[cups.general] Controlling font and print quality for dot-matrix
Tim Boring
tboring at adw1.com
Mon May 9 11:42:27 PDT 2005
Hello! We're using CUPS on a new Linux (SuSE Linux Enterprise Server
v9) box, and while we're able to setup the myriad of networked report
printers (dot-matrix Oki's, 395 and 3410) the quality of the print is
poor.
Here's what I've done so far:
1. Installed CUPS, cups-libs, cups-drivers, cups-drivers-stp
(gimp-print), cups-SUSE-ppds-dat, manufacturer-PPDS packages from SUSE.
2. Setup a test print queue for one of the Okidata 395C dot-matrix
printers. This is a network printer that is connected to a JetDirect
box. Setup the printer using IPP with the following command:
lpadmin -p <printer-name> -v ipp://hostname/ipp/ -E
-P /usr/share/cups/model/Epson/Dot_Matrix-epsonc.ppd.gz
3. The printer queue now exists and I can stat it with "lpstat -o
<printer-name>"; I can also see the queue using the web frontend.
4. From the commandline on this machine, I can send a previously created
report file (plain-text) to the printer using "lp -d<printer-name>
<file-name>". The job prints, with a few flaws:
a) the print quality is poor. What do I mean by this? The characters
are "fuzzy" and not all the dots on the characters get printed (at least
that's what it looks like);
b) the speed of the print job is slow. I've got the printer setup for
draft mode (utility on the printer control panel); using the web tool,
I've set the resolution to 120x72 dpi. I also experimented with setting
the resolution to 120x180dpi; the print quality is a little better, but
the speed is still slow.
c) I've got the printer set to "utility" print quality. This is
basically draft mode. Yet when I send the print job from the
commandline, the quality changes to "letter quality". I'm not sure why
this happens, and I don't see anywhere in the man page for lpadmin or in
the web frontend to change this (other than the resolution).
d) I've got the printer set to 12 character pitch, yet when I send the
print job it changes to "Prop", which I take is something akin to
custom. Not sure why this happens.
The thing that is weird about all this is that this same printer works
just fine from our old SCO box. Granted it uses LPD, but all we had to
do there was just set up the printer, and printing from the commandline
worked just fine using whatever settings we had configured on the
printer itself.
I appreciate any help that anyone can provide.
Thanks,
Tim
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