TeX typesetting

Anyone know of a template or sample doc that prints markers around the edge of an A4 paper?

Or even just a good centralised reference?

I can’t believe what shit results my searches are getting. Surely this must be a common need for millions of people. I am not going to go to the printshop, write down their printer model numbers, try to locate online manuals in an ocean of shitty manual sites, to try to dig up the printable area specs, which are likely untrustworthy anyway. I’ve done that before, and IIRC Canon specs were a lie.

Canons seem to have a quite large unprintable area. I know Ricoh does better. It would be useful to see a centralised table with the printable area specs of (at least) all the large industrial printers.

\documentclass[DIV=66, draft=true]{scrartcl} % The draft switch produces a ruler along the boundary of the printed space (which is controlled by the DIV value)

Update1: CUPS test print reveals unprintable area dimensions

It’s worth noting that the test page for CUPS gives “media limits” info. Which is vague but seems to correspond with the printer’s edge of printable area. It’s unclear if that comes from the printer driver or if the printer is somehow queried for that info.

This is of course only useful if you’re not using a print shop.

Update2: came up with code to generate a test print:

% Purpose:
%
% 1) Test whether the unprintable region documented in the printer specs is accurate.
% 2) If not, find the real dimensions.
% 3) Find the maximum DIV setting for the KOMAscript package that does not encroach into the unprintable area.
%
% Procedure:
%
% 1) Lookup the expected unprintable area dimensions for the printer under test.
% 2) Edit SetBgContents below to match the dimensions, which are added to (current page.*)
% 3) Trial and error/tuning: Set DIV=99 and compile. Then set DIV=9 and compile. Notice how the rectangle ruler gets smaller as DIV gets smaller. Find the max value for which the rectangle does not go outside of the violet rectangle.
% 4) With DIV at the max, fiddle with the size and position parameters of the large circle (in DeclareNewLayer). The goal is for the circle to touch the top and bottom edges of the paper.

\usepackage{scraddr}
\usepackage{scrlayer-scrpage} % needed for \cofoot
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc} % suggested to avoid ``OT1 encoding''
\usepackage{pict2e}
\usepackage{scrlayer}

\usepackage[firstpage=true, color=violet]{background}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

% from another suggestion below:
\SetBgPosition{current page.north west}% Select location
\SetBgOpacity{1.0}
\SetBgAngle{0.0}
\SetBgScale{1.0}
% \SetBgColor{black}

% The line width setting below specifies 1pt but it really looks thicker compared to other lines. Nonetheless, it gives a good thickness for the job.
\SetBgContents{%
  \begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture]
    \draw [line width=1pt]%,rounded corners=4pt,]
    ($ (current page.north west) + (4.2mm,-4.2mm) + (1pt,-1pt) $)
    rectangle
    ($ (current page.south east) + (-4.2mm,4.2mm) + (-1pt,1pt) $);
  \end{tikzpicture}}

% The following gives circles and must /follow/ the tikz stuff above.
\DeclareNewLayer[%
textarea,background,mode=picture,
contents={%
  \putC{\circle{\LenToUnit{\paperwidth}}}%
  \put(0.5\layerwidth,0.5\layerheight-3pt){\circle{\LenToUnit{\paperheight}-0pt}}%
}
]{showtextarea}
\DeclareNewPageStyleByLayers{test}{showtextarea}
\pagestyle{test}


\begin{document}
\phantom0 % There must be /something/ here or else 0 pages are generated. So we put an invisible phantom object.
\end{document}