[cups] Difficulties with Canon Printer

[Helge Blischke]

Alan, 
the PDF is indeed a PDF-1.5 and crated by cairo. All the content
is stored as a single image (an X-object) with /Interpolate set to true.
Om my system (Mac OS X 10.10.2 and CUPS 2.0.0) it prints fine.

I suspect that your issue is due to some deficiency in one of the
filters used on your system, probably pdftopdf or pdftops.
To explore the issue further, please do the following:

–	cupsctl —debug-logging
	to turn on debug logging into the cups logging file
–	print the test PDF (the first page should be enough)
–	grep 'Job xxxx‘ /var/log/cups/error_log > some_temp_file
	where xxxx is the job ID of the test print
–	post (an URL to) the some_temp_file (or mail it directly to me
	if it is too long to be copied into the mail text).

That would give me the chance to dig more into the problem
(as I have the sources of the cups-filter pacage at hand).

Helge

> Am 26.03.2015 um 20:46 schrieb Alan McConnell <alan at his.com>:
> 
> Gentlemen!  I am aware that I am breaking an implicit Law of
> E-lists by writing you independently lof the CUPS discussion
> list.  My excuse is: I want experts to look at a substantial
> .pdf, which must be Attached, and Attachments, at least of this
> size, are stripped before the mail is posted to the list.
> 
> The printer in question is a Canon imageCLASS MF4770n.  I am
> running Debian Wheezy and have CUPS 1.5.3 on this system.
> 
> I recapitulate what I have posted to the List.  After following
> instructions downloaded from Canon, and a couple of days of
> work, I was able to print quite a few files:  .pdfs, including
> tax forms, and some color .jpgs, which came out quite nicely
> on my B&W Canon.  I ascribed this to the abilities of CUPS.
> 
> My problem: I have downloaded a music part from IMSLP, which has
> lots of parts of classical music.  The part is a .pdf, My   file
> utility says it is version 1.6.  The file I have Attached is the
> first page of this part, excerpted from the complete part, and,
> strangely,   file   says it is version 1.5.  But both files display
> just fine with the .pdf display utilities evince and xpdf , as well
> as with emacs.
> 
> However, when I 'lp' either of these files, I get a top fifth of
> the page with some faint scribblings which can sort of be discerned
> as a scrunching together of the music, followed by a total Black
> rest of the sheet.
> 
> I have several questions: can you duplicate this with the file
> I've attached?  (I have asked several friends to print out this
> page of of music, and none have had problems) Is CUPS at fault?
> what is there about this particular .pdf that causes this outré
> result with this particular Canon printer?  And I invite
> speculation about why, if the .pdf is, somehow, printed on the
> top fifth of the sheet, the rest of the sheet should be
> covered in thick black toner.
> 
> Bottom line: some .pdfs print just fine, but this one .pdf prints
> ridiculously, uselessly, and expensively.
> 
> Again my apologies for rule-breaking, and my thanks in advance for
> anticipated information and help.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Alan McConnell, in Silver Spring MD
> 
> -- 
> Alan McConnell :  http://globaltap.com/~alan/
>   "Women run for office to do something, and men run for
>   office to be somebody." (Debbie Walsh)
> <beeth-1symph-p1.pdf>