LibreOffice - Unable to change paper size and orientation
 

Hello:

I was wondering if anyone here has/has had this same problem.

It is the same/similar problem as the one posted here:

https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/quest...-print-labels/

It was posted about a year ago but received one (just one) answer which apparently did not work, nothing else.

I run an up-to-date Devuan ASCII rig Linux devuan 4.9.0-8-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.110-3+deb9u6 (2018-10-08) x86_64 GNU/Linux and LibreOffice 5.2.7.2 20m0(Build:2).

My printer is a Samsung M2020W with the CUPS 2.2.1 server.

Problem:

In LibreOffice, I am not able to change the orientation and/or size of the page I want to print.

ie:
File -> Print -> General Tab -> Printer -> Printer Properties -> Paper Size => option is greyed out and inaccessible.

and

File -> Print -> General Tab -> Printer -> Printer Properties -> Orientation => option is greyed out and inaccessible.

The only way out of this situation is checking the 'Use only paper size from printer preferences' box in the Options tab.

ie:
File -> Print -> Options Tab -> Options -> Use only paper size from printer preferences.

This works well as once checked, the 'Paper Size' and 'Orientation' options are no longer greyed out and can be set as needed.

But the gist of the problem is that this setting does not hold / is not saved in the LibreOffice configuration.

ie:
The next time I start LibreOffice, the 'Use only paper size from printer preferences' box is unchecked again.

Save for LibreOffice, this does not happen with any one of my other installed applications:

eg:
Firefox
Master PDF Editor
Wine 1.8.7-2 and installed applications
Gimp 2.8.18

That being the case, I seems that we can rule out this being a CUPS 2.2.1 configuration issue.

I'd appreciate hearing from other LO users that may have experienced this same issue.

Thanks in advance,

A.

I've not encountered this, but my instincts tell me this is like a printer/CUPS issue, not an LO issue.

For testing purposes, try opening another application (text editor, photo editor) and seeing whether it presents you with the same issue, then let us know the results.

Hello:
But I've already done that ... 8^"

After posting this morning, I discovered the issue is common to Leafpad 0.8.18.1.
Did not notice it before because I hardly ever need to print anything on Leafpad.

So I think that we can safely assume that not only it is not a CUPS 2.2.1 configuration issue but that it may well be something related to whatever LibreOffice and Leafpad have in common. (GTK+?)

Thanks for your input.

Cheers,

A.

Hello:

Here's another link to a post about the same problem, posted in 09/2015:

https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/quest...re-grayed-out/

My post at the LO site was closed for being 'oudated', whatever that means to them.
This last one was also closed in spite of there being no solution for the problem.

EDIT:
This seems to be a bug in LO going as far back as the 4.1.0.4 release and to this day, apparently unassigned.

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/...g.cgi?id=94343

In that page I found a very enlightening post by a guy that goes by the name of 'seascape', it felt I could have well written it myself:

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/...gi?id=94343#c7

This paragraph sums up the problem:

So that's about it.
Any ideas?
Maybe I should try OpenOffice?

Thanks in advance,

A.

That's not a bug, it's a feature! The print option is for printing a formated document: it would be a bit odd if you could change the format when printing. Set the page size and orientation with Format - Page. You can make that a default by editing or creating a template.

I'd assume that a simple editor like Leafpad would default to the standard paper size set in your locale. As for orientation, if you need a landscape document, use Writer.

Hello:
Hmmm ....
With all due respect, I beg to differ.

It's not about changing the format of the document.
It's about how I choose to print a formatted document. ie: page size and orientation.

The format stays the same.

Please bear with me while I illustrate this with a practical example:

There's a large and complex *.xls file I have in which the data to be printed (a 14 column wide selection by an X number of rows) will take up a certain number of size A4 pages in portrait mode.

The data is aranged on the worksheet in a manner that updating it and printing the result of the update is easy and straightforward. ie: select an area and print the selection.

Now, the data at the end of the file (a summary of sorts) which needs to go at the end of the print job ie: it's the last page, happens to have a different format due to the fact that it is compounded data and thus arranged in a different manner.

Because of how it is arranged on the sheet, the area selected is roughly 40% wider but encompasses only 35 rows. ie: it must be printed in landscape mode, otherwise it is practically illegible.

The way I have always done this is by selecting the area to be printed (the 14 columns by the amount of rows that would confortably (readable) fit in a size A4 page and print it in the default parameters set for the file. ie: A4 portrait mode.

Once I finish printing all the pages I need, I then have to print the last page I've mentioned above.

But if I print it using the default setting for file ie: A4 portrait mode, it would end up being a waste of paper and toner.

So, once I select the area to be printed, I choose to override the default setting and print it in a different mode. ie: A4 landscape mode.

I have done it in this exact manner in every incarnation of Office/Word/Excel I have come across, for over 20 years, from W95 onwards. And IIRC, early stand alone versions of Word/Excel worked the same way.

I'm not here to make a case for MSOffice or anything of the sort as I stand firmly in support of FOSS.

But I'm sure you can agree that there are very sound reasons behind the argument "That is the behavior users expect". (see citation above)

That said, please note that with the sole exception of LO and Leafpad (there may be others), I can also print in this manner in all the applications I have listed in my previous post.

I'm sure you get the idea of how it works and may concurr with me in that what is a feature is being able to print in this manner, on the fly and without having to jump through any hoops to do it.

Thanks a lot for your input.

Cheers,

A.

I'm sorry if I was unhelpful: I just assumed you were talking about an odt file, not thinking of an ods. I have no experience here; although I have a monster spreadsheet, it stays firmly on the computer.

Hello David:
No, not unhelpful at all.

Quite the opposite, actually. =-)
It prompted me to take the time to explain the issue properly, something I had obviously not done.
It is I who should apologise for that.

The issue applies to anything you need to print in LO.
It is related to how the Print -> General -> Printer Properties configuration behaves.

Imagine a large, multi-page .doc file (or LO equivalent) to be printed in A4 portrait, say 20 pages.

But the last page, for whatever reason related to the text is formatted, just has to be printed in A4 landscape.

I'd have to do the same thing I did in the example above: save select the area to print, it's all the same.

ie:
Print only pages 1-19 and then the last page with same A4 size but the different (landscape) orientation.

Once again, thanks for your input.

Cheers,

A.