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FFx only prints in tiny thumbnail size since updating

  • 13 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by RikRoll

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Since FFx updated it only prints things in a tiny thumbnail size. What should be a full size page of print is only an unreadable thumbnail.

I haven't changed any settings. On the file>print preview menu it shows "shrink to fit" and on page setup it's set to portrait. All the margins are set to half an inch.

My Brother laser printer works normal when using Chrome browser. Why so many problems with FFx lately?

Since FFx updated it only prints things in a tiny thumbnail size. What should be a full size page of print is only an unreadable thumbnail. I haven't changed any settings. On the file>print preview menu it shows "shrink to fit" and on page setup it's set to portrait. All the margins are set to half an inch. My Brother laser printer works normal when using Chrome browser. Why so many problems with FFx lately?

Chosen solution

I don't know whether this will help you, but in another recent thread, the user discovered that the problem was the preference:

  • printer_printer_name.print_paper_data

It was set to 256 and changing the value to 1 solved the paper size problem.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (13)

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Hi RikRoll, Thank you for your question, I understand that when you print that documents/webpages are printing in thumbnail size.

To get that printer back on track please first try to reset the Firefox printer settings Fix printing problems in Firefox or:

  1. type about:config in the URL bar and hit Enter
  2. Preference name = print.print_printer
  3. Right-Click that preference and select Reset, then restart Firefox.
  4. See if Firefox is printing any better.

I hope this helps.

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Does it appear that Firefox is only using a corner of the paper?

Firefox reads your paper size from your printer driver. In case Firefox got this wrong, there are specific paper size settings in about:config that you can reset as well. So:

(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 paper and pause while the list is filtered.

(3) Do you see any unexpected sizes for preferences with names like the following:

  • printer_printer_name.print_paper_height
  • printer_printer_name.print_paper_width

In that case, you could right-click > Reset the paper preferences for the printer so Firefox re-reads them from the system. Does that make any difference?

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I already tried "fixing printing problems in FFx" before posting here, but I went ahead and reset and restarted FFx again with no change.

FFx prints at the top dead center of the page, not in the corner. In about:config the page height and width shows 11.00 and 8.50 which is normal paper size.

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What are the Margin settings in about:config?

~.print_margin_bottom ~.print_margin_left ~.print_margin_right ~.print_margin_top

and these ~.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom ~.print_unwriteable_margin_left ~.print_unwriteable_margin_right ~.print_unwriteable_margin_top

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"What are the Margin settings in about:config?

~.print_margin_bottom ~.print_margin_left ~.print_margin_right ~.print_margin_top"

All of these are at: 0.5

"and these ~.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom ~.print_unwriteable_margin_left ~.print_unwriteable_margin_right ~.print_unwriteable_margin_top"

All of these are at: -1

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Sounds like Shrink To Fit is not computing the scale correctly. This sometimes happens if there is one hugely wide element in the page. If you manually set the scaling to 100% or 90% does it fill the page?

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At 90%, to print what should be about 2/3 of a single sheet of paper, it wants to print it out on 3 sheets of paper. This was a recipe at TasteofHome.com but I'm having the same problem at any webpage.

I tried printing just the first page and instead of a thumbnail size it was a bit larger, about 2 1/2" high by 1 1/2" wide with the right hand side of the page missing. This was printed at the top center of the page with about 8" of blank paper below it.

At 100% it wants to print out 3 pages as well.

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For this page:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/big---buttery-chocolate-chip-cookies/print

The pagination that shown in the page is what my Firefox wants to do. That is, it shows a separate header with 2 of 2 and Print Preview matches that.

(I am blocking Doubleclick ads, so those might have some effect on the layout, but not as dramatic as what you're seeing.)

Do you see the problem immediately in Print Preview, before you actually print?

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Yes it wanted to print 2 pages in print preview. it printed the tiny thumbnail size.

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In case one of your extensions is involved, could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

Not all add-ons are disabled: Flash and other plugins still run

After Firefox shuts down, a small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset).

Any difference?

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No, no difference. It still printed the thumbnail-size in safe mode.

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Chosen Solution

I don't know whether this will help you, but in another recent thread, the user discovered that the problem was the preference:

  • printer_printer_name.print_paper_data

It was set to 256 and changing the value to 1 solved the paper size problem.

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OMG It finally works! It was set at 256. Setting the value to 1 seems to have fixed it. It printed the first full size page in weeks. Thanks a million :)