Acrobat Pro DC and HP-Laserjet 4050 - Trouble with Postscript-Level

[kreien]

Hello,

the printer HP-Laserjet 4050tn is a bit older and therefore only supporting Postscript Level 2. That is the reason why I have use in Windows 10 in the settings "printer and scanner" -> "Advanced Document settings for HP Universal Printing PS (v6.9.0)" in the PostScript-Options "PostScript-Level 2" (in German: "PostScript-Sprachebene", see picture below).

Always when I want to print a PDF-Page in Acrobat Pro DC (2020.006.20034), I have to change manually in the printing dialogue in Acrobat in "Advanced printer settings" the PostScript-Setting from "Level 3" to "Level 2" (in German: "Druckmethode: Niveau 3", changing to "Niveau 2", see picture blow). Acrobat is not remembering the setting but other user defined settings.

Is there an idea, how I can specify PS-Level 2 correct and fix for the printer?

It seems that Acrobat is automatically deciding (wrong) which PostScript-Level is suitable. Even when I save a new used defined setting my preference PS-Level 2 is ignored (see "/PSLevel [/i 2]"):

<</ApplyOverprint [/b false]
/ApplySoftProof [/b false]
/ApplyWorking [/b false]
/BrokenCRD [/b false]
/ClipComplex [/b true]
/ColorHandling [/i 0]
/ConvTrueTypeToType1 [/b false]
/ConvertStrokesToOutlines [/b false]
/ConvertTextToOutlines [/b false]
/DestProfile [/s ()]
/DestProfileSelector [/i 1]
/DownloadAsian [/b true]
/EmitFlatness [/b true]
/EmitHalftones [/b false]
/EmitTransfers [/b true]
/EmitUCRBG [/b false]
/FlatSetOffset [/i 2]
/FontPolicy [/i 1]
/ForceHostCollation [/b false]
/GrayScale [/b false]
/LineWeight [/d 0.250000]
/MarksStyle [/i 0]
/MaxJP2KRes [/b true]
/Mirror [/i 1]
/Negative [/b false]
/PAIRes [/i 600]
/PDFormsAsPSForms [/b false]
/PSLevel [/i 2]
/PSVersion [/d 3010.107910]
/PresOverprint [/b true]
/PreservePrimariesCMYK [/b false]
/PreservePrimariesK [/b true]
/PrintAsImage [/b false]
/PromoteGrayToK [/b true]
/Tiling [/b false]
/TransparencyLevel [/i 100]
/TrapType [/i 0]
/TrueTypeAsT2 [/b false]
/WhatColors [/i 0]
/emitBleedMarks [/b false]
/emitColorBars [/b false]
/emitPageInfo [/b false]
/emitRegMarks [/b false]
/emitTrimMarks [/b false]
/hasMBOCG [/b false]
/hasSelection [/b false]
/isLexmark [/b false]
/printDPI [/i 1200]
/printGradDPI [/i 300]
/printWhat [/i 1]
/shrinkMe [/b true]
/trapAnnots [/b false]
>>

[Test Screen Name]

The PostScript level is _supposed_ to be taken from the printer PPD, installed by the driver. Maybe it is wrong there. Indeed, I have found a PPD for the 4050 and it does indeed say it is a level 3 printer (https://www.openprinting.org/ppd-o-matic.php?driver=Postscript&printer=HP-LaserJet_4050&show=1)

Why do you say it is level 2? Or is there a problem you can only solve by selecting this?

[kreien]

Thank you for the hint with the PPD. To answer the question why I say the HP 4050 is Postscript Level 2:

a) The HP data sheet says it so, see

http://cnyprint.com/4050%20datasheet.pdf

b) The HP User's Manual is also confirming it, see PDF-Page 24 in the document:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00656476.pdf

The successor model HP 4100 is supporting in deed Postscript Level 3, see data sheet:

https://www.nts.nl/site/html/modules/pdf/Printer/Laserjet_4100.pdf

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

On behalf of Adobe, confirming the response from Test_Screen_Name in terms of how Acrobat (and the printer driver) determine PostScript language level.

The Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 4050 is a very old (>20 years old) CloneScript printer (i.e., it “emulates” Adobe PostScript languge level 2).

Acrobat and the standard Windows PostScript driver PSCRIPT5.DLL determine the PostScript language level by reading the PPD file associated with the printer driver instance created when you install the driver.

I tried obtaining a copy of HP's latest driver for the LaserJet 4050. They currently have nothing posted and as such, there is no simple option of “installing the latest driver.”

What you could try doing is to edit the PPD file. Assuming that you are running a 64-bit verion of Windows, you can find the currently installed PPD files in directory C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64\3. Close all applications and make sure no printing is currently running. The appropriate PPD file for you printer probably starts off with HP in its name. Make a backup copy of that file and then open it with an ASCII text editor. Notepad should suffice. Look for a line that reads:

*LanguageLevel: "3"
Change the ‘3’ to a ‘2’ and save the file.

Then you need to delete the file with the same name but with the suffix .BPD.

Note editing and file manipulation that directory may require you to run as an administrator.

Reboot and then see if the driver shows the printer as PostScript language level 2.

Let us know if that solves the problem.

[kreien]

Indeed, the HP Laserjet 4050 is more than 20 years old, was in Germany introduced in the year 1999 (see https://www.channelpartner.de/a/hewlett-packard,611865). Near all spare parts are still available, the printer is wide-spread here, lots of this series HP Laserjet 4000 machines are still used in office environments or have a second life at home - like in my case.

Back to the problem: Thank you very much for the hint with editing the PPD-File. I was able to locate in the directory C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64\3 the file hpcu240s.ppd which belongs to the HP Laserjet 4050. (For others in the same situation: The filename is not self-explaining and the directory contains in my case 138 files, lots of filenames are starting with "hp". Using notepad++ and the search "find in files" was a great help.)

I have edited in hpcu240s.ppd *LanguageLevel: "3" to *LanguageLevel: "2" and deleted the hpcu240s.bpd. I have checked it out after rebooting and everything is fine now, the correct PS-Level 2 is now in Acrobat preset and the printer is working right away fine without manual editing the PS-Level.

Thank you so much for your great help.