Not sure if I have the right forum for this . . . .
I have a large page (60cmx45cm) in pdf format.
My printer (HP B110a)can only print A4 pages.
What I’d like to know is if there is a possible way from within Okular (or HPcups) to have the document split and printed out onto A4 pages ready to be taped together once printed.
I have heard in windows acroread that there is a print tile option that will do this function.
I think Okular’s options are limited - ‘no multiple pages per sheet’ ability AFAIU. I agree that it would be a useful feature though, and I’m sure there will be some indirect workaround. I’ll watch this thread for suggestions, and see if I can dredge up possible alternative solutions if none are forthcoming…
I’ve only come across this as a draft option in xfig; in the UK we have copy shops that will print out large documents if you take them the file on a USB stick. If such options exist in Japan, you may find that quicker and easier than trying a software alternative.
This operation is traditionally carried out in the postscript realm with poster (which is in openSuSE distros). There is also pdfposter.py (http://pdfposter.origo.ethz.ch/), which you may find a useful pre-processor.
I read you think that acroread does this on anolther OS, but I do not read that you tested acroread on openSUSE. Or must it be Ocular for some reason? I would use what works.
As a crude, quick and dirty workaround, I’d import the PDF in GIMP, with a resolution near that of the printer (this will change the PDF into a huge bitmap), then split the image in four and print each one separately.
Now if I had to do this frequently I’d look for a more efficient way, perhaps using imagemagik (or something similar) cmdline utils - one to convert pdf to bitmap and another to split the image.
Further to eng-int’s advice about pdfposter, I note that its available (openSUSE RPM package) from here:
software.opensuse.org: Search Results
Nice article:
Print large pdfs over multiple pages easily in Linux with pdfposter
FWIW, I downloaded pdfposter from the openSUSE python repo, then tested an A4 pdf image (test.pdf) using
pdfposter -s2 test.pdf output.pdf
This particular option enlarges an inputfile exactly 2 times, prints on the default A4 media, and lets pdfposter determine the number of pages required.
Upon inspecting output.pdf, I found a 6 page document produced.
(Type ‘info pdfposter’ for more options).