Kivio: Print preview not scaling correctly

DaFrEQ · 06-15-2006, 02:32 PM

Hello all,

Anybody familiar with the flowchart program package called Kivio?
The program works just fine, however everytime I try to print to a printer or to PDF, it always defaults to A4 paper size, and will not allow me to change it.

I've gone thru the KControl panel and setup for an HP 1050C Plotter, but I cannot get it to print to it. (It's a network plotter. IP address is correct, just won't print)
Aside from that, I just want to be able to scale the page size before printing it to a PDF file, but it will not allow it.

Anybody have any ideas on this one?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Tnx.
L8rz

jschiwal · 06-16-2006, 02:27 PM

I just installed Kivio to take a look. In the Format -> Page Layout menu, what is the Paper Size value?

You might also check the value of the environment variable "LC_PAPER" if it exists.
Also check the configurations for enscript, a2ps and ghostscript. There may be an intermediate step in printing to a pdf file.

Load the pdf file with acroread. What does the Document Properties say the page size is?
If kpdf is used to produce the pdf file, check for a config file in ~/.kde/share/apps/kpdf. I looked in mine and only found xml documents with information about documents I have viewed in the past. Also check for a ~/.kde/share/apps/kivio/ config file. Also, look in /usr/share/doc/packages/.

Ghostscript has extensive documentation there.

You may find information using grep to scour /etc/ configurations for the string 'A4'.

jschiwal · 06-16-2006, 02:36 PM

I also googled for the printer.

Check out the linuxprinting.org website:

Quote:

Section 40: HP 1050C Plotter

40.1 Which Driver do I use?

There are two GhostScript drivers which should work.

* OCE9050
* OCE-TDS400.

http://www.linuxprinting.org/hp-faq.html#q_40_1

You may also want to install the hplip package.

I would also recommend using the root command "lppasswd" program to add your own user name and password as a cups admin, and then use the cups interface "http://localhost:631" to configure the printer.

DaFrEQ · 06-17-2006, 12:30 AM

Hello and thanks for the reply

Quote:

In the Format -> Page Layout menu, what is the Paper Size value?

I originally set the page size for the document I'm working on to Custom and the actual size is set to 500mmx600mm. (I'm working on a fairly large chart)

Quote:

You might also check the value of the environment variable "LC_PAPER" if it exists.

I did a printenv | grep LC_PAPER which returned nothing. So I'm assuming the environment variable isn't set. I also ran a quick printenv >> ENV.OUT so I would have a file with all the variables so I could sift thru it. Nothing about LC_PAPER listed.

Quote:

Also check the configurations for enscript, a2ps and ghostscript. There may be an intermediate step in printing to a pdf file.

Not sure about this one. I've ever actually worked with the above mentioned.

Quote:

If kpdf is used to produce the pdf file, check for a config file in ~/.kde/share/apps/kpdf.

The dir ~/.kde/share/apps/kpdf doesn't exist, so I'm assuming kpdf isn't being used.

Quote:

Also check for a ~/.kde/share/apps/kivio/ config file.

I did find a config file in here, but it didn't really show much... at least nothing I could decipher as being an page size locked to A4. Here it is:

Code:

<!DOCTYPE GlobalConfig>
<GlobalConfig>
 <PaperLayout marginBottom="56.693" width="1417.33" marginTop="56.693" marginLeft="56.693" format="Custom" height="1700.79" marginRight="56.693" orientation="Landscape" />
</GlobalConfig>

Quote:

You may find information using grep to scour /etc/ configurations for the string 'A4'

Haven't done this yet. Figure it'll take quite awhile to execute. I'll set it when I run off to bed shortly.

Regarding the plotter and it's drivers... I found out something kinda intersting. There is an XP machine here that is able to print to the plotter with no problems. It has some B$ HP software installed, which I'm assuming came with the plotter. (not sure, nobody seems to know for sure) However, it is the ONLY machine on the network that can print to the plotter. All other machines can see it, and have access, and when they send a document to it, the print icon pops up, says it's sending it to the Plotter IP (like normal printing window when a job is sent) then it just disappears.
So apparently this is the only machine that can print to it no matter what. I've even gone as far as changing the sharing options, and givine EVERYONE access via the permissions on that XP machine. Still a no go.

Alas, sleep is overtaking me, so I'll attempt this again tomorrow, and I'll look into the linuxprinting.org you suggested.

Thanks again.

DaFrEQ · 06-19-2006, 07:37 PM

Ok, I did a bit of searching on the PDF output. From what I can tell, it isn't going to allow a "custom" size for the page. It will always default to a "standard" size... which I find to be pretty stupid.

As for the HP drivers... all I can say is HP is the devil. They always have such a convoluted way to operating their printers, it isn't even funny.

At any rate, I think I'm going to abandon this 'pseudo project' because the person it is supposed to benefit doesn't seem to give a flying you know what. So I refuse to waste my time and resources on someone who just expects me to fix their problem while they sit by and play a dumb rpg on the internet.

Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

L8rz

jschiwal · 06-20-2006, 05:54 AM

Well, I tried a small experiment. I produced a document in Kivio after setting the page size to ISO B2, which is 19.68 by 27.83 inches.
I printed the page to a pdf file. Then I loaded it into acroread and looked in the properties. The entire page loads in fine and the properties give the dimensions I mentioned.

You could copy a pdf file to a computer that can print to your HP printer until you get cups set up for it.

The acroread print option also has an option to shrink the page size to letter size, which you could use to print on a different printer using Letter sized media.

I'm sure that if you use the cups drivers for either OCE9050 or OCE-TDS400 you will get it working.

I just set up a dummy printer called "plotter" on my laptop.
Using the cups web interface, I selected "oce" for make. Then I looked for "oce 9050" on the next page and found it. I didn't see the second driver mentioned. Hopefully the first one will work for you.