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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: printing borken in head ?
From:       Michael Goffioul <goffioul () imec ! be>
Date:       2003-08-11 12:46:43
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Joseph Wenninger wrote:

> Hi
> 
> 
> I can print to a postscript file without problems from khtml.
> 
> But every time I try to print to a normal printer with cups the pages
> are as small as a dot in the preview and don't get printed.

Probably a margins problem. Edit the printer properties dialog
and go to the margins tab. I had this problem while enhancing
the margins support in KDE, but it should have disappeared now.
Try to remove the ~/.lpoptions file (if you have one).

> For me printing with eg mozilla works though, so I think it is a problem
> either with qt-copy or kde (both HEAD)
> 
> I don't  completely understand why eg khtml mentiones a size for A4 of
> 547x770 which whould be about 75 dpi, although the print dialog tells me
> that I have chosen 360 dpi.

Because under UNIX, there's a kind of separation between the
resolution used at print data generation (application side,
usually PS), and the resolution used by the PS rasterizer
(either ghostscript, or the printer's internal rasterizer).
Of course, in an ideal world, those should be related: for
optimal result, the application should produce print data at
the resolution that the rasterizer will use. The actual
problem is then to catch the resolution that the printer
(rasterizer) will use. This info should be found in drivers
like PPD files, but a lot of PPD files out there (especially
those provided by manufacturers) do not follow adobe specs
such that it's nearly impossible to get the selected printer
resolution in a reliable way.
Recently, I committed some code that allows an application to
use the selected printer resolution (*). I don't know if it has
been used by any app yet. Bu the point is that works only with
Adobe compliant PPD files (and a PPD-based print system, like
CUPS). Fortunately, Foomatic PPD files are adobe complient and
Foomatic is probably the most spread printer driver database.

There's of course a drawback in using the printer resolution
at print data generation time, especially with high resolution.
The data size can become really huge, for example when printing
images (imagine a bitmap image of A4 size at 1200dpi). So always
generating print data at high resolution is not a solution
either, and in many cases, using the display resolution
(typically 75 or 100 dpi) is enough.

Michael.

-- 
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Michael Goffioul		IMEC-DESICS-MIRA
e-mail: goffioul@imec.be	(Mixed-Signal and RF Applications)
Tel:    +32/16/28-8510		Kapeldreef, 75
Fax:    +32/16/28-1515		3001 HEVERLEE, BELGIUM
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