Hp 1018 printer draft & normal printing are the same quality

Seanog · 05-04-2014, 02:09 PM

Hi, I installed HP 1018 on my ZORIN 8 distro and
I find that it only prints in full quality. Selecting "draft" gives the same results as "normal" And if I change the brightness in printout appearance in HP device manager, it makes no difference. Any ideas? Thank you.

thorkelljarl · 05-05-2014, 07:37 AM

An idea...

I assume that you've installed the printer under HPLIP. Is it the latest version of HPLIP?

In any case, the settings for the printer are specified in the ppd file that is installed by HPLIP, and you should be able to open and edit it with a text editor.

If you lack printing options, try the Internet for examples of what to add and where to add to your ppd file to give you the options you want. Your HPLIP GUI may be a standard interface, but without a file setting that can be changed. As a test, can you set the options you want through the command line?

I added a line in the ppd file installed by the Canon driver for my Canon MG5450 to get it to print with a resolution of 300dpi as well as 600dpi in order to save ink. The option now appears in the CUPS GUI under Administration - Manage Printers - MG5400 - Administration - Set Default Options. I find that the CUPS settings override any other options that are in the various windows I can open when I print.

Seanog · 05-06-2014, 05:04 AM

Quote:

In any case, the settings for the printer are specified in the ppa file that is installed by HPLIP, and you should be able to open and edit it with a text editor.

How would I go about doing that? As root? What are the steps? I have HPLIP-3.13.9 version installed. Thanks.

blueinca99 · 05-06-2014, 07:10 AM

the other thing with printers & Zorin (for me anyway-what about you Seanog?) you can't double-sided - the option is greyed out- won't even let you do it (print double sided) manually - first one, then put paper back in & system ready to print the other - no go.

When I tried installing using the actual printer (HP) install disc it wouldn't complete - some usb error message - which I though was weird.

ericson007 · 05-06-2014, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueinca99

the other thing with printers & Zorin (for me anyway-what about you Seanog?) you can't double-sided - the option is greyed out- won't even let you do it (print double sided) manually - first one, then put paper back in & system ready to print the other - no go.

When I tried installing using the actual printer (HP) install disc it wouldn't complete - some usb error message - which I though was weird.

I can confirm that with my brother hl5450-dn I can duplex, but only using a different model br3 script driver on cups.

I know that this is not of help with HP, but try postscript and other options available to your brand.

thorkelljarl · 05-06-2014, 01:01 PM

Yes, as root...

You can read the ppd file with your text editor as a normal user, but to write to it you must have root privileges.

Here is what the print quality section of my Canon ppd file looks like, just for your information. HPLIP may have something different.

Code:

*OpenUI *CNQuality/Print Quality: PickOne
*DefaultCNQuality: 4
*CNQuality 1/1(High): "<</CNQuality(1)>>setpagedevice"
*CNQuality 2/2: "<</CNQuality(2)>>setpagedevice"
*CNQuality 3/3: "<</CNQuality(3)>>setpagedevice"
*CNQuality 4/4(Fast): "<</CNQuality(4)>>setpagedevice"
*CloseUI: *CNQuality

Note again that print quality and other settings in the ppd file for Canon are controlled by CUPS, either with the CUPS GUI that is opened with a web browser or by command in a terminal. Any other settings that appear in printing applications don't seem to override CUPS. Have you been trying to adjust your printer in anything but CUPS? Have you tried to compare changing CUPS and changing any settings in HPLIP?

The latest HPLIP version is 3.14.4 if you want to install it, but a newer version may not make any difference.

thorkelljarl · 05-06-2014, 01:53 PM

Just to be sure...

You did this to install your printer or it's equivalent?

http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web...rjet_1018.html

If not, how did you install it? Were there packages from Zorin and do you have both the HPLIP gui and the setup packages installed

Seanog · 05-07-2014, 07:01 AM

Yea, I think it was a site like this: http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web...rjet_1018.html

But what are the steps (via Root) to access the ppd file (and edit it in a text editor) and make changes to it so that the draft quality is activated?

thorkelljarl · 05-07-2014, 07:31 AM

ppd...

Look in your /etc/cups folder for your ppd file, Otherwise, use your search tool. You may be able to open the file with root/su privileges. If not, log in as root.

If I had this problem, I would uninstall all the the HP1018 printer packages already installed , enable the required Zorin repositories, and install the packages "hplip-gui" and "hp-setup".

Seanog · 05-07-2014, 09:39 AM

Quote:

If I had this problem, I would uninstall all the the HP1018 printer packages already installed , enable the required Zorin repositories, and install the packages "hplip-gui" and "hp-setup".

Yea, maybe good idea.