KDE4 printing: results of IRC meeting

[Kurt Pfeifle]

Jakob Petsovits wrote:

> On Friday, 14. September 2007, Thiago Macieira wrote:
>> If you select one page only in a 10-page printout in KDE 3 and then check
>> to see the print preview, you see all 10 pages. I know from experience
>> it'll print only the pages I asked for, but I think it should be displaying
>> only the pages that will be printed.
> 
> Print Preview also doesn't show any filters, for example the "two/four pages 
> on one printed page" is totally disrespected. 

If you use the "Print multiple pages on one sheet"-prefilter, it *does*
show up in the preview. (It is not shown if you tell CUPS to do the 2-up/
/4-up by clicking the option on the "General" tab, true).

> No way I can have a look at 
> the "real" printout before I send it to the printer.
> (This in addition to the crappy page order in the "4 on 1" mode that CUPS 
> applies, which is not configurable afaics. Or ghostscript? Don't know.)

CUPS supports and applies these page orders:

  -o number-up-layout=btlr;   # Bottom to top, left to right
  -o number-up-layout=btrl;   # Bottom to top, right to left
  -o number-up-layout=lrbt;   # Left to right, bottom to top
  -o number-up-layout=lrtb;   # Left to right, top to bottom (default)
  -o number-up-layout=rlbt;   # Right to left, bottom to top
  -o number-up-layout=rltb;   # Right to left, top to bottom
  -o number-up-layout=tblr;   # Top to bottom, left to right
  -o number-up-layout=tbrl;   # Top to bottom, right to left

Not crappy at all, if you ask me. Total control, whatever reasonable
order you may want.

It is kprinter in KDE3 that never had support for this finetuning of the
n-up printing by CUPS implemented (so it always gets the default). You
can look (and use) at the standalone "gtklp" or "xpp" utilties which do
support the ordering you want from their GUIs.

See also this bug report discussions:

  http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=108484
  http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107936   #look at attached screenshots
  http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=82123

> Er... nevermind.

Why? If we don't mind we'll not get an improvement in the future.

-- 
Kurt Pfeifle
System & Network Printing Consultant ---- Linux/Unix/Windows/Samba/CUPS
Infotec Deutschland GmbH  .....................  Hedelfinger Strasse 58
A RICOH Company  ...........................  D-70327 Stuttgart/Germany