top margin option for lp

[Ernie De Guzman]

Does anyone know an option to specify a top margin when using "lp"? I have been reading a lot about the PCL5 printer language and I am not sure if I am on the right track. Thanks.

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Hi Debbie:

The answer to that question depends upon the 'interface' file for your particular printer.
cd /var/spool/lp/interface
There should be an interface file with the same name as your print queue. e.g. myprinter
Typically this script calls another script /var/spool/lp/interface/model.orig/myprinter.
If you examine these interface file, you will find many options that you can send to the lp command. For example, if your printer uses the net_lj4x script (it well be renamed 'myprinter') then top margin is set by -o tm3 to skip down 3 lines.

e.g.
lp -dmyprinter -tm3 myfile

If another printer model is used you may well use another option to do the same thing. The key is to examine the interface and see what options it supports. In the worst case, you can add your own -o option to set top margin. Many interface files support the the -o options option to list the supported options.

This should get you started, Clay