[Solved-Workaround] Draw (only) won't print legal size

[AndyNoCo]

I created a new Draw file, went to Format > Page, and set Paper Format to Legal. Both the page window and the thumbnail change to legal-size dimensions, 8.5" x 14". But when I File > Print, both previews show the page cut off at letter-size, 11".

If I do the exact same thing in Calc or Writer, the File > Print previews show the full legal-size page. How do I make Draw print legal size?

[RoryOF]

On /File /Print press Properties button and set the printer settings to Legal, inserting Legal sized paper into the printer, if the printer will accept that size.

[AndyNoCo]

The Mac High Sierra print window does not have a "Properties" button. I've gone through all the options (OpenOffice, Layout, Print Settings, etc.). Mac also has a "Printer Settings" item in the File menu, but it has no options to set. I tried an OO Presentation file as well, and it has the same problem as Draw. But Writer and Calc handle legal-size just fine. And my printer handles legal-size just fine.

[John_Ha]

You don't tell us what happens when you print to a piece of Legal paper. Ignore the preview - does it print OK? or truncate?

What happens when you print a Legal page from Writer - does it print OK?

[Lupp]

(Just a hunch.)
In https://ask.libreoffice.org/en were lots of reports concerning issues with printing on the outdated US paper sizes under Sierra/High Sierra.
(Printing from Writer it was mainly wrong oriantation. The issue seems to be fixed now, but I don't know in what way, and if a malfunction of the Mac OS contributed to the problem.)
The main workaround was to not use the predefined 'Letter' or 'Legal' sizes, but to manually set a slightly changed size like 1/100 inch wider or longer. (May be compensated by an also slightly changed margin setting.)

[AndyNoCo]

Legal-size documents in Draw show legal-size in OO, but show truncated letter-size in Mac print preview, and print truncated to letter-size on legal-size paper.

Legal-size documents in Write and Calc show legal-size in OO, and show legal-size in Mac print preview, and print full legal-size on legal-size paper.

When I "File > Export as PDF" with a legal-size Draw document, it opens full legal-size in Mac Preview and Adobe Reader, and prints out full legal-size on legal-size paper.

8.5" x 14" is not an outdated US paper size. Making a custom 8.5" x 14.01" paper size is an unacceptable workaround. If OO can print legal-size from Writer and Calc, it should also print legal-size from Draw.

[Lupp]

Of course, software should work correctly with the settings it offers. However, if it doesn't I cannot change that. It's a bug, I suppose. I even have no means to decide in what part the bug is due to shortcomings of the software or of the Mac.
What I can try is to point to a probably related issue, and to a possible workaround, which I again cannot test myself becaue I neither have a Mac nor US paper nor a printer capable of printing the funny 'Legal'. You would need a helper running AOO on a Mac under High Sierra and printing 'Draw' documents on 'Legal' paper. There won't be too many.
If you already tried the common suggestion to reset your user profile, to check for a different (updated) printer driver... and that didn't solve the problem, you may file a bug report to Apache. A workaround, even if annoying, might solve the issue better for the next few decades.

I know that US paper sizes not are outdated in the US. That's bad becaiuse they are outdated in the sense that US citizens and a few very dependent people in neighbouring countries are the only ones using them. This causes problems, of course, in many fields. Maintenance of software (thousands of printer drivers e.g.) is only one of them. The globally approved paper sizes for everyday use are the ISO sizes. Even the UK switched to them already in 1959.

[John_Ha]

8.5" x 14" is not an outdated US paper size. Making a custom 8.5" x 14.01" paper size is an unacceptable workaround. If OO can print legal-size from Writer and Calc, it should also print legal-size from Draw.

Ranting may make you feel better but it won't allow you to print what you want. Setting the paper size manually is, to most, an acceptable workaround. We cannot change the software - only advise how to use it AS DELIVERED.

Please upload a small .odg file showing the problem.

[RoryOF]

I've just checked this out on OO running on Xubuntu 18.04. When I select /Format /Page and choose Legal, as soon as I click OK the Pages preview (thumbnails on left) and the main Draw window preview change to Legal from my standard A4. When I select /File /Print, the preview shown on General tab is truncated _until_ I select Properties and adjust the paper size in the printer settings to Legal from its default A4.

I cannot say what happens on a Mac.

[John_Ha]

Rory

Same here. I go Format > Page ..., and choose Legal, and the Draw page size is set to Legal.

I go File > Print ..., and my printer comes up with printer paper size as A4 as that is what I always use. I then choose Legal as the printer paper size. When I do, the printer preview is shown as Legal size (255mm x 365mm).

