Bugzilla – Bug 150283
application print dialogs should work in compliance to CUPS
Last modified: 2006-05-08 08:33:00 UTC
One of the major complaints about linux is printing. An example is http://lwn.net/Articles/170139/. CUPS is not "Common Unix Print System" unfortunately. Depends on whether you use Gnome or KDE. I have right now two problems. I cannot print to "Letter" size media in Inkscape, and in Krita, I have to reset the media size every time I open it. The print dialogs are different, depending on whether one uses Gnome or KDE apps. It should not be. Yast is great for setting up the printer, KDE Print manager is also not too bad, but there is no Gnome print configuration shown in the Suse menus for KDE Why does one have to set it up in both places, and it still not work for some apps. This needs to be fixed, that is, one setup for any Gnome or KDE app. Novell should take the bull by the horns and fix it. Art
Thank you for your contribution. You are right, more consistency in the LINUX systems would be nice. But this is only possible with _one_ desktop environment with one styleguide. > I cannot print to "Letter" size media in Inkscape, and in Krita, I > have to reset the media size every time I open it." I do not understand. Printing is not possible with "Letter"? -> this would be a bug in the applications or the printing system. Or: The Inkscape and Krita files do not store the layout of the page type (e.g. Letter) in the document. The printing system will always use the default paper size? -> I do not use Inkscape or Krita, but it should be possible to change the default paper size of the printer by the "Properties" button in the KDE-printer dialog.
You said "I do not understand. Printing is not possible with "Letter"?" Well I don't either. Set meddia size to "Letter" for my only printer, a Laserjet 2300, in both the Yast printer dialog and in KDE print manager, checked it with http://localhost:631/admin, but Krita still comes up with "A4" in its dialog. I change that and save it, print, which takes forever for a 5 meg file, and then it is correct. I go out of Krita, back in with the same file, print dialog is still set for "A4". Inkscape has no print dialog that I can find, just "Print" and "Print Direct". Print prints file, which is 16 meg, and it goes in less than a minute, until the printer screems "Load A4". Print Direct" had a dialog that says "Use '>filename to print file. Use 'Prog arg...' to pipe a progrm." with lp listed. Add >sha-map.svg, dialog box goes away, but no printing. What I do not understand is why both programs always try to, or do print, to A4 when I have everything set for "Letter" size media. Also, printer dialog should be the same for All programs. Sure would like to find out where it is coming up with "A4". Have found nothing in any of the hidden files for these programs in the /home/afore directory eitherl. Art
Please always set the bug back to ASSIGNED after providing the requested information!
Now I find that KPDF will not print to letter. Printer always comes up Load A4 even though it is set for letter in Yast, CUPS, and KDE print manager. Opening the file in Acrobat, it prints correctly. It is a letter size form by the way. Art
Johannes, I have less knowledge about the background of this problem. It seems to be a problem within the applications and not within the printing system. Can you comment -- and/or close or reassign to the correct person?
Yes, it is a problem in the various applications and it must be fixed in the varios applications, see the related bug #148707 in particular the comment "What the real solution is:" https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=148707#c1 Background info: When an application wants to print, it produces data to be printed. This data to be printed is usually PostScript page descriptions. This means what is to be printed is specified page by page by PostScript code. Therefore an application must know the size of the printable area on each page (the so called imageable area which is the media size minus the unprintable margins) - otherwise the PostScript page descriptions would not fit when they are printed on the media. Therefore there is a media selection and othen ther are also margin selections in the printing dialogs of application programs. The subject of this bug is wrong because the printer setup works o.k. ("Yast is great for setting up the printer, KDE Print manager is also not too bad"). I change the subject accordingly to "Application print dialogs should work in compliance to CUPS" What doesn't work o.k. are the printing dialogs in various application programs. This must be reported and fixed seperated for each application program. For KDE and/or Gnome only two such bug reports should be enough because all (or at least almost all) KDE and/or Gnome applications use the same KDE and/or Gnome printing engine. When the application print dialogs would work in compliance to CUPS, all applicatons would use the same media size and imageable area (i.e. what is set for the particular print queue in CUPS). This cannot be solved for 10.1 but it is a long known problem which will solve automatically as soon as the applications really work in compliance to CUPS.
Filed seperate bug report regarding inkscape (Gnome): bug #165194 Filed seperate bug report regarding krita (KDE): bug #165195
Both bugs bug #165194 and bug #165195 are resolved WONTFIX because those bugs must be reported and resolved upstream. Therefore I close this one as WONTFIX too.