[thelist] Does Safari consistently print at 3/4 size?

[Felix Miata]

On 2009/07/29 10:41 (GMT+0100) Barney Carroll composed:

> I've been requested to produce an HTML coupon to be printed out by the user
> and redeemed in stores. The coupon is to feature (among other things)
> resolution-sensitive elements such as small-print Ts&Cs and a barcode, and
> the client is adamant that the coupon itself end up at A5 size (148 x 210
> mm). I'm aware that HTML is an unusual, unpredictable and generally
> inadvisable format for print, but in this particular circumstance it's a
> moot point.

> Using a high-resolution image with print-specific styles setting the
> dimensions in mm, I have managed to produce consistent results across the
> board (on standard settings, with my specific PC, with my specific printer)
> — except in Safari.

> Safari (using the same print dialogue settings) seems to print everything at
> 3/4 size — including the header and footer data (title, date/time, url, page
> #), as if its prerogative was to produce huge margins.

> I was wondering if anybody knew with any certainty or a bit more practice
> whether this was standard behaviour for Safari — ie, would it be worth my
> while to set dimensions to 133.33% for Safari only?

I don't know for a fact, but I'm guessing your testing desktop may not be at
96 DPI resolution, but somewhere around 120 or upwards. Safari is built on
WebKit, which is locked to 96 DPI regardless of actual resolution, and most
likely the same for print. I filed
https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18001 about its bad point sizes, plus
a corresponding Apple bug directly on Safari.

NAICT, this behavior is not actually unique to Safari, as on Linux I run
higher than actual 96 DPI, where I have a problem with Fedex shipping labels
always printing undersize, approximately as you describe. You may do well to
do more testing after playing with your own screen settings, and likely will
find a more widespread non-WYSIWYG printing problem.
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Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/