I expect that the poster is forgetting to set the paper size to Legal in his/her printer.

[AndyNoCo]

I never imagined that simply saying that a klugey workaround was unacceptable would qualify as a "rant." There's some very touchy people out there. But whatever...

To reiterate: The Mac OS printer interface does not have a "Properties" button. I've meticulously combed through all eight sections, and their subsections. And OO Mac Draw "File > Printer Settings" has no options.

I've attached small, legal-size example files from OO Mac Draw (.odg), OO Mac Writer (.odt), and OO Mac Calc (.ods).

Legal-size OO Mac Writer and OO Mac Calc docs print just fine on legal-size paper. Legal-size OO Mac Draw docs print truncated to 11".

I don't have to make any adjustments on my printer itself to print legal-size OO Mac Writer and OO Mac Calc docs on full legal-size paper. Legal-size OO Mac Draw docs always print truncated to 11" long.

For now, I'm condemned to live in the evil, hegenomistic USA, where we use letter-size, legal-size, inches, feet, yards, miles, quarts, gallons, ounces, pounds, tons, etc. I guess I'll just have to console myself with the fact that the USA is the largest economy of any country on the globe. And oh yeah, we saved the rest of the world from the Axis Powers. There's that too.

As for those "global" ISO paper sizes: I'm reminded of a very salient observation: The only people who ever voluntarily adopted the metric system, as opposed to having it forced upon them by their governments, are drug dealers.

In any case, OO Mac Draw should print legal-size documents the same way that it prints OO Mac Calc and OO Mac Writer legal-size documents.

[John_Ha]

When I "File > Export as PDF" with a legal-size Draw document, it opens full legal-size in Mac Preview and Adobe Reader, and prints out full legal-size on legal-size paper.

Workaround number 2.

Googling change mac printer properties gets 256,000 hits. One says:

Selecting Printing Preferences - Mac OS X 10.5/10.6/10.7
- In the Apple menu or the Dock, select System Preferences.
- Select Print & Fax or Print & Scan, select your product, and select Options & Supplies.
- Select Driver. You see this screen:
- Click OK.

Searching bugzilla with print legal draw finds no bug report suggesting it is a user problem and not an AOO problem.

[Lupp]

I never imagined that simply saying that a klugey workaround was unacceptable would qualify as a "rant."

I'm not much interested in whether somebody qualifies a probable workaround as "klugey" (kludgy?) or if his reply is a rant or not - as long as he accepts that it's neither my responsibility nor in my power to offer a solution fully pleasing him. He may try the workaround or let it be. He may also prefer to get no solution at all if the optimum is not available.

(And the problems specifically occurring with US paper sizes under OSX High Sierra I mentioned were actually reported in the ask.libreoffice.org site. I personally never had a Mac, never US paper, never a printer with a paper tray capable of taking 'Legal' ...)

[MrProgrammer]

The File → Printer Settings dialog seems to be broken on Macs, at least on Mac OS X 10.9.5 with OpenOffice 3.2. The Properties dialog is disabled.

In Draw, but not in Writer or Calc, the File → Print dialog compares the current page size with what the software believes is the paper in the printer, which presumably could be set in the broken File → Printer Settings → Properties dialog. None of the choices offered is suitable for this situation.

I suggest using File → Export to PDF and printing the PDF with Preview.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

[RoryOF]

@Mr P: Purely out of interest, have you tried using another brand of printer? I have seen many reports of Brother printers being "difficult" on linux distros. As I understand it, Mac OS X is based on linux.

[AndyNoCo]

Per John_Ha's suggestion, I looked at System Preferences. It hadn't occurred to me, but temporarily changing the OS's default paper size to legal does let AOO Draw completely print a legal-size doc on legal-size paper without truncating it to letter-size.

It's certainly less klugey than creating an 8.50 x 14.01 paper size. But I never did try that, so I don't even know if it would work.

However, since the System Preferences workaround is not necessary to print legal-size AOO Writer and AOO Calc docs, it sure looks like an AOO problem to me, and not a user problem. I'll enter it in Bugzilla.

All the other apps on my Mac either have a paper size option in the print menu, or in File > Page Setup, or both. This includes both Apple-brand and non-Apple apps (e.g., Quicken, Firefox, Reader).

Mac AOO doesn't have File > Page Setup, and it's the only app I have with the File > Printer Settings menu item (which has no paper size option). And FYI, File > Print > Paper Handling > Scale to fit paper size > Destination Paper Size: US Legal does not work in Mac AOO.

But the problem is solved, sort of, thanks to John_Ha pointing me at System Preferences.