How to print fonts correctly with Firefox under Linux?

June 11, 2006 5:27 AM

How can I print fonts correctly with Firefox under Linux?

For the longest time, Firefox, Mozilla, etc. wouldn't print boldface. After upgrading to Firefox 1.5.x recently, it will now print text in boldface but not italic. I used to use a PostScript utility called wprint to cope with this, but configuration was a pain, and wprint seems to have vanished anyway.

Can someone cite a few simple steps (software to install, etc.) to fix this behaviour? My current setup is Knoppix 4.0 (mixed Debian), KDE, CUPS. I'm printing to a non-PostScript LaserJet 4si. Workarounds I've tried include printing from Konqueror and OpenOffice.org; these are unsatisfactory in different ways. If I could fix FireFox, that would be ideal.

Thanks in advance for your help.

posted by rwhe to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Since I've never heard of this behavior, my best guess is that you're printing with a font that doesn't have boldface or italic versions. If you look in Firefox's preferences, the Advanced fonts dialog, what fonts have you chosen? And do you have "Allow webpages to choose their own fonts" checked?

Try choosing a different font and printing a page with italics and boldface.
posted by jellicle at 5:55 AM on June 11, 2006

Brilliant! Thanks, jellicle.

Er, while I've got you on the line, any idea why Firefox 1.5 won't print through kprinter anymore? It completely skips the kprinter step, which makes printing n-up a pain. Preferences seem to have nothing to do with this, unfortunately.
posted by rwhe at 6:15 AM on June 11, 2006

Voila.

Note that there are also several other print_command variables which you can switch. You might have to change not the print.postscript.print_command, but instead the one for your particular printer.
posted by jellicle at 7:22 AM on June 11, 2006

Merci bien. I see that there are a few other printer settings to fool with too. I'd like not to have to manually select PostScript, but I'll take it from here.
posted by rwhe at 7:57 AM on June 11, 2006