2

I have a document that I've set with \documentclass[legalpaper], expecting it to produce a PDF that's the standard 8.5" x 14" size. When I go to print the PDF, I've found that it's actually about an inch larger than 14". I have to shrink the document to fit on the page in order to get it to print on an actual, standard, American 8.5" x 14" piece of legal paper. I've tried using legal instead of legalpaper, but it seems that legal produces a document that's significantly smaller than actual legal paper. Am I missing something or doing something wrong?

\documentclass[10pt,legalpaper]{article}
\usepackage[margin={50px,25px}]{geometry}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
   \lipsum[1-20]
\end{document}
Johannes_B
  • 24,235
  • 10
  • 93
  • 248
Nick
  • 675
  • 1
    In case you are not loading package geometry (paper=legalpaper), the documentclass sets the paper size. Can you tell us that, most preferrably in form of a minimal working example? – Johannes_B Dec 17 '14 at 08:34
  • Here you go: http://pastebin.com/4uuSKRm2. I did invoke geometry after documentclass, but I use it to set the margins, not the paper size. – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 08:38
  • 1
    Try to do it via geometry. But i guess it is a printer issue. letterpaper is the default for article, i guess people would have noticed if something is wrong there. – Johannes_B Dec 17 '14 at 08:47
  • I tried via geometry too, and it produced the same thing. I'm think you're right, and that this is a printer driver error or an issue with the PDF viewer I'm using. I apologize. – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 08:51
  • There sometimes is a feature fit to page (or something alike). Try to not use that. – Johannes_B Dec 17 '14 at 08:53
  • Using Adobe PDF Reader, the only way I could get the document to fit on the page properly was to use the "Fit" option. If I use the "Actual Size" option, it cuts off like this: http://i.imgur.com/HiCNLW4.jpg. The PDF page size is 8.5x14, and the physical paper is the same. This is definitely starting to seem like some sort of driver/software error that I need to fix, but I'm not sure what to look for at this point. I've tried looking for a number of things and haven't had any luck. – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 09:01
  • 1
    Nice picture ;-) Have you tried another reader/viewer? I heard Sumatra is quite good. – Johannes_B Dec 17 '14 at 09:03
  • 1
    seeing that you have rather small margins, I would guess the problem is that paper sizes match, but the area your printer is actually able to print on is smaller than the area you have text on - i.e. your margins (in the pdf) are smaller than the minimum margins the printer produces. – greyshade Dec 17 '14 at 09:04
  • Thanks! Coincidentally, I also tried Sumatra. I'm having the same error with that one, also. – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 09:04
  • Ahhh, greyshade, I think you might be right. I'm going to look in to that right now, and will report back. – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 09:05
  • You were right, greyshade. It looks like it was a mistake to be frugal when I bought this printer! ;) – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 09:07
  • 1
    @NickolasPeterO'Malley Never use px as a unit of measure. – egreg Dec 17 '14 at 09:09
  • @egreg, I usually don't, but using it was the only way I was able to get the document to fit the way I wanted. Is there another unit of measure I should have used that is as precise? (I'm still very new to LaTeX) – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 09:11
  • @NickolasPeterO'Malley Points (pt) would be the preferred way to go in most cases.. see here for a discussion about points – greyshade Dec 17 '14 at 09:14
  • 1
    @NickolasPeterO'Malley The default value is 1px=1bp (and 72bp=1in). But px can be set on a document basis, so its value is not predictable. – egreg Dec 17 '14 at 09:14
  • Ah cool, good to know. I'll use bp instead! – Nick Dec 17 '14 at 09:17
  • 2
    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about a problem due to the printer driver – egreg Jan 03 '15 at 22:08

0 Answers0