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Asked: 2011-07-20 15:18:01 +0800 CST

Printing PDF-files via network extremely slow

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I encounter grave problems trying to print PDF-files, no matter whether I use Evince, Okular or any other linux program. The Documents are printed extremely slowly or even completely fail to print at all. I have tried printing from various Ubuntu-Installations on different network-printers (canon and lexmark), with the same result. On the other hand the same files are printed swiftly through Windows, which is a pity, since I do not want to use Windows.

Are there any solutions?

Thanks in advance!

printing

2 Answers

  1. Just for people to who it would also happen: I had the same problem, and in my case the solution was also to change the driver: more precisely change my footmatic/pxl color driver to the footmatic/postscript equivalent.

    My printer was a Sharp MX-2300N, and the "Generic PCL5e printer" only enabled to print in grey scale, so I really had to stay on the manufacturer drivers.

    Well, actually I have no idea why it worked, I just did it because an other printer on the network had also a postscript driver and was working perfectly well...

    What's actually the difference between postscript and pxl drivers?

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  2. Best Answer

    Here are a few suggestions to try:

    • use xpdf: i.e. xpdf <document name> should automatically direct to your default printer
    • if its a laser printer try adding a printer with using "Generic" as the manufacturer, and "Generic PCL5e printer" as the model i.e. most lasers support PCL.
    • When printing - print to a file - give it a name and print to a .ps file. Then open up the .ps file. It should reopen in evince. This time print it again to your printer.

    source

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