Printer Setup Defaults

[techLB3UZ]

How do I setup the printer so the settings are the Default for ALL schematic prints ?
Eg I setup the printer for A4, landscape, margins 6cm, then I print, save the schematic and close the file.
When I next open that file, the printer settings have ALL reverted to a "default" setting that needs changing EVERY time I do a print.
How do I make my changes the Default settings for ALL prints ?
using EAGLE 9.6.2 on Win11
sorry if this is repeated, this website keeps throwing away my comments.

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hello @techLB3UZ ,

No apologies needed. Unfortunately, there is no way to setup a default printer configuration. You have to setup the options every time you use it.

With the end of EAGLE having been announced this will not be improved. If you are open to trying it Fusion 360 has a drawings environment that can cover these needs and more. Additionally, since it is actively being developed there is a good chance the existing PRINT command will be improved there.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[C.Nicks]

While there is no way to set your own defaults , the PRINT command does offer a lot of ways to modify the settings with a shortcut or custom MENU item.

I personally use a command placed in my custom menu to setup the scale factor, size, paper, and file name for export.
That also allows me to use different commands when printing from the board file or the schematic.

In your case I do not think the PRINT command offers a way to control the margins from the command line.

To see all of the options open up the HELP, navigate to the "Editor Commands -> PRINT" section.

You can then build a command into a shortcut (ASSIGN) and use it to print with your settings every time (other than margins).

For reference here is the command I use when printing from the board.

SCRIPT presets; DISPLAY PDF; PRINT 1 -1 PAPER LETTER FILE %P/../Documents/%N.%E.pdf

First it runs a script with my layer presets (because it gets corrupted internally all the time).

It displays my layer alias for the layers I want printed.

Finally it issues the print command with a max 1 scale factor, limited to 1 page, sets the size to letter, then autofills the location.

Here are my commands used from the schematic (I use 2 regular sizes).

PRINT 2 -1 PAPER letter SHEETS all FILE %P/../Documents/%N.%E.pdf
PRINT 2 -1 PAPER tabloid SHEETS all FILE %P/../Documents/%N.%E.pdf

These do not change the layer visibility since I want everything I normal have visible included in the schematic.

Using these commands also have the added benefit that I do not have to browse to the location every time or have them exported in the same design file location. I have them put into a dedicated documentation folder which is one level up from the design files.

I hope this helps you get something figured out that can streamline the process a little bit using the tools and versions available.

Fyi, whenever I type something in all caps, that is a reference to an Eagle command that can be typed in the command line.

[techLB3UZ]

Thanks C.Nicks
Unfortunately, that's all way over my head...
What is PRINT command ? where do I run this command ?
what is custom MENU item ?
Some examples with filenames would help.
- techLB3UZ

[C.Nicks]

So first thing to understand is pretty much everything in Eagle can be run by typing commands.

PRINT is no exception. Essentially when you hit CTRL+P or print from the file menu it is issuing a PRINT command.

First off find the command line (big bar along the top edge of the editor window. Activate it by clicking, and type HELP.

That will pull up the help system. I'd recommend skim sections that seem interesting to get a feel for the format.

The section  "Editor Commands" covers everything you can type into the command line.

For you I would ignore the MENU for now, but essentially you can add a custom menu bar with any shortcuts/settings/ulps/commands you want including your own right-click context menu items. I use this system extensively and it's one of the major reasons I can't use Fusion. Note that learning in Fusion will be extremely hard because they do not have the HELP function.

For you I would work on creating a PRINT command that sets everything up as close as possible, then use the ASSIGN command to create a shortcut that runs it. Something like CTRL+ALT+P so it's similar to a standard print shortcut.

If you want to see some examples of how I setup my MENU and shortcuts you can checkout my github.

https://github.com/Funkton/Library/blob/master/SCR/Configure/MENU.scr

https://github.com/Funkton/Library/blob/master/SCR/Configure/SHORTCUTS.scr

[techLB3UZ]

Ok
I was able to enter the command PRINT 1 -1 LANDSCAPE;
Which worked Ok.
I then did a command ASSIGN CA+P 'PRINT 1 -1 LANDSCAPE';
Which did assign the Ctrl-Alt-P keys to bring up the print-window.
I edited the default-assign.scr file to add this command, but it doesn't load when I start a schematic.
How do I get the scripts to work ?

[C.Nicks]

The only scr file that should run automatically is the eagle.scr.
If you want default-assign to also run you can add it as a line in eagle.scr

If you take a look at mine toward the top you can see where I bring the
others in.
https://github.com/Funkton/Library/blob/master/SCR/eagle.scr

Once the shortcuts are setup in each editor you shouldn't need to repeat
though. ASSIGN should persist between opening and closing Eagle.

[techLB3UZ]

The only script files I have found are in C:\Program Files (x86)\EAGLE 9.6.2\examples\scripts\examples folder

-see attached copy of eagle.scr and default-assign.scr  (see line 61 added PRINT)

How does the Eagle program run these files ?
- typically examples are Not loaded by program, they need to be copied somewhere to be active ?

As far as I can tell, the first active line says “SCRIPT default-assign.scr”  which should load that script, but it doesn’t.

Ive found that the program saves edited-scripts into Documents\Eagle\scripts so I copied default-assign.scr into there, but it isn’t working…

- This is a tedious way to get an alias working…

-apologies for zip-file, Outlook complains about things called .scr

-colin

[C.Nicks]

I'm not sure where they put the stock eagle.scr file. It's been a long time since I've used stock locations.
From the control panel you can go to options -> Directories menu to see where it's looking for scr files.

