Paper size always defaults to wrong size

Question

Paper size always defaults to wrong size

Recently I printed a few disk labels on my inkjet (Canon). Now, whenever I go to print something (on any printer) from applications such as Preview and Safari - ie where the document doesn't have explicit paper size information attached - the print settings dialog comes up with the "Other" CDR sized paper as the default setting. It's a real pain to have to change it every time I print a page.

I can't seem to find anywhere to change this setting back to a more "reasonable" size. Obviously my CD label printing software (Canon CD Label-print) has made some 'hard coded' change to the default paper size setting but I'm not sure where it is.

Note that the change has affected all my printers. It hasn't affected applications such as Pages or OO - since in these you can't change the paper size in the print dialog anyway.

macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 27, 2010 6:49 PM

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Answer 1

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Apr 27, 2010 7:56 PM in response to william thorpe

I have never seen CD LabelPrint change the default paper size setting for any other application, so I wonder how this could be occurring with your setup.

The Paper Size setting in the print dialog of Preview and Safari respond to the 'Default paper size' in System Preferences > Print & Fax. Even with the Default printer set to my MP980, I don't see any Other size in the paper list. Can you confirm what your 'Default paper size' is set to and what 'Default printer' is to in Print & Fax.

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Answer 2

Apr 27, 2010 9:27 PM in response to PAHU

Yes, in system preferences, the default printer is 'Brother 7820N' and default paper size is 'A4'.

In Preview and Safari get paper size 'Other' - 13.57 x 25.57. I think that's the size of the CDR tray on the Canon.

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Answer 3

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Apr 27, 2010 10:20 PM in response to william thorpe

Well, that size is certainly the dimensions of the CD tray, although you can only print on a portion of that tray where the CD sits (which is 12cm in diameter). Again, with reference to my MP980, which is using the latest v10.30.3.0 driver, that size is not displayed in the Paper Size menu. You only see the entry for the 'CD-R tray G'.

It is unusual that you see this Other size in the Paper Size menu with the Brother selected. Can you reply with the model of Canon you have. Can you also open Print & Fax, select Options & Supplies and under the General tab, confirm the driver version of the Canon. And finally, under the Driver tab, can you reply with the Print Driver being used.

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Answer 4

Apr 28, 2010 1:38 PM in response to PAHU

I may have found some information that will show why this is occurring. I happened to print something out from Gimp, and in the Page Setup menu you can set the paper size "For any printer". So I set it to A4. Now, both Preview and Safari show A4 as the default page size (at least, after restarting).

Just to check this, I went back to CD-LabelPrint, and in the Page Setup menu the Paper Size was back to A4. Changing that back to CD-R tray for the Canon 865 and then "Save as Default" changed it back to "Other" for Preview.

So these two apps are changing something in the system that is affecting all printers. It only affects Preview and Safari after they're restarted. And it does do something to the Default Paper size in the system preferences - it reset it to US Letter. Changing it to a4 there doesn't change what happens in Preview or Safari.

Well that's solved my immediate problem. Suggests there might be some competing settings in the system however that are not quite behaving as they should...

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Answer 5

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Apr 28, 2010 5:54 PM in response to william thorpe

Definitely sounds like something is amiss with your Mac. Using v1.81 of CD LabelPrint on OS X 10.6.3, I cannot get the same results as you have.

With my Print & Fax > Default Paper Size set to A4, I opened CD LabelPrint. Checking the Page Setup, it showed that my MP980 was set as the formatting printer and the paper size was set to the CD Tray.

With CD LabelPrint still open I then opened a document in Preview and when I select to print I can see in the print dialog that the Paper Size is still A4.

If I go back to Page Setup in CD LabelPrint and in the Settings tab select 'Save As Default' I do find that the Default paper size in Print & Fax has changed to US Letter, but the Paper Sizes in Preview and Safari are still at A4. (Not sure why you are using the Safe As Default setting here - it is not needed). This was even after closing the apps and restarting. Note that the setting would impact the paper size for newly created documents which is not what I am doing here - I am opening existing documents.

With all applications closed, I then change the Default paper size in Print & Fax back to A4. I then open CD LabelPrint again. On the top right corner of the application it shows the MP980 set as the printer. And when opening Page Setup, the MP980 is still the formatting printer and CD Tray is the paper size.

So, I am not sure if your i865 driver is the cause or your CD LabelPrint application. Like I said earlier, I am using v1.81 of CD LabelPrint which is listed as supporting Snow Leopard. I also have v10.30.3.0 of the MP980 printer driver. Checking the Supported Printers page for Snow Leopard, the same v10.30.3.0 is available for your i865, so I suggest you ensure you also are using this latest driver.

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Answer 6

Satchmo

Level 4

1,348 points

May 2, 2010 12:42 PM in response to william thorpe

I was having a similar problem. In Safari and Mail the page kept defaulting to #10 Envelope/Landscape after I used the EasyEnvelopes widet by Ambrosia. I tried every sort of fiddle, but nothing worked until I zapped the pram.

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Answer 7

May 2, 2010 6:10 PM in response to PAHU

I updated to 1.8.1 of CD-LabelPrint, and the same behaviour continues. It is definitely the "Save as default" option on that Page Settings - in fact whatever paper size I set the default to be in CD-LabelPrint becomes the 'default' for Preview and Safari.

So I can fix the original problem, but if you are not being able to replicate this then presumably there is some underlying issue going on.

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Answer 8

Satchmo

Level 4

1,348 points

May 11, 2010 4:44 AM in response to william thorpe

Did you try resetting the pram?

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