I was recently having an issue where everything I printed was very, very small. I looked over all the printer settings and I could not find anything that could be changed to fix the issue. As such, I reverted to the CLI to fix the issue. Read on to learn some helpful CLI commands if you run into this issue.
First, let’s see what printing devices are available and configured:
$ > lpinfo -v serial fax serial fax://dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem network http network https network ipp network ipps network lpd network socket network smb network canonijnetwork network canonijnetwork://Canon/MG5500%20series?f4.82.29.85.a5.f6
Next, let’s see the options set for the configured devices:
$ > lpoptions copies=1 device-uri=canonijnetwork://Canon/MG5500%20series?f4.82.29.85.a5.f6 finishings=3 job-cancel-after=10800 job-hold-until=no-hold job-priority=50 job-sheets=none,none marker-change-time=1424632870 marker-colors=#D945DD,#2C2C2C,#DFD31D,#101010,#39D2E7 marker-levels=90,90,90,90,90 marker-names=ink1421402,ink5125102,ink1321302,ink1121102,ink1521502 marker-types=inkCartridge,inkCartridge,inkCartridge,inkCartridge,inkCartridge number-up=1 printer-commands=PrintSelfTestPage,ReportLevels printer-info='Canon MG5500 series (f4.82.29.85.a5.f6)' printer-is-accepting-jobs=true printer-is-shared=false printer-location printer-make-and-model='Canon MG5500 series' printer-state=3 printer-state-change-time=1424632974 printer-state-reasons=com.canon.ijprinter-head-job-0,com.canon.ijprinter-head-id-2-type-434C,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-job-0,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-indicator-on,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-num-5,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-M-full-level-90-info-full-name-CLI-251XL-position-1,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-PBK-full-level-90-info-full-name-CLI-251XL-position-2,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-Y-full-level-90-info-full-name-CLI-251XL-position-3,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-BK-full-level-90-info-full-name-PGI-250XL-position-4,com.canon.ijprinter-ink-C-full-level-90-info-full-name-CLI-251XL-position-5,com.canon.ijprinter-eid-job-0,com.canon.ijprinter-eid-low-0-out-0-unknown-0,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-job-0,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-num-9,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-prevent-paper-abrasion-off,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-silent-end-time-0700,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-dry-wait-level-3,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-auto-power-on-off,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-silent-off,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-silent-start-time-2100,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-auto-power-off-15,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-prevent-double-feed-off,com.canon.ijprinter-setting-plain-paper-feeder-feeder2 printer-type=77631516 printer-uri-supported=ipp://localhost/printers/Canon_MG5500_series__f4_82_29_85_a5_f6_
Hmm, that is not so human-readable. Let’s fix that:
$ > lpoptions -l ColorModel/Color Model: *RGB16 CNIJProfileID/ProfileID: *1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Resolution/Output Resolution: 300x300dpi *600x600dpi PageSize/PageSize: Letter Letter.FullBleed Legal A5 A4 A4.FullBleed B5 *4x6 4x6.FullBleed 5x7 5x7.FullBleed 8x10 8x10.FullBleed 89x127mm 89x127mm.FullBleed Postcard Postcard.FullBleed DoublePostcard Env10 EnvDL EnvYou4 98x190mm Custom.WIDTHxHEIGHT
PageSize of 4×6?! That might be a problem. Let’s fix that:
$> sudo lpadmin -p "Canon_MG5500_series" -o PageSize="8x10"
Bingo, printing now works! I cannot remember the last time I had to use lp commands. Things you take for granted given automatic drivers nowadays. Later I discovered an updated driver for my printer on Mac, which also addressed the issue.
© 2015, Steve Flanders. All rights reserved.
