a4 continuous paper it works perfectly. Also, on Windows it works perfectly no matter the paper size.

I think the system is not informing the paper size properly. For example, if i configure a very small page, let's say 3x3in, if the page is just black, the printer will print a 3x3in black square on every a4 paper. The same for letter, the printer will print a letter-sized printing inside every a4 paper, but if the paper is not a4, sheesh happens.

[Repgahroll (alanqueiros)]

PS: You could change the status to "Won't fix", but this is not invalid.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Repgahroll, the bug simply did not get fixed as the original reporters did not supply all the information we requested.

Please go through all comments of this bug report and supply us with the information requested there. In addition, follow the instructions in the sections "CUPS error_log" and "Capturing print job data" of https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems. Thanks.

You should also try a live CD of the newest Ubuntu version under development, Oneiric. Perhaps the bug is fixed there.

[Repgahroll (alanqueiros)]

Okay. I'll do it as soon as possible. Thank you.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for cups (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]