I'd assume that if you're passing the PDF directly to lpr, it's getting parsed by ghostscript for printing. If you print it from one of the GUI viewers, it's likely generating Postscript out of the PDF file, possibly applying some changes for page size, scaling & orientation, and feeding that generated PS to lpr. Somewhere in that process, it's generating PS that the printer doesn't like.
I'd think the first thing to try would be to look at print options or printer setup in the GUI viewer of choice. See if any of those options affect things. Also look at the CUPS printer configuration and its print options. These will vary depending on the version and the printer type, but if anything there helps, it's worth exploring. If anywhere gives you the choice of limiting the Postscript language level used (assuming the printer supports Postscript directly), that's worth trying out. I've seen printers that claim to support level 3 or level 2, but work more reliably with a level one below what they claim to support.
Failing that, then yeah, probably try other GUI viewers that might be more reliable or offer more control over how they print.
On 05/15/2015 12:27 AM, Trevor Cordes wrote:
I'm trying to print a 2-page tax-form-like file to a (fairly) modern Lexmark E360 printer, using modern CUPS on Linux. If I print it from evince or xournal PDF viewers, it prints some of page one, then prints a printer error (probably a PS error) on page 2. If I print it from lpr on the command line, it prints out fine! The GUI viewers have no problems printing out other PDFs from what I've tested so far. This setup has no problems printing emails from Thunderbird nor documents from oowriter. This is the first issue I've run into since setting it up a year ago.
What could the GUI viewers be doing differently compared to lpr? They both are using cups, after all. Should I try more GUI viewers? I need a working GUI option since the user is not command line savvy.
I already checked I had the newest firmware for the printer. I can't recall how I originally got the CUPS driver for it, but I can probably check that for newness as well.
Thanks!