printing PDF [SOLVED]

[chazb]

LM 18.3 Sylvia, Xfce. Printer is HP DeskJet 2132.
My problem began yesterday when I went to print a PDF from the web, and was getting pages of gibberish and discovered I was trying to print a Microsoft Word PDF. So I go about the business finding what it is I have to do to print this file correctly. And run across this thing call cups-PDF, and I am wondering if this is the magic wand that solved my problem, or is it the beginning of another major learning curve of Linux. I know what Cups is and it comes with the OS and drives my printer, but I hesitate messing with it. So I go to the Cups website for PDF and discover that part of Cups-pdf must be installed as root. I see in Synaptic a file for cups-pdf. Does Synaptic install it as root with all its dependencies or should I install it with the Terminal as root?

This is where I went,,,,,,,,https://www.cups-pdf.de/

[brian_p]

....and discovered I was trying to print a Microsoft Word PDF.

Is it possible to give us a URL for the document you tried to print?

I would install cups-pdf with

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sudo apt printer-driver-cups-pdf

but synaptic could be used in its place. I doubt it will solve the probem you are having.

[chazb]

Is it possible to give us a URL for the document you tried to print?

This what I tried to copy;

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https://www.na.org/admin/include/spaw2/uploads/pdf/litfiles/us_english/IP/EN3110.pdf

[brian_p]

The PDF's title is "Microsoft Word - EN3110.doc" and was created by Acrobat Distiller 7.0 (Windows). Nothing untoward there. I printed a page of it successfully. Producing gibberish for the printer's output is often a filtering issue.

[chazb]

The PDF's title is "Microsoft Word - EN3110.doc" and was created by Acrobat Distiller 7.0 (Windows). Nothing untoward there. I printed a page of it successfully. Producing gibberish for the printer's output is often a filtering issue.

So I have been reading this,,,,,,,,https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:CUPS_in_a_Nutshell,,,,,, and have decided that the solution to resolving a filtering issue might be somewhat messy. I can't decide if I have a Postscript or PDF printer and/or what filter to alter or even how to alter it.

[ClixTrix]

Please run the following command from Terminal and post back the results.

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hp-setup -h | grep ver

[brian_p]

I can't decide if I have a Postscript or PDF printer ....

You have neither. It is a host-based printer. Basically, all processing takes place on the computer.

There will a PPD for it in /etc/cups/ppd. This command

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sudo cupsfilter -p PPD_in_/etc/cups/ppd  -m printer/foo -e /etc/nsswitch > out.dat 2>log  

will produce a printer-ready file, out.dat. Look at log for any errors and/or post log here as an attachment.

[chazb]

I can't decide if I have a Postscript or PDF printer ....

You have neither. It is a host-based printer. Basically, all processing takes place on the computer.
There will a PPD for it in /etc/cups/ppd. This command

Code: Select all

sudo cupsfilter -p PPD_in_/etc/cups/ppd  -m printer/foo -e /etc/nsswitch > out.dat 2>log  

will produce a printer-ready file, out.dat. Look at log for any errors and/or post log here as an attachment.

This fixed the problem, but I am not certain why it fixed the problem. What is the path to the log file.

The fixing of this problem only opened another problem, as I notice the font size is really small. And sense now knowing my printer is host based (thank you) probably means there is not much support for it. But that doesn't mean all is lost. Are you aware of any programs, software, etc. which might offer a solution to the font problem? I know that I should probably start a new thread for the font, But I thought I would take this opportunity to ask this one last question.