[NBLUG/talk] Printing PDF files - slow...

Ken McGlothlen mcglk at artlogix.net
Mon Apr 21 16:29:57 PDT 2008


Dave Sisley <dsisley at sonic.net> writes:

| I've run into a problem at work where there's a need to print PDFs, and 
| I never noticed how slow that can be for certain files.  [...]
| 
| I'm sure a big part of this is the size of the file.  A small test file
| printed fairly quickly, but I tried [...] Test file #1 was a 40-page
| document, 418.5 kb and took a half hour to print.  A few pages would print at
| a time, then a long pause, then more pages, etc.  Test file #2 was a 1-page
| document, 1.5 mb in size (graphics intensive) that took about 10-15 minutes
| to print.
| 
| The printer is an HP 1320 connected to the network [...] it has 16mb total
| memory, with 5.58 available.

Hi, Dave.

I assume we're talking about a LaserJet 1320, in which case it has the standard
amount of memory, and understand HP PCL 5 and 5e, and PostScript Level 2.

Off-hand, I don't think it's the printer.

I also suspect it isn't the files per se; after all, you're able to open them
efficiently, I assume.  Without knowing what's actually in the files, it's hard
to say, but the size of the files tells me that there's nothing particularly
aggressive about the contents.

This leads me to wonder about your print spooling.  It could be that the print
spooler is configured to send the PDFs to the printer as PCL files, and that
the PDFs are sufficiently complex to rasterize that it's bogging down the
spooler.  Are you using CUPS?  lpr?  And what is (if anything) doing the
rasterization?  GhostScript?

Do you have a way to export PostScript and send that directly to the printer?
That might be a useful test.

---Ken

-----
[Yes, I'm looking for work.  If you're looking for a Perl programmer or
Linux/Unix system administrator, drop me a line at mcglk at artlogix.net.  ---K]



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