[Xprint] GISWxprint-sparc-2004-07-07-release_009_001 Prints too large

[Jan Willem Stumpel]

Aleksander Adamowski wrote:

> This problem will return again and again regardless of the FAQ,
> because most users will never even know the existence of the
> FAQ (especially when Xprint starts to be shipped with Linux
> distros by default).

Well, yes, xprint's documentation is bad and also not easy to
find. But I've always wondered why this problem has to occur at
all. xprint generates PostScript, doesn't it? PostScript is a
universal language which is understood by all printers on Linux
systems, either natively or through ghostscript. And according to
what little I know about PostScript, there are commands like
moveto, scalefont, etc., which refer to sizes and distances in
absolute measures (like centimeters or typographical points) and
not to printer-specific "pixels" at all. Why can't xprint use
these exclusively? If it did, characters printed at 12 point size
would be 12 points, whatever printer happened to be used.
Enlightenment on this would be much appreciated.

Regards, Jan.