Graphical printouts to file have incorrect margins and pagination in all programs tested

[keenerb]

Describe the bug

Using Printmaster, Printshop, or Windows 3.1 configured for Epson FX-80 or generic Epson always prints with pagination/margin errors.

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

1. Install Windows 3.1 and select an Epson printer (LQ or MX seem to have same issue.)
2. Open Write and print out the first page of any document
3. Observe the pagination issues with PNG/BMP/PS outputs

Expected behavior

I expect printout to be properly formatted

What operating system(s) this bug have occurred on?

Windows 11 22H2

What version(s) of DOSBox-X have this bug?

2023.05.01

Used configuration

printer     = true
dpi         = 360
width       = 85
height      = 110
printoutput = png
multipage   = false
device      = -
docpath     = .
fontpath    = FONTS
openwith    = 
openerror   = 
printdbcs   = auto
shellhide   = false
timeout     = 0

Output log

No response

Additional information

It looks like the aspect ratio is skewed on the printout, letters seem narrower and taller than they should be

Have you checked that no similar bug report(s) exist?

• [X] I have searched and didn't find any similar bug report.

Code of Conduct & Contributing Guidelines

• [X] I agree to follow the code of conduct and the contributing guidelines.

[maron2000]

Not a solution, but the it is recommended in the Wiki page to use Postscript printer for Win 3.x, and it seems to work fine. I printed README.WRI, and WINLOGO.BMP. The .ps file is converted to .pdf for better accessibility. Perhaps worth trying while waiting for a fix. krnl386_000.pdf krnl386_001.pdf

[keenerb]

The PS output does the same thing for me. Perhaps it's something on my end then?

[maron2000]

Looks like converting from .ps to .pdf isn't working. I use Acrobat distiller, but I tried online ps to pdf converters and works as well. krnl386_000.pdf krnl386_000.ps.txt

[rderooy]

You can try using a newer Adobe Postscript driver. For Windows 3.1x in particular, you can try the steps outlined here to get newer PostScript output: https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/wiki/Windows-3.1x#adobe-postscript-3-printer-driver

[rderooy]

Ohh and yes, as mentioned on the dosbox-x wiki page: https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide%3ASetting-up-printing-in-DOSBox%E2%80%90X and https://dosbox-x.com/wiki/Guide%3AInstalling-Windows-3.1x#_enabling_printing

The Epson emulation has known problems and can look rather poor. Nobody has touched that code in I don't know how long, so it is probably best to look for other options such as native PostScript output (not Epson to PostScript!)

[keenerb]

For what it's worth, I actually busted out my old Epson Actionprinter 3000 and duplicated the experiment.

The behaviour in dosbox-x is identical to what I see running the 24-pin Epson with a 9-pin driver selected in graphical mode...

[keenerb]

https://github.com/RWAP/PrinterToPDF

Seems to be a very functional and up-to-date EPson esc/P and esc/p2 to PDF converter, as used by the Retroprinter interface. Just in case someone wants to modernize the print emulator.