Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins

A lot of my clients found printing in Word v.X cuts off their documents at the bottom of the page, while OS 9 had no cut off problems. Looks like Apple sets the bottom margin to be 1.45cm for the "Any Printer" setting, which bypasses anything set by applications like Word.

To fix this, you need to use your favourite text editor to modify the system file /System -> Library -> Frameworks -> ApplicationServices.framework -> Versions -> A -> Frameworks -> PrintCore.framework -> Versions -> A -> Resources -> PaperInfo.xml.

Open Terminal
Type:
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/ cd Versions/A/Frameworks/PrintCore.framework/Versions/A/Resources/
Type sudo cp PaperInfo.xml PaperInfo.xml_backup, then enter your password.
Type sudo pico PaperInfo.xml.
Hit Control-W to search, and enter A4 as the search string, then hit return.
Press the down arrow until you see this line, which is the setting for the bottom margin:
7.830000000000000e+02
Change 7.83 to 8.06.
Hit Control-O to save, and hit return to accept the filename and save.
Type Control-X to exit.
Type exit to close the Terminal.

Now let's see if it works...

Open any application you can print from.
Select Page Setup from the File Menu.
Click on the pop-up menu Settings and select Summary.

You should see the bottom margin is the same all round.

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Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: cello on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 11:42AM PDT

I think there's one step missing: between 3 and 4 should be:

3.5: Type:

pico PaperInfo.xml

... or any other editor of your choice, but then the shortcuts will be different!

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: phil4u2 on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 11:58AM PDT

actually,


sudo pico PaperInfo.xml

and then enter your admin password

You need to be root to be able to modify the file...

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: tetsuo_ on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 2:11PM PDT

Well, if you've already made the backup copy via sudo, you actually shouldn't be asked for the password a second time (in the same terminal "session")... ;-)

Anyway, great hint!!!

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: mkennard20 on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 5:47PM PDT

It was there, actually it should be
3. sudo pico PaperInfo.xml

I added a 2.1 to do a backup. Somehow it must have been removed accidently. Very important line.

And for US Letter
Authored by: riki on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 2:38PM PDT

For US Letter (na letter) fix: substitute "Letter" for "A4" in the search, move down and change 7.34 to 7.56

Thanks, I have been wrestling with this one for a year!

Top 3" cut off of Legal Size
Authored by: multmin on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 9:55PM PDT

Since one of the recent OS X updates, I have no longer been able to print legal sized docs from my HP Laserjet 1200. The top 3 inches or so are cut off, and the bottom 3" of the sheet is blank.

Any suggestions on a fix?

Thanks.

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: emarmite on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 4:41PM PDT

Very good hint, thanks very much!

Have you sent this to the Mac group at Microsoft? I'm sure they'd love to put this in the KB and help even more Mac users... :-|

Thanks

M.

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: mkennard20 on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 5:55PM PDT

I haven't, I sent it to apple, apple discussions, macfixit and here. You can add it to microsoft if you want. Don't forget to add the
3. sudo pico PaperInfo.xml

michael

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: seann on Wed, Sep 17 2003 at 11:55PM PDT

Generaly, you should never use "Any Printer".
You should always format for: the printers name in the page setup dialog box. This generaly would resolve many printing problems.

Does not appear to work on 10.3
Authored by: bryang on Tue, Oct 28 2003 at 12:16AM PST

FYI. This hint does not appear to work on 10.3 (Panther). I actually haven't tried printing anything so it may be fixed in another way.

Minor change in Panther
Authored by: tetsuo_ on Tue, Oct 28 2003 at 5:18PM PST

The problem still exists in Panther—but the fix is almost the same! In the same XML file as described in the original hint look for the string iso-a4, then scroll down until you see the line <real>783</real>. Now change the '783' to '806' and that's it.

Fix any printer's default A4 paper margins
Authored by: matt_j_gray on Tue, Jan 6 2004 at 7:52PM PST

Further to this hint - if you want absolutely no margin at all (ie 0cm all round), change the numbers to 842 and 595, and a bit further down in the file change the -18s to 0.0, and the other numbers to 842 and 595.

It should now look like this in two places in the file:


<real>0.0</real>   
<real>0.0</real>
<real>842</real>
<real>595</real>

This might not work on all printers, but if you know your printer can print all the way to the edge, this should work.

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