Specify Paper Size for PostScript Output

You can specify a Ghostscript-supported page size from the Ghostscript command line or define paper sizes in a device translation table.

1. Create a new printer device translation table or modify an existing one.

   For example, the device translation table P_X11 in library USYS defines the following modes:

   A4 mode_0(0,100)
   A4 mode_1(0,100)[2,1]
   A4 mode_2(0,50)
   A4 mode_3(0,50)[2,1]
   Letter mode_4(0,100)
   Letter mode_5(0,100)[2,1]
   Letter mode_6(0,50)
   Letter mode_7(0,50)[2,1]

   There is no A2 paper size defined, so to print to paper size A2, copy P_X11 under another name, such as P_X11A2, and modify the modes (in the BEGIN_DEVICE section) with the desired paper name, for example, for A2:

   BEGIN_DEVICE
   ^000			cursor(0,0)	cursor posit command
   A2			mode_0(0,200)
   A2			mode_1(0,200)[2,1]
   A2			mode_2(0,100)
   A2			mode_3(0,100)[2,1]

2. On Unix, you can add the new paper size to the [papers] section of psdef.txt. The syntax is:

   PaperName: WidthHeight (in millimeters)

   For example:

   [papers] 
   A5: 148.5 210.0 
   A4: 210.0 297.0 
   A3: 297.0 420.0 
   A2: 420.0 594.0 
   Letter: 215.9 279.4 
   Legal: 215.9 355.6 

3. Otherwise, specify a page size in the Ghostscript command line:
   • Use the -sPAPERSIZE=PaperSIze switch.

     If the desired paper size is listed in the table of paper sizes supported by Ghostscript (below), you can select it as the default paper size for a single invocation of Ghostscript by using the -sPAPERSIZE switch, for example, -sPAPERSIZE=a4 or -sPAPERSIZE=legal.

   • Use the -dDEVICEWIDTHPOINTS=w and -dDEVICEHEIGHTPOINTS=h switches, where w is the desired paper width in points (1/72-inch units) and h is the desired paper height in points.

   For example, for the new A2 paper size, use -sPAPERSIZE=a2.

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