[cups.general] Adobe Reader 9.1/Linux and # of Copies

[John Jason Jordan]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:04:36 -0400
Michael Sweet <msweet at apple.com> dijo:

> On Jul 18, 2009, at 6:47 PM, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> > ...
> > Looking at the command that Reader is sending I can see why. The
> > command contains "-o Copies = x." I can change x to whatever I want by
> > selecting a different number in the GUI (you can't edit the line
> > manually in Reader 9.1). But it still prints only one copy. That is
> > because "-o Copies = x" is not valid lpr syntax. The correct syntax is
> > "-#x." And lpr ignores all commands that it does not understand.
> >
> > However, I must have misunderstood something, because I can't believe
> > Adobe released Reader 9.1/Linux with such an obvious and major glitch.

> Adobe really did release software with such an obvious and major glitch.
> 
> FWIW, "-o copies=x" is also valid.  Putting spaces around the "=" is  
> not, however.

Thanks for the clarification. 

I found a partial workaround. Reader ignores the number of copies in
the main print dialog box. But if you click on the printer properties
button you find another place to set the number of copies. I am not
sure, but I think this sets the default number for the printer in CUPS,
but it does get Reader to change the number of copies to the correct
number, and the lpr syntax is correct (no spaces).

There are other issues, however:

I cannot get copy-offset to work. The printer in question is a Laserjet
8000DN with a 3000 sheet output stacker. When you print multiple copies
each copy is supposed to be offset a couple of centimeters. The purpose
is to make it easy to separate the copies. The option seems to be
missing in the GUI. And in Reader 9.1 you can no longer manually edit
the lpr line. And even if I could, I can't figure out what syntax the
Laserjet wants. Copy-offset is set to "on" in the printer's defaults,
but it still doesn't work. And while copy-offset is set as the default,
it is software selectable. So CUPS must be turning it off.

A more serious issue is that it is not printing multiple copies from
one image. That is, this printer has "rip once, print many" capability.
If you print multiple copies the job is sent just once. The first copy
may come out a bit slow as the printer images each page. But the
printer knows it is going to continue printing more copies, so it holds
the image in its RAM. Subsequent copies in the print job all print at
the rated speed of the printer because the pages do not have to be
re-imaged. When I print multiple copies from Reader 9.1 on Jaunty I see
the print job in Accessories > Manage Print Jobs, and the print job
stays there until the last copy comes out of the printer. CUPS is
resending the job over and over for each copy.

I do plan to file a bug report with Adobe, but I want to be sure I have
it all correct first.