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Setting printer margin while printing a PDF from a browser.

Hi,

I have been trying to print a PDF document which is generated dynamically. It's written in PHP. When I try to print the document from different systems, the margins of the page changes. When I crosschecked it, I found that it's because of the printer margin set on the PDF reader is different.

So I would like to know if there is any way it can be set by some programs which doesn't need to make the user to interfere.

Ray Paseur

Would it be possible for you to give us some more specific information? From what we have here, the answer is "maybe." Many printer drivers have individual settings that are not under the control of the PDF document, but we may still be able to help.

Please post a link to the PHP script that produces the document (you can obscure personal data, but do not remove anything that changes the size or shape of the resulting PDF document).

Please tell us what "different systems" are involved and how they affect the rendering. Information like operating system. device type, printer make and model will be helpful.

Please tell us what machines are used to print the PDF files, and what print settings you expect the client to use.

Please tell us what margins you want on the output and what margins you're getting from each of the different systems.

Thanks, ~Ray

spectrumsofttech

ASKER

Since the link to the PHP script that generate the document is hosted internally, I will not be able to provide the direct access to it. For your reference, I'm attaching a PDF document generated with the same PHP script.

The PDF was generated by using PHP Class TCPDF (http://www.tcpdf.org )

The document we are trying to generate is CMS1500 02/12 form ( http://www.nucc.org/images/stories/PDF/claim_form_manual_v9-0_7-13.pdf ), which is in letter size (8.50x11.00 Inch). Output PDF is set as dual layer and the upper layer would only be printed on the form.

Scaling type of the printing page should be either set to None/Actual Size/Custom Scaling :100%.

Windows XP and Windows 7 are the host Operation Systems used for the print testing process.

Printer models used are :
1. HP Laser Jet 4000
2. HP Laser Jet 4000N
3. Canon Image Runner 3300i

After setting the Scaling type to 'None', I got the desired output on a HP Laser Jet 4000 printer. Print align was changed nearly 1mm to left and top when I changed by printer from HP Laser Jet 4000 to HP Laser Jet 4000N. Finally there was a change nearly 2mm to top on the printer Canon Image Runner 3300i.

PDF readers used are Adobe reader and Foxit reader. Both gives the same printing output on every system.

PHP Code used to generate the data in the PDF as follows
$pdf->text($x_ax,$y_ax,'value');
CMS-1500-33473-Mathew-Manu--93-.pdf

Ray Paseur

Ahh, that makes it clearer. The short answer is "no" because the client controls the printer and there is no programmatic way to override the client's settings. Your best bet is to instruct the client, telling what settings to use on different printers.

On the Epson 3880, the default settings cut off the right side of the PDF document. When I changed the page layout to "Fit to Page" the document was reduced to 97% of its original size and it fit on the page correctly. So maybe a good starting point is to tell the client to use the Fit to Page setting.

spectrumsofttech

ASKER

I had cases in which I got print from different system(one with Windows XP and Other with Windows 7) with same printer (HP Laser Jet 4000) looks different in the alignment. Both systems, we used Adobe reader XI to read the doc and send it to the printer from it by giving same setting.

Why this happens so in the same printer?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Ray Paseur

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Ray Paseur

Please review the grading guidelines and explain why you gave a marked-down grade.
http://support.experts-exchange.com/customer/portal/articles/481419

Thanks, ~Ray