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From: Helge Blischke <h.blischke@acm.org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: Printing two A5 pages to A4
Followup-To: comp.lang.postscript
Date: Fri, 04 May 2012 20:44:32 +0200
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Gerhard Trummer wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I'm trying to print two A5 pages to A4 sheet (landscape), but it doesn't
> work as expected.  Here is my test source:
> 
> $ cat a5.ps
> %!PS-Adobe-3.0
> %%BoundingBox: 0 0 420 595
> %%Creator: GNU Emacs
> %%Pages: 8
> %%EndComments
> 
> %%BeginProlog
> << /PageSize [420 595] >> setpagedevice
> /SetFont {/Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont} def
> /Frame {
>     1 1 moveto 418 0 rlineto
>     0 593 rlineto
>     -418 0 rlineto
>     closepath stroke
> } def
> %%EndProlog
> 
> %%Page: 1 1
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (1) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 2 2
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (2) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 3 3
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (3) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 4 4
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (4) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 5 5
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (5) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 6 6
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (6) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 7 7
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (7) show
> showpage
> 
> %%Page: 8 8
> /Helvetica-Bold findfont 288 scalefont setfont
> Frame
> SetFont 72 72 moveto (8) show
> showpage
> 
> %%EOF
> 
> It produces 8 pages A5 and is displayed as expected. But if I try to
> print it:
> 
> $ lpr -P PDF -o "number-up=2 number-up-layout=lrtb page-set=odd" a5.ps
> 
> The media is A4 and landscape, but the two A5 pages are to small. It
> seems Ghostscript thinks the original format is A4 not A5. I suppose my
> source is wrong, but I can't figure out why.
> 
> What I really want to achieve is to produce the following output with a
> small script:
> 
> | 1 3 | 5 7 |
> | 8 6 | 4 2 |
> 
> in two batches, because my inkjet has no duplex printing and I'd like to
> print two A5 pages (double-sided) on one A4 sheet and cut the pages in
> half in the end. I use CUPS 1.5.2 and Ghostscript 9.05 on Linux. Can
> anybody give me a clue?
> 
> 
> G.

I assume you are using CUPS as the print spooler.
printing with the number-up option is implemented by scaling down the pages 
to be printed, i.e. with number-up=2, the pages are scaled down by sqrt(2).

To get your problem solved, you have two choices:
(1) set up your pages for A4 size and - if needed - make sure to print full 
bleed.
(2) program your imposition in PostScript (which is much mor an effort).

Helge