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How do I get OS X to ask printer for custom paper size

I am printing postcards. These are 1/4 of a letter sheet, or 5.5" wide x 4.25" tall.


I have a commercial grade HP Laserjet 4350, and I've configured that size in its custom menu for tray 1 (the envelope feeder tray). The printer is happy.


I've also set a custom paper size in the MacOS, that I've called "Postcard Quarterpage" and I have that selected in the print dialog. In fact I made it default.


However, under Paper Handling, it says "Destination paper size: Suggested paper: US Letter" and this is greyed out. If I check "Scale to fit paper size" which I Do Not Want, then I can pick a variety of sizes. However my custom size is not in the list.


This happens on all applications, so it is definitely OS X Mountain Lion (latest patch).


Anyway, the upshot is MacOS requests US LETTER size from the printer, so the printer goes "Take this postcard stock out and gimme US LETTER". The printer can detect paper sizes. If I try to give it postcards anyway, it blows an error and won't print, which is what it should do.


How do I get OS X to tell the printer "Gimme 5.5x4.25" like I've instructed it?

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 27, 2013 9:56 AM

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3 replies

Jun 27, 2017 1:36 PM in response to Wolf Harper

Delayed response, but hopefully useful for people in the future who need an adequate response to this question.


If you've gotten to this point, you've done almost everything correctly.


1. Create and set Page Setup paper size to your custom dimensions.

2. load paper and "custom paper size" prompt on printer screen to your custom dimensions, set custom size as default

3. set "Printer..." dialog's paper size request to your custom dimension.


Where he went wrong on step 3 (the reason why the printer would switch to US letter) is because he must have flipped the custom dimensions for the "Printer..." dialog without realizing that it needed to match the other 2 steps identically.


The longest side when entering dimension must always be typed in the first box (X) and the shortest side typed into the second box (Y).

If the X and Y inputs do not match each other identically across the board, the communication is lost and the printer defaults to US Letter.

Aug 29, 2013 9:11 AM in response to Wolf Harper

Hi there Wolf!


I have a couple of articles here that I believe will help you out with your question. First, here is an article with some information on custom paper sizes:


OS X Mountain Lion: Manage custom paper sizes

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10748


Note that in that article, it states:

Custom paper sizes aren’t available for some printers.

The reason for that is because this is controlled by the driver for the individual printer. You will want to make sure you have the latest version of the printer driver installed on your computer. More information on this can be found in the following article:


Printer and scanner software available for download

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669


It might also be helpful to reset your printing system to see if that will resolve the issue. More information on this process can be found here:


Mac OS X: How to reset the printing system

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1341


Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.



-Braden

Jan 25, 2015 1:01 PM in response to braden85

I have a variation on this question for Yosemite. I use non standard size paper that has always printed with no issue. I yosemite, 12 x 18 paper cannot be recognized and the custom sized pages are greyed. I attempted to force the issue by reinstalling and setting 12 x 18 to default, but it printed out a fragment of the content of the PDF.


I am an architect and this is a serious issue for me. 12 x 18 is 1/2 size standard architectural sheets and why I purchased the 7500A HP officejet in the first place. As long as media exists, why would a driver not allow the printing, especially from a scalable PDF file, to a size not currently in it's list of paper sizes. Why is 12 x 18 not default anyway?

How do I get OS X to ask printer for custom paper size

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