[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 129214] Enter a custom size for print paper in Print-Page Layout

Wed Jun 24 12:02:11 UTC 2020

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=129214

Michael Weghorn <m.weghorn at posteo.de> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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     Ever confirmed|0                           |1
             Status|UNCONFIRMED                 |NEEDINFO

--- Comment #8 from Michael Weghorn <m.weghorn at posteo.de> ---
(In reply to Prichy from comment #7)
> Hi all - not sure what specific info is required but here's more
> explanation. I think this issue has come to light because I now have a very
> picky printer (Xerox phaser 6510). The problem is that you have to tell it
> what paper you've loaded. When you go to print, if the paper size 'required'
> via the printyer dialogue doesn't match, what it has loaded, it refuses to
> print - very annoying. So the problem is that although I can format a single
> page to e.g. 144x144mm, LibreOffice then insists I select a 'standard' size
> in the print dialogue - a size for the whole document it seems. 144x144
> isn't an option on my driver. So it could be argued this is a fault with the
> *printer driver* not allowing custom sizes - but even if that were possible,
> how would it do it on a page-by-page basis?

Out of curiosity:
Have you tried printing a document with different page sizes in LibreOffice and
AbiWord? I'd really be interested what happens in both cases. Do you insert
different sheets of paper in the order that the pages are to printed in this
case, or how does the printer know what paper to use (different input
trays,...)?

> And before you ask, if I tell
> the printer it's A4 and set the print diaglogue to A4, then I get a printer
> jam because it thinks the paper's torn. So I admit the unnecessarily picky
> firmware on my printer doesn't help - and I've never had this issue before I
> bought this model. But nonetheless, I think there is a fault with the logic
> in LibreOffice here. Perhaps if specific page sizes are set up in the doc',
> then the print dialogue should not insist on an overall page size for the
> entire doc, which I agree is otherwise a useful thing to be able to do! I'm
> using Ubuntu 19.10 with the default printer driver "(Xerox Phaser 6510,
> driverless, cups-filters 1.25.11"). As mentioned, I can print non-standard
> sizes using AbiWord via the same printer driver as the print dialogue
> doesn't appear to require a paper size.

I've taken a quick look at what AbiWord does. As far as I could see, it
explicitly makes it impossible to select the page size in any case and always
uses that from the document and passes it to CUPS. I think this is usually what
you want (and what I think LO does as well) when the document size is one that
the printer supports.

It's cool this works nicely for your printer with non-supported page sizes as
well in AbiWord and I understand you want to have it working for LibreOffice as
well.
I still *think* this could cause trouble with other printers, however, just the
same way it may fix your use case.

I have tested with a dummy printer here that only can print up to A4, and if
the document has a size of A0, AbiWord just tells the printer to print on A0
anyway; from the CUPS log ("PageSize=A0") is the relevant parameter:

> D [24/Jun/2020:13:30:23 +0200] [Job 1476] argv[5]="StpFineInkLimit=None StpFineDensity=None StpImageType=TextGraphics StpGamma=None StpGreenGamma=None StpDensity=None StpBlueDensity=None Resolution=301x300dpi StpDitherAlgorithm=None StpFineGamma=None StpGreenDensity=None StpBrightness=None StpBlueGamma=None noStpLinearContrast StpFineRedDensity=None Duplex=DuplexNoTumble PageSize=A0 StpColorPrecision=Normal InputSlot=Standard StpQuality=Standard StpColorCorrection=None StpContrast=None StpFineContrast=None ColorModel=RGB StpiShrinkOutput=Crop StpFineGreenGamma=None StpFineBlueDensity=None StpRedGamma=None StpInkLimit=None noCollate StpRedDensity=None StpFineRedGamma=None StpFineBlueGamma=None number-up=1 StpFineBrightness=None StpFineGreenDensity=None job-uuid=urn:uuid:c88ed197-3cea-39a3-6967-415860f09c9d job-originating-host-name=localhost date-time-at-creation= date-time-at-processing= time-at-creation=1592998223 time-at-processing=1592998223"

And when printing using a custom page size, that one is passed e.g. as
"PageSize=Custom.566.93x566.93".

>From what I remember, passing invalid PPD options leads to "undefined
behaviour", which is usually undesirable. I remember for a different scenario
and some Ricoh printer that passing some invalid parameters caused a paper jam
there.

I'm wondering whether it'd be an option to "teach" your printer driver/PPD to
support the page sizes you need by modifying its PPD file instead. What do you
think?

Are there specific sizes you need support for? Can you attach your printer's
PPD file?

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