On Fri 14 Jul 2017 at 16:40:09 -0400, Gene Heskett wrote: > On Friday 14 July 2017 16:13:14 Brian wrote: > > > On Fri 14 Jul 2017 at 15:36:40 -0400, Gene Heskett wrote: > > > On Friday 14 July 2017 13:09:00 Ionel Mugurel Ciobîcă wrote: > > > > What is "a printer dialog"? What application? I have an alias > > > > "label" that does "lpr -P label -o orientation-requested=5", and I > > > > print like this: > > > > > > This is a case I believe, of the default text size, where-ever its > > > set, and which I do not know. > > > > Default text size and font for text files is feature of cups-filters. > > > > > But what I would try is editing your alias to read: > > > > > > lpr -P label -o orientation-requested=5 -o cpi=10 > > > > > > See the manpage for lpr for the nitty-gritty, but you should be > > > able to adjust it for the result you need. I believe also that you > > > can control the font used, in which case I'd install "hack" which is > > > a mono-spaced font and will not only look good, but will be a > > > consistent character width. > > > > > > And adjust the 10 up and down until it fits. For multiline output, > > > there used to be a way to adjust the default 6 lines per inch, > > > allowing the text to be compressed vertically. > > > > > > However for that fine a vertical control, you might have to use lp > > > instead of lpr. > > > > lp versus lpr. One does more than the other? How different are they? > > A specific example would go a long way to substantiating your > > assertion. > > > > My view is that both commands do the same thing. > > > > > lp has the -o lpi=option, but I do not see either cpi or lpi listed > > > as options in the current (for wheezy) lpr man page. > > > > Not everything is in a man page. > > > > http://localhost:631/help/options.html?TOPIC=Getting+Started&QUERY= > > From the looks of that, essentially the only diff is in how SOME of the > options are defined and applied. > > Educational reading for everyone here who uses a printer, thank you > Brian.
Educational only if are printing text files. Most people print from Qt and GTK applications, so the file sent to cups is either PostScript or PDF. Your -o cpi=10 added to lp(r) is worth a try. It is a CUPS thing and could give acceptable output. The root problem likely lies with the texttopdf filter of cups-filters. (which is a topic on the Printing section of the wiki). texttopdf uses fontconfig to choose a monospaced font for printing a text file and the way it goes about it has changed. On an A4 page it would probably go unnoticed but on a label it doesn't. The trick is in getting texttopdf to use the font you want. -- Brian.
