[SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

Harryrrah · 2025-11-21 16:58:02

I have two PCs (PC1 and PC2), both with an identical installation. When I print a PDF on PC1, the alignment of the output is correct, when I print the same PDF on PC2, the output is some kind of shifted up. This means the margin on top is more or less not existing and about 2cm of the top are are not printed/cut off. This is also the case for other printings on PC2, e.g. Libre Writer.

I installed the same driver and I also already _cloned_ /etc/cups/* (including /etc/cups/ppd/ file) for testing. But the print on PC2 is still wrong aligned.

Also the explicitly given cupsFilter in PPD file are the same within `/usr/lib/cups/filter/`.

On both systems, cupsd is running with the same LANG/LC configuration:
/usr/bin/cupsd -l LANG=en_US.UTF-8 LC_ADDRESS=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_IDENTIFICATION=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_MEASUREMENT=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_MONETARY=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_NAME=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_NUMERIC=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_PAPER=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_TELEPHONE=de_DE.UTF-8 LC_TIME=de_DE.UTF-8

Any ideas how I can nail down the issue or how I can find the differences between the both systems?

Last edited by Harryrrah (2025-11-24 19:41:42)

seth · 2025-11-21 20:48:08

Compare
https://man.archlinux.org/man/paper.1
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/LibreO … r_and_Draw

Letter is ~2cm shorter than A4…

Harryrrah · 2025-11-22 11:48:13

seth wrote:

Compare
https://man.archlinux.org/man/paper.1
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/LibreO … r_and_Draw
Letter is ~2cm shorter than A4…

Thank you very much for your reply. I forgot to mention. The PDF is in ISO A4 and also the paper size in the printer dialogue is set to A4. I also set the correct paper size in Libre Writer.
Can I verify which format is sent out finally? Maybe cups etc. is doing some converting things?

The Test PDF was not created with Libre Writer. I only used Libre Writer for a second test source.

Last edited by Harryrrah (2025-11-22 11:52:28)

seth · 2025-11-22 14:09:24

You can configure the printer in http://localhost:631/
The printer margins are defaulted by the ppd and the printing client can use or ignore them (should™ be something in the printing dialog)
See eg. https://superuser.com/questions/1026576 … tic-driver and see whether

lpoptions

prints the same on both systems.

What kind of printer is this?

Harryrrah · 2025-11-23 15:26:40

Printer: Brother DCP-T780DW

I set alle values to same defaults in cups (localhost:631) settings, see below.
In the printer dialogue (printed with evince) I have the same Page Handling values on both Systems:
Page Scaling: None
[ ] Auto Rotate and Center
[ ] Select page size using document page size (does not matter if checked or not)
[ ] Draw border around pages

Page Setup -> Paper size: A4

Also the lpoptions looks the same:

PC1 (correct printing):

$ lpoptions -d DCPT780DW -l
PageSize/Media Size: *A4 BrA4_B Letter BrLetter_B Legal Executive A5 A6 BrA6_B B5 JISB6 BrPostC4x6_S BrPostC4x6_B BrIndexC5x8_S BrIndexC5x8_B BrPhotoL_S BrPhotoL_B BrPhoto2L_S BrPhoto2L_B EnvDL EnvC5 Env10 EnvMonarch FanFoldGermanLegal 195x270mm MexicanLegal IndianLegal
Duplex/Two-Sided: DuplexTumble DuplexNoTumble *None
BRInputSlot/Paper Source: *AutoSelect
BRResolution/Print Quality: Draft *Normal Fine
BRMonoColor/Color / Mono: *FullColor Mono
BRMediaType/Media Type: *Plain Glossy Inkjet

$ lpoptions -d DCPT780DW 
copies=1 device-uri=ipp://printer2.local/ipp/port1 finishings=3 job-cancel-after=10800 job-hold-until=no-hold job-priority=50 job-sheets=none,none marker-change-time=1763813053 marker-colors=#FF00FF,#00FFFF,#FFFF00,#000000,none marker-high-levels=100,100,100,100 marker-levels=-1,-1,-1,-1,-1 marker-low-levels=11,11,11,7 marker-names='Magenta\ Ink\ Cartridge,Cyan\ Ink\ Cartridge,Yellow\ Ink\ Cartridge,Black\ Ink\ Cartridge,Ink\ Absorber' marker-types=ink-cartridge,ink-cartridge,ink-cartridge,ink-cartridge number-up=1 print-color-mode=color printer-commands=AutoConfigure,Clean,PrintSelfTestPage printer-info='Brother DCP-T780DW' printer-is-accepting-jobs=true printer-is-shared=false printer-is-temporary=false printer-location printer-make-and-model='Brother DCPT780DW CUPS' printer-mandatory-job-attributes=attributes-charset,attributes-natural-language,printer-uri printer-state=3 printer-state-change-time=1763813053 printer-state-reasons=none printer-type=10489884 printer-uri-supported=ipp://localhost/printers/DCPT780DW

