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Printing, new problem, tiny size, not cured by any steps identified in support.

  • 5 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by Geoffoh

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A new problem a few weeks old. When I print from Firefox, the result is a very tiny image printed at the top part of the page. If I change the settings, it chops each page up into 4 pages and prints a quarter on each page. I do not have this problem if I print from IE, so not a printer problem. I have been through every single step in the help topic on printing problems and any step suggested in answer to a forum question. No joy.

A new problem a few weeks old. When I print from Firefox, the result is a very tiny image printed at the top part of the page. If I change the settings, it chops each page up into 4 pages and prints a quarter on each page. I do not have this problem if I print from IE, so not a printer problem. I have been through every single step in the help topic on printing problems and any step suggested in answer to a forum question. No joy.

Chosen solution

If Firefox is not using the whole sheet of paper, this can be caused by having extracted the wrong paper size settings from Windows when reading the print driver data. Clearing it can involve finding some obscure settings, but here goes:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste print and pause while the list is filtered

(3) For each setting for the problem printer, right-click and Reset it. The fastest way is to right-click with the mouse and then press the r key on the keyboard with your other hand.

Note: In a couple other threads involving Brother printers, the preference printer_printer_name.print_paper_data was set to 256 and when the user edited it to 1 that fixed the paper size problem. If you see a 256 there, you can edit the value by doubling-clicking it or using right-click>Modify.

Any improvement?

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All Replies (5)

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Chosen Solution

If Firefox is not using the whole sheet of paper, this can be caused by having extracted the wrong paper size settings from Windows when reading the print driver data. Clearing it can involve finding some obscure settings, but here goes:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste print and pause while the list is filtered

(3) For each setting for the problem printer, right-click and Reset it. The fastest way is to right-click with the mouse and then press the r key on the keyboard with your other hand.

Note: In a couple other threads involving Brother printers, the preference printer_printer_name.print_paper_data was set to 256 and when the user edited it to 1 that fixed the paper size problem. If you see a 256 there, you can edit the value by doubling-clicking it or using right-click>Modify.

Any improvement?

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Tried the first fix in about:config and it seems to have worked. Thanks!

Modified by Profmu

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I have the identical problem in Thunderbird, but not Firefox, and suspect they share access to the same Windows data. jsher2000, would you suggest trying your solution for this problem too? On a brief look, I counted 262 settings that seem to fit your description. Is there much chance of inadvertently doing more harm than good?

Geoffoh

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Hi Geoffoh, if you clear the settings for a specific printer, Thunderbird will re-read them from Windows the next time you select that printer, so it's okay to clear them. There might be some preferences with you set yourself such as headers and footers that you would prefer not to have to re-enter.

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'Fraid not, jsher, the condition remains unaltered. I'd already logged this query on the T'bird site, and remain alert for other suggestions. Meanwhile, appreciate your guidance. Can' win 'em all.