Keep in mind you don't need to set the alias in a script file and can put it in directly using the ASSIGN command. Just be aware that each editor (board, schematic, library) has it's own set of shortcuts. Whatever editor is active when entering the ASSIGN command it will be active in.

[techLB3UZ]

Hmmmmm

My system doesn’t want to read those scripts in $HOME\EAGLE\scripts

Ive added “ASSIGN CA+P PRINT 1 -1 LANDSCAPE” to the default-assign.scr, read in by eagle.scr  - alias not found

Ive added “ASSIGN CA+P PRINT 1 -1 LANDSCAPE” to the eagle.scr  - alias not found

Ive edited eaglerc and Alias Found !

This is the most complicated “alias” method Ive ever used… or can NOT use in this case.

What is the secret method to get Eagle to Automatically use these scripts ?

Do I have to manually execute the scripts EVERY time, before I can use them ?

So,

I open a schematic and manually add the script.

I type in the alias command to print. (CA+P)

I EDIT the print command window to use margins of 6mm as default 3.5 is over-printing on my printer !

(because scripts do not have PRINT-MARGIN parameters !   & PRINT settings are NOT remembered ! )

Then I press PRINT.

Wow, what a complicated MESS just to print out 1 schematic.

And this HAS TO BE REPEATED FOR EVERY SCHEMATIC I WANT TO PRINT !!!!

EVERY TIME I OPEN A SCHEMATIC !!!!

Is this Really the preferred PRINTing procedure that Eagle expects people to use All the time ?

Seems to me like Eagle simply do not care what the user experiences.

Eagle Scripting and Printing are Broken and will Never be fixed.

( broken since V5.5 and now v9.6   - now broken forever)

Very disappointing.

-colin

[C.Nicks]

Yes the print system is not ideal, but you should not be having those issues with script files not reading.
Again you don't even need to use a script file to assign the shortcut. You should be able to manually enter it using the ASSIGN command (just type that into command line and it will pull up a dialog showing all shortcuts for the editor).
It should also remember anything added in the assign dialog upon reboot.

The only reason I keep all of my shortcuts in a script file is because there is no save/export feature. Back when I had to use multiple computers it was very difficult to keep them all synced up.
I have now since written a ULP that can export all shortcuts if anyone is interested.

[jorge_garcia]

Hey @C.Nicks,

I would be interested in checking out your shortcut ULPs. Thank you for your continued contributions.

Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[techLB3UZ · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the info.

My purpose for using alias/scripts was to overcome the inability of Eagle to remember the printer settings.

The default settings are very wrong, and I have to change them EVERY printout.

And No, the printer settings are NOT read on startup.

Who is able to print on paper with 3.5mm margins ?

Who wants to print an landscape-A4 on 2 portrait pages ?

I was hoping to get the scripts to “remember” my settings and install them EVERY time I open Eagle, so I did NOT have to set/type/change the settings in, EVERY time I open it.

Seems like a normal thing to do, but not Eagle, we just chuck all that user-stuff away.

Typing in an alias EVERY time I open the schematic is the same problem as changing the printer settings EVERY SINGLE TIME !!!!

As none of your suggestions have worked, and you havnt really understood my problem, I will give up on Eagle ever being user-friendly.

Modern support = problems are explained, not fixed.

yeh - not happy.

[C.Nicks]

Yes the default settings are not great, that's why I pointed you to creating a shortcut which corrects some of them.
We know the margins are not able to be set in the alias, but the rest of it should be set by using your shortcut, not the script file.
The script file just assigns your shortcut. You should be able to use the shortcut whenever printing and only need to adjust margins.

I just tested on my machine the margins are remembered between print commands and after restarting Eagle, so it seems you're setup has some different behaviors than mine. I used to do a lot of 1:1 prints and never remember having much issues with the settings.

[C.Nicks]

Good news!

I found a way to modify the printer margins from the command line.

While digging around in the eaglerc file I saw that the printer settings are contained in there. By issueing a SET command followed by the setting and value changed the settings the next time the printer dialog is opened.

It seems in your case there is an issue with your eaglerc file not being saved correctly.  I personally use a custom location for my cache file and also a unique file for each Eagle version. Depending on which operating system you're using there are different ways to launch the program with a custom file location.

For the printer settings you can now build the margin commands directly in your shortcut string.

Using your example above for 6cm margins, you can place this into a a scr file or you can copy the section in the single quotes and paste into the assigned command box within the ASSIGN new dialog.

ASSIGN CA+P 'SET Printer.Border.Bottom 600000; SET Printer.Border.Left 600000; SET Printer.Border.Right 600000; SET Printer.Border.Top 600000; PRINT 1 -1 LANDSCAPE';

[techLB3UZ]

Hi CNicks
Ill try that when I get chance.

Thanx for the followup 😊

[hibavelmet1234]

EAGLE does not save print settings (paper size, orientation, margins, etc.) with the schematic file. The print dialog typically uses the current printer driver's defaults each time you open a project.

A couple of things you can try:

• Set the desired defaults in the Windows printer preferences (Settings > Printers & Scanners > Your Printer > Printing Preferences). EAGLE may inherit those settings when printing.

• If you're printing to PDF, configure the PDF printer's default settings rather than changing them in EAGLE each time.

• Make sure you're using the latest available printer driver, as some drivers do not retain custom settings correctly.

If the settings are reverting even after changing the printer's default preferences in Windows, it may be a limitation of EAGLE 9.6.2 rather than a configuration issue.