Printing to PDF Goes to A4 Instead of Letter

Thanks for your response. Somehow I missed the notification message until now, so I didn't realize it was here.

I get that dialog box in Preview, and I am able to save Letter as the default size in Preview. However, the documents created before or after this process are still based on A4 paper size.

The H&R Block Page Setup dialog is more barebones:

Here I can choose my printer specifically. I can choose Letter instead of A4 and I can change "Scale" to 100%. Closing and reopening the Page Setup Dialog box, I see the changes are retained:

I can quite the application, then reopen it, and the Page Setup information is still correct. However, as soon as I try to print, it reverts to A4. Again, the H&R Block dialog for printing is very much barebones:

Hitting either "Preview & Print" or "Save as PDF" creates the PDF with A4 page sizes and resets the H&R Block application's page setup to A4 and 20%.

Preview (default PDF viewer currently) and Adobe Reader are willing to print the documents to Letter paper, but looking at the page previews (or printing) shows a big gap at the bottom of each page, i.e. the contents are A4. Adobe Reader's print dialog shows that explicitly ("Document: 8.3 x 11.7"):

Only this application and the NMR software application are showing this love of A4 paper, and both of these use (or are written in) Java, which may be where the problem lies. Java is version 8, update 111 (1.8.0_111-b14). I have looked around in the Java dialogs, but don't see anything that looks helpful for this.

Thanks again,

Dan

I just spent another 1:15 on the phone with H&R Block technical support. I also pointed them to this thread, and the supervisor read it.

At this point they believe "It's a Mac issue," rather than a problem with their software. They still say they have no other reports of the problem. Also, they apparently have no Macs to test it on themselves, so:

• If you are reading this because you have this problem, please add your name to the thread/list.
• If you are having this problem, please call their "Digital Escalations Department" at 866-606-3400 so they will see it's not just me. :) (It took about 20 min to get through on that number today.
• They are "opening a case" on this, so if they hear from others, it should help.

One other thing we tried today: My disk image was purchased/downloaded in December (date stamp Dec 1, 2018). On my request the support rep sent me a link to download the newest version. I did so and installed it; however, the problem remains the same.

If my state rejects my shrunken paper return, I'll go with the PDF cropping. :)

Thanks for the helpful comments/suggestions.

Dan

I just installed the application on my laptop (10.13.6) and with a fresh, blank return, the application still creates PDFs with A4 pages and ignores/resets the Page Size selected in Page Setup within the application.

So it doesn't look like a Mac/config issue as much as an H&R Block issue. When I called their support line a week ago, the person I spoke to had no information about anyone else having the problem. I don't think she had ever seen a Mac, either. :)

Dan

That dialog (in Text Edit or Preview) doesn't allow removal of any of the standard sizes. The only options involved adding new, custom sizes.

I changed default page size in the System Settings for printers from Letter to A5 (i.e. not to A4). This did not affect the page size for PDFs from the H&R Block Application nor the persistence of the A4 size in the Page Setup dialog within that application.

I changed the page size in the Page Setup dialog box of H&R Block to other, European and US sizes, but A4 stubbornly remains the favorite.

Dan

Well, my workaround was to E-file the federal. Hoping my state will accept the wrong-sized printout. Printing out my hardcopies for filing is a little ugly, but workable.

It's a mystery to me why the H&R Block software even supports printing to A4, let alone insists upon it. It's not like any US authority uses that size for forms. :)

Dan

Richard,

I tried printing in the Block application in all the allowed ways. It always jumps back to A4 and 20%. Please do follow up with their "Digital Escalations Department" at 866-606-3400 so they will see it's a real problem. Otherwise, they'll probably have the same issue next year, too.

Cheers,

Dan

Correct. None of the standard sizes appear in the list in the Manage Custom Sizes dialog box. It is simply a blank list until an actual custom size is defined. My account does have admin privileges.

Dan

P.S. I also uninstalled Java, which had no effect on the problem.

I removed (to desktop):

com.apple.print.custompresets.forprinter.TheFrogPrints.plist

com.apple.print.custompresets.forprinter.HP_Photosmart_C3100_series.plist

Still not able to modify or delete and of the preset page sizes:

H&R Block application retains its fondness for the A4 page size.

Dan