CUPS (localhost:631):
Description: Brother DCP-T780DW
Location:	
Driver: Brother DCPT780DW CUPS (color, 2-sided printing)
Connection:	ipp://printer2.local/ipp/port1
Defaults:	job-sheets=none, none media=iso_a4_210x297mm sides=one-sided

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PC2 (not correct printing):

$ lpoptions -p DCPT780DW -l
PageSize/Media Size: *A4 BrA4_B Letter BrLetter_B Legal Executive A5 A6 BrA6_B B5 JISB6 BrPostC4x6_S BrPostC4x6_B BrIndexC5x8_S BrIndexC5x8_B BrPhotoL_S BrPhotoL_B BrPhoto2L_S BrPhoto2L_B EnvDL EnvC5 Env10 EnvMonarch FanFoldGermanLegal 195x270mm MexicanLegal IndianLegal
Duplex/Two-Sided: DuplexTumble DuplexNoTumble *None
BRInputSlot/Paper Source: *AutoSelect
BRResolution/Print Quality: Draft *Normal Fine
BRMonoColor/Color / Mono: *FullColor Mono
BRMediaType/Media Type: *Plain Glossy Inkjet

lpoptions -p DCPT780DW   
copies=1 device-uri=ipp://printer2.local/ipp/port1 finishings=3 job-cancel-after=10800 job-hold-until=no-hold job-priority=50 job-sheets=none,none marker-change-time=1763743186 marker-colors=#FF00FF,#00FFFF,#FFFF00,#000000,none marker-high-levels=100,100,100,100 marker-levels=-1,-1,-1,-1,-1 marker-low-levels=11,11,11,7 marker-names='Magenta\ Ink\ Cartridge,Cyan\ Ink\ Cartridge,Yellow\ Ink\ Cartridge,Black\ Ink\ Cartridge,Ink\ Absorber' marker-types=ink-cartridge,ink-cartridge,ink-cartridge,ink-cartridge number-up=1 print-color-mode=color printer-commands=AutoConfigure,Clean,PrintSelfTestPage printer-info='Brother DCP-T780DW' printer-is-accepting-jobs=true printer-is-shared=false printer-is-temporary=false printer-location printer-make-and-model='Brother DCPT780DW CUPS' printer-mandatory-job-attributes=attributes-charset,attributes-natural-language,printer-uri printer-state=3 printer-state-change-time=1763743186 printer-state-reasons=none printer-type=10489884 printer-uri-supported=ipp://localhost/printers/DCPT780DW

CUPS (localhost:631):
Description: Brother DCP-T780DW
Location:
Driver: Brother DCPT780DW CUPS (color, 2-sided printing)
Connection: ipp://printer2.local/ipp/port1
Defaults: job-sheets=none, none media=iso_a4_210x297mm sides=one-sided

Last edited by Harryrrah (2025-11-23 15:27:41)

seth · 2025-11-23 16:32:50

Also the lpoptions looks the same:

They unfortunately are.

The printer supports IPPe, what if you use that instead of some custom PPD?

Harryrrah · 2025-11-23 17:47:28

seth wrote:

Also the lpoptions looks the same:
They unfortunately are.
The printer supports IPPe, what if you use that instead of some custom PPD?

Thank you very much! I was not aware of this option. Now it work's with regular A4 and also with A4 Borderless.
I wounder what the issue was with the PPD configuration. Nevertheless it works.

seth · 2025-11-23 20:02:09

\o/
Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

Arch Linux

#1 2025-11-21 16:58:02

[SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#2 2025-11-21 20:48:08

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#3 2025-11-22 11:48:13

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#4 2025-11-22 14:09:24

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#5 2025-11-23 15:26:40

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#6 2025-11-23 16:32:50

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#7 2025-11-23 17:47:28

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

#8 2025-11-23 20:02:09

Re: [SOLVED] Printed page not aligned correct, wrong margin.

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