Where are available print sizes set?

Lawrence Lile
Lawrence Lile
in Linux
 I have been printing along quite nicely for some time, however some recent update or other has changed some print settings.  I suspect this is a Bricscad issue, rather than a printer issue, because the printer works properly in other programs.  

Previously, under the print dialog, my printer had an option for "Tabloid"  11X17 paper.  This option is still available under all other programs (Libreoffice and so forth) but Bricscad page setup dialog has forgotten about it.  

I am presented with dozens of seemingly irrelevant page sizes (What the heck is "hagaki?") but nothing 11X17.  "B" which should be 11X17, comes out to be 3X5 (In fact most choices have a 3X5 paper size, this must be some kind of default).  "Super B" is 13X19.  "Custom" is 3X5, with no apparent option to change it. 

This list and parameters must be kept in some kind of table or file somewhere.  Can anyone tell me what file to edit to create the proper page sizes again?  




Comments

  • Lawrence Lile
    Lawrence Lile
     Blundering around randomly in the dark, as is usual when I don't know what I am doing, I came across these pages about papersize under Ubuntu Linux:





    I found a file at /etc/papersize containing the word "letter".  I changed this to "tabloid"  with no apparent effect on Bricscad's paper choices, and then to "11x17"  Niether one worked. 

    I found a paper size called "A3" that hopefully promised to print at 11.69X16.54, but the printer gags and says "paper size is incorrect".  Apparently Bricscad can't seem to talk nice to HP printers about page sizes. 

    Any clues out there?  


  • Michael Rickard
    Michael Rickard
     I think that BricsCAD, like other CAD programs, queries the printer for paper sizes. This is because each different kind of printer has different capabilities about what kind of media it can use. Let's say you go paper space, and click on "page setup". You select the printer that you want to print to. BricsCAD should automatically fill the paper size menu with the correct paper sizes.

    If a paper size is missing for some reason, and you know the printer can print to it, you might need to create a "printer configuration" for this printer. Google for PC3 files and how they are used in AutoCAD.

    To mess around with with PC3 files in BricsCAD, open up "page setup". Select the right printer, then hit the "hand pointing to settings" icon right next to it. This brings up Plotter Configuration Editor. Go to Settings, and look for things you can edit related to Media. You may need to edit "Custom Properties" to add the paper size.

    If you do find some setting that fixes the problem, you can save the printer configuration as a PC3 file. You would name it something like "HP-Foo.pc3". This is a file that tells BricsCAD what your HP printer is capable of. You are saving a configuration of the printer that includes the missing media type. The missing media will now be available when you use this PC3 file.

    I can't really test this because I don't have any physical printers. I always print to PDF. Let me just say that a PC3 file is an idea for you, not a surefire solution. It's what comes to mind when I hear that a CAD program needs to be set up to use a certain media size.

    I'm not sure the PC3 editor is fully functional under Linux. Most docs about it talk about Windows  and Windows system printers.
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