Functionality missing from Mac OS X Epson printer drivers; workaround

One of the primary functions missing in the Mac OS X versions of some Epson printer drivers is the option to select a "maximum printing area."

What this means is, in OS X the margins are 0.13 inches at the top, left, and right sides, but 0.56 inches at the bottom. With the Mac OS 9 drivers, it is possible to print to within 0.13 inches of the bottom also.

One MacFixIt reader writes "This has required many businesses, including mine, to redesign letterheads and forms which were designed to fit the OS 9 printer drivers' printable area; I remember a mention over a year ago? on MacFixit, I think? of an attorney's office which chose to revert to OS 9 instead of redesigning their paperwork. The utter simplicity of this feature makes it hard for me to understand why Epson has not included it in the OS X driver after three years."

Some users have had success using the open-source gimp-print drivers to achieve this functionality, while others report that while a maximum printing area can be specified, it is not transferred to the printer when the page is delivered.

UPDATE: MacFixIt reader Ken Goff discovered that changing the setting from "US Letter" to "Legal" tricks the Epson drivers into printing some maximum print area forms properly:

"In my situation, forms that must print to 0.25 inches of the bottom were being cut off. The same forms would print properly on a PostScript laser printer. For Epson Sylus Photo 700 and 740 printers, in page setup, changing 'US Letter' to 'Legal' fools the printer into printing those forms properly. Everything else lines up properly as well."

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