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Edit PPD Files

Adding a Paper Size

You would think most every size would be there for the guttenprint postscript drivers - or there would be an easy way to enter a custom size - but no - life in ~~2014~~ ~~2015~~ 2016 is still not so easy.

Open up the existing PPD and search for the above keywords.

You will see the Letter size most likely as the default and top entry.

Copy and modify it for your new size. The dimensions are given in PostScript points which are 1/72Inch (they had yet to hear of the metric system?? )...or 0.35277778mm from 1/72 of an inch You have to add values for each additional page size at 4 different places:

PageSize

*PageSize Card4x6/Index Card 4x6in: "<</cupsInteger0 79/PageSize [288 432]/ImagingBBox null>>setpagedevice"

The 79 might be a sort order?? Anyone know?

Here 4 x 72 = 288 and 6 x 72 = 432

PageRegion

*PageRegion Card4x6/Index Card 4x6in: "<</cupsInteger0 79/PageSize[288 432]/ImagingBBox null>>setpagedevice"

Same sort of thing - keeping the 79

ImageableArea

This gets tricky -

The columns correspond to [Left Top Right Bottom] and set the margins (starting from the top and left of the page).

The last two numbers will be shy the size of your media by the amount of margin on the right and bottom.

In the example below "18" would move us over to the right of the page 6.35mm[0.25"] and 14 would set the top margin at about 4.93mm[0.20"].

270 = 3.75" leaving a quarter inch and 418 = 5.80" leaving 0.20" at the bottom.

*ImageableArea Card4x6/Index Card 4x6in: "18 14 270 418"
*ImageableArea Card3x5/Index Card 3x5in: "18 14 198 346"

PaperDimension

*PaperDimension Card4x6/Index Card 3x5in: "288 432"

Check List

Added an entry at 4 places?
Unique names for the new media sizes?
No syntax/spelling errors!
Test the new PPD with cupstestppd utility found in the cups-client package.

# cupstestppd newppdname.ppd

Pretty redundant data -

Create a new printer selecting your new ppd file and hopefully it should work.

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