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Printer paper size changes on the printer

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When printing 4x6 labels on a LP2844 Thermal printer I have to manually go to the properties and change the size to 4x6 and 0 for the margins.

I then have to print to an HP 8710 printer and I have to go to the printer properties (in the print window) and change the printer paper from 4x6 to Letter.

When I go to print labels again I have to go through the same process.

I have the defaults set to what they should be for the LP 2844 as well as the HP printer.

This issue does not occur in other browsers tested (Chrome and IE)

When printing 4x6 labels on a LP2844 Thermal printer I have to manually go to the properties and change the size to 4x6 and 0 for the margins. I then have to print to an HP 8710 printer and I have to go to the printer properties (in the print window) and change the printer paper from 4x6 to Letter. When I go to print labels again I have to go through the same process. I have the defaults set to what they should be for the LP 2844 as well as the HP printer. This issue does not occur in other browsers tested (Chrome and IE)

All Replies (4)

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Here are the screenshot showing the defaults as well as the settings via Firefox for both printers.

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That is all the printer software driver settings FF only uses what is given to it from the Printer software. Also Windows 10 remembers the last printer and settings unless you disable this feature.

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@WestEnd - I would tend to agree with you BUT - If I print the same items in adobe acrobat I do not have this problem. It ONLY happens in firefox.

In Adobe or any other program I use for that matter if I make a change to the page size or margins it does not change it for a completely different printer. those print sizes are never used on for the HP printer nor have they ever been selected. and same goes for the LP2844 printer as well.

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bfarinella said

In Adobe or any other program I use for that matter if I make a change to the page size or margins it does not change it for a completely different printer. those print sizes are never used on for the HP printer nor have they ever been selected. and same goes for the LP2844 printer as well.

Printing in Firefox can't be compared to any other application that I have ever used on a Windows operating system; other than DOS applications when Windows still had an underlying DOS which was easily accessed. back in the days before WinXP or thereabouts.

Printing in Firefox is very crude (IMO), the basic "module" dates back over 20 years to the original Netscape and really needs to be completely re-written from scratch. IMO, it has the lowest priority and is something that I have struggled with the first version of "Firefox" that I ever installed back in 2002, with Phoenix 0.3.

IMO, the issue it that Firefox defaults to "last used" settings for ALL Printers that are connected to the computer. IOW, when you change any preference - margins, paper sizes, etc - those setting will become the new default for all the printers. Firefox doesn't "save" setting like that per device, the settings get used by all printers.


That said, there is a "hidden pref" that might help you, by overriding the saving of those pref changes. Type about:config in the URL bar and hit Enter. Accept the warning.

print.save_print_settings is set by default to true

Double-click that pref to toggle it to false and restart Firefox.

Problem is that I suspect you will be unhappy with that modification. It's been awhile since I played with that pref, but I don't think that would be a usable "fix" when you change printers throughout the day.


IMO, the best fix (with Firefox) is to use a separate Profile for each different printer that you may need to use. Or just use a different web browser for that label printer.

I once did the separate Profiles thing, so that I could save printer settings for each of my two printers in separate Profiles to save having to remember to change the settings each time I changed to the other printer - but it became a royal pain very quickly. And I went back to just opening a different web browser when I needed to switch to a different printer when I needed to print pages for my DayTimer which needed 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" paper sizes. The online portal for the company I was with at that time (mid 00's) where I kept management apprised of my client visit schedule as it was changed. And that was after I ranted about supporting Firefox in addition to Internet Explorer for their web portal; which in the end turned out to be "wasted clout" with a VP.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data