[libreoffice-design] Improving printing UX

Hey there, 

tl;dr - I'm looking for ideas how to improve $subject

So I've recently tried to fix tdf#91362 [1] but I'm not really happy with the 
solution I was able to come up with and I'd like to have some more input from 
real humans :) how to improve printing experience in LibO ...

In the past, there was tdf#61186 [2] that addressed some LibO printing 
nastiness, such as

* File -> Printer settings used to contain the settings of the last page that 
happened to be printed and not the actual settings of the printer
* Whatever was set in File -> Printer Settings didn't stick
* There was no way to say that we actually want to override document settings 
and print on a paper size specified by a printer

tdf#91362 now complains about the following scenario:
* Format -> Page -> set paper format e.g. to Legal
* Go to File -> Print -> Properties 
* Howl, because you see e.g. US Letter here (or whatever's default on your 
printer, in your locale) and not what is actually going to be printed instead
* Click Print and see the printer asking you to insert a paper in Legal format 

Basically whatever the user sets in File ->Print -> Properties (unless they 
specify in File -> Print -> Options tab, that they want to use only the paper 
size from the printer prefs) is going to be ignored and the page settings are 
going to be used instead. 

I tried to address those issues by 
* actually showing the settings of current printing job in File -> Print -> 
Properties -
* but only if it is not specifically overridden by the user going to File -> 
Printer Settings and saving their own settings there [3]
* disabling paper and orientation list boxes if 'use only paper size from 
printer preferences' is not specified [4]

But even after all this (or maybe thanks to all this *grin*) the printing in 
LibO is rather confusing, off-putting user experience and it is totally unclear 
what's actually going to be printed. 

I'd be grateful for any input and ideas -- maybe we can somehow rearrange UI? 
Change its behaviour slightly? (I can think e.g. about moving this 'use only 
paper size from printer' checkbox away from 'Options' tab page to some more 
prominent place, as it is rather well hidden there, for example) 

How do other office suites do it?

Thanks

[1] https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=91362
[2] https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=61186
[3] https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/#/c/16716/
[4] https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/#/c/16812/
-- 

Katarina Behrens

Softwareentwicklerin LibreOffice
–––
CIB software GmbH
Geschäftsstelle Hamburg
Flachsland 10
22083 Hamburg
–––
T +49 (40) / 28 48 42 -235
F +49 (40) / 28 48 42 -100

Katarina.Behrens@cib.de
www.cib.de
–––
Sitz: München
Registergericht München, HRB 123286
Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Ing. Ulrich Brandner

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