Issue 113644 - Printing on 12 Inch Fanfold Paper
Summary: Printing on 12 Inch Fanfold Paper
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: General
Classification: Code
Component: ui (show other issues)
Version: OOo 3.2
Hardware: PC Windows XP
: P4 Trivial (vote)
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: AOO issues mailing list
QA Contact:
URL:
Keywords: needhelp
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2010-08-04 11:46 UTC by juebo
Modified: 2017-05-20 10:45 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Issue Type: FEATURE
Latest Confirmation in: ---
Developer Difficulty: ---


Attachments

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this issue.
Description juebo 2010-08-04 11:46:24 UTC
Why is it not possible to print (easyly) on a 12inch fanfold paper? 
Why is the "Printer Setting" ignored compleatly?
Why is it not possible to import a form setting from "Printer Setting?

I am using mostly the page setting "A4" which is 297 mm long. From time to time
I am going to print these documents on my NEC P6 with 12 Inch paper (304.8 mm
long). So I chose in "printer setting" 8.5 x 12 inch.
I would expect that OOo would print 297 mm and would then perform a form feed
according to the printer settings. But OOo prints 297 mm, does some obscure
linefeeds, and prints 297 mm again. With the result that the printer prints into
the perforation after page 3.

To work araund this I have to define a page which is 304.8 mm long, with an
extra margin to fit to "A4" (to avoid wrapping), which is troublesome. And it
works for about 10 pages, because the feeding error is adding!

When I have defined a Form in "Printer Setting" which is i.e. 210mm wide and
304.8 mm long, why do I have to type this again in OOo and not "use my form"?
Even "Wordpad" can manage this!
Comment 1 Olaf Felka 2010-08-04 11:51:52 UTC
reassigned
Comment 2 h.ilter 2010-10-26 11:31:30 UTC
Unfortunately nec.com does not offer a driver for the p6 model (anymore).
I've tried it with an Xerox Printer where the printer settings are kept for
printing. 
Ok, the xerox printer is not for fanfold paper but the test was just to looking
for keeping the printer settings.
From my point of view: Worksforme.
Comment 3 juebo 2010-10-26 19:46:29 UTC
As you said: "the xerox printer is not for fanfold paper" how can it work for you?
The Problem only occurs, when the form (printer) is longer than the page (ooo)
Comment 4 h.ilter 2010-10-27 10:08:18 UTC
Relating to the last paragraph from your first comment, you said that you have 
to type the settings again at the OOo print dialog.
I did the settings 8.5" x 12" at the driver and the print dialog shows me the 
same.
Unfortunately I've not a printer for fanfold paper.
Comment 5 juebo 2010-10-27 12:27:06 UTC
Ah OK! I did a cross check and it is not the same: I defined (in OOo) a Page
with 210mm width and 50 mm length and printed on my canon.
In this case in the printer dialog appears a "user defined" form and it works
well. After each Page a "Form Feed" appears.

And there the problem seems to be! OOo overwrites the printer settings. 
The "form feed" is not generated by OOo but by the printer. This is not good!

With my Nec I use a form which is physically 12 Inch(304.8 mm) long. When OOo
tells the printer the form size was 297 mm, this can not match. With a single
sheet feeder you probably won't realise this difference, but with fanfold this
positioning error adds.

You should distinguish between a physical "form" (12 inch, defined in printer
settings) and a logical "page" (A4, defined in OOo). These two settings do not
need to be the same!

The Solution would be:
OOo leaves the printer settings unchanged.
OOo prints to the end of the "page" and performs a "form feed".
The printer will understand this "form feed" and will transport the paper to the
beginning of the next "form".

The other way: 
My OOo (German localisation) does not know anything about a 12 inch "page"
(format - page) although defined in print-SERVER-setting (not printer settings).
But alas, this is not really the main problem.

  
Comment 6 philipp.lohmann 2010-10-27 12:48:42 UTC
Sorry to disappoint, but OOo makes a "FormFeed" at the end of each page
(assuming that is what the printer driver on Windows would finally make of the
Win32 API call EndPage). However not setting the paper size according to the
document would break all documents that rely on printers supporting different
page formats, automatically switching to the correct input slot. E.g. this is
used for envelope printing where a document contains the envelope as well as the
letter.

However you already seem to have the right answer: design you document to be 12
in, not pretend to be A4 when in fact it is not. Would that not be the right way ?
Comment 7 juebo 2010-10-27 13:43:22 UTC
Ok, when this is true then the solution is: Do not change the printer-setting!
There must be a reason, why the inventors of windows(tm) created a printer
settings dialog.

When I create a document, I actually do not know, where I am going to print it.
Normally I use A4 and print on a single sheet printer in letter quality.
But when my boss comes around with "could you please give me a copy of the last
200 letters to xxx" I am going to use the Nec in draft quality (to reduce
costs). And it is not really possible to change the page-format of 200 letters!
The more so as changing the page format will change the wrapping.

I understand your point of view, but I do not have this problem (I do not really
know about it).
There is no problem, when the page-format is the same as the form-format. And
there should be no problem, when the form is longer then the page. In this case,
the rest of the form should be left blank.
But it is terribly wrong to change the form-format according to the
page-setting. Once again: "form" is physically, "page" is logically.
And when I know, I will print an envelope, I can set the printer setting
according to this.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to implement a "check box" with "use form
settings from printer" resp. "change printer (form) setting according to page".
 
Comment 8 philipp.lohmann 2010-10-27 13:49:40 UTC
Then your solution is even simpler: when you do File->Print, press the
"Properties..." button to get the driver dialog and change the paper to 12in.
That way 12in will be taken since it is a user override.
Comment 9 juebo 2010-10-27 14:38:32 UTC
If this would work, it would be nice (half as nice as leaving the form-settings
alone). But it does not work!
And printing a second time the form has changed from "12 inch" to "Letter" (I do
not know at all, what Letter-format is).


Comment 10 philipp.lohmann 2010-10-27 14:44:39 UTC
Last time I looked that override works quite fine on a 3.3.

"Letter" is 8.5 by 11 inches (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm), the usage equivalent for
"A4" in the United States.
Comment 11 juebo 2010-10-27 14:57:28 UTC
Well ok, I have a 3.2.1, since 3.3 is beta. So let's wait for LibreOffice 3.3 :-)

Thank you so far.
Comment 12 h.ilter 2010-10-27 16:22:21 UTC
Yes, feel free to file them this issue ;)
Comment 13 juebo 2010-10-27 19:53:29 UTC
I downloaded LibreOffice 3.3. With the Mark set at "Use Slot From Printer
Settings" it works. But only once. After that the printer setting is changed to
"A4". Not good.
Comment 14 Marcus 2017-05-20 10:45:25 UTC
Reset the assignee to the default "issues@openoffice.apache.org".