Cannot Print Multiple Pages Per Sheet on PostScript Printer (239592)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Windows 98
This article was previously published under Q239592

SYMPTOMS

When you print from a program that uses Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) to send a print job to the printer, choosing to print multiple pages per sheet may still result in just one page being printed per sheet.

CAUSE

The PostScript version 5 driver does support "N-up" printing (printing multiple pages on one sheet), but EPS Printing Applications may bypass the necessary setting by sending raw PostScript code with POSTSCRIPT_PASSTHROUGH. This effectively bypasses the operating system's settings.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, try using a Printer Control Language (PCL) driver for the printer.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The ability to add and print multiple pages to a single sheet of paper is an option available with most PostScript drivers, although Windows did not incorporate this feature until Windows 2000. If you are using an EPS Printing Application and printing to a PostScript printer, you may be unable to increase the number of pages per sheet. Some common programs known to use EPS printing as their normal print method include:
  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • CorelDraw
FreeHand and QuarkXPress are not EPS Printing Applications, but they use pass-through PostScript data, which strips the "N-up" configuration, so they exhibit this behavior also. The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/17/2004
Keywords:kb3rdparty kbprb kbprint KB239592
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