Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: Avery 8167 label printing

On 10/02/16 12:01 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
> On 2/10/16 8:28 AM, Gary Dale wrote:
> > On 09/02/16 11:39 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
> > > On 2/9/16 2:23 PM, Gary Dale wrote:
> > > > On 09/02/16 03:23 PM, Dave Liesse wrote:
> > > > > I've never had any luck with any of the Avery templates I've tried
> > > > > (although my problem has been mostly with left-to-right adjustments
> > > > > rather than top-to-bottom).  I finally just got in the habit of
> > > > > setting my paragraph position as 1/8" into the label; fooling with 
> > > > > the
> > > > > template specs didn't do the job.
> > > >
> > > > I've occasionally found problems with the labels but they are 
> > > > minor. For
> > > > small labels, like return-address labels, the print V. Pitch may be a
> > > > little off so the labels creep up or down a little as you go down the
> > > > page.
> > >
> > > I think this could also occur due to printer's paper feed abilities.
> > > In this case, the error is consistent.
> > Are you referring to the page slipping on the rollers? That would likely
> > produce inconsistent results. If the labels are simply off consistently,
> > that would be the top margin. If they vary consistently down that page,
> > that would be vertical pitch.
>
> Slippage in the rollers is what I was thinking of.
>
> In my case, the error is consistent, so slippage is not problem.
>
> Telling the printer where to actually start the printing appears to be 
> the issue.  We'll call it the top margin for convenience, but even 
> that has it's own issues.  Since the driver is TWAIN, the brand of 
> printer shouldn't make a difference as long as the printer 
> manufacturer doesn't screw up the driver.
>
> Time to "expand our horizons".  (Sounds like a motivational speaker, 
> doesn't it?   LOL)
>
> LO's built-in template, displayed on the screen, is correct.  The 
> paper's top margin is .5" on the screen and in real life. Positioning 
> of the text is also correct, as displayed on the screen.
>
> Only printing is in error.
>
> Now...  Suppose you are creating X number of label designs for someone 
> else.  They don't have LO, how to you get the labels to them?  Today, 
> I think almost everyone's answer would be PDF.
>
> Fair enough, but that doesn't work either.  If you create the PDF with 
> the default template settings, which are correct, the resulting PDF 
> file is also in error.  I tried it.  Same vertical offset issue.
>
> So you change the top margin, create the PDF, and yep, labels print 
> correctly.
>
> What's wrong with this?
>
> In the above scenario, the recipient of the PDF may/can/will look at 
> the labels before printing them, to see if they are correct. (If they 
> don't, they aren't doing their job.)  Guess what? They'll see the top 
> margin error, more easily spotted if you have a vertical ruler option. 
> If you send a PDF based on the correct template (the one supplied by 
> LO), the printing will be off.  If you send a PDF based on a modified 
> template, the visual display on the screen will be off.
>
> In this situation, LO falls on its face in providing WYSIWYG... What 
> You See Is What You Get.  One of the principals in modern computers. 
> What is displayed on the screen is what is supposed to come out of the 
> printer or other device.
>
> This is no different than if you had the font set for 12 points, but 
> the output to either screen or printer was 16 points.  Not a good 
> thing in the long run.


PDF is a great way to exchange documents but it has an interesting print 
option (usually) of shrinking to fit the printer margins. If you send a 
PDF label set, you need to remind the recipient to print them full size. 
I've run into this problem several times where my carefully crafted PDFs 
aren't printed the way I designed them.


> > > > There used to be a problem with multi-column labels but they seem to
> > > > have redone the label specification to correct that. When creating
> > > > labels, there is "Format" tab that lets you adjust the label 
> > > > properties.
> > > > In its new incarnation, it is easy to use and gives you exactly 
> > > > what you
> > > > need to adjust the properties of incorrectly specified common label
> > > > formats down to 1/100 of an inch.
> > >
> > > In the end, I'll probably do this.
> > >
> > > > You can specify the top margin, label height and vertical pitch (the
> > > > last two may be different if there is space between the labels) and do
> > > > the same for the left margin, label width and horizontal pitch. They
> > > > also allow you to specify the page size and the number of rows and
> > > > columns.
> > > >
> > > > If you think a label isn't defined correctly, fix it. Also, file a bug
> > > > report so that the developers can fix it for everyone. It's better to
> > > > light a candle or two than to curse the darkness.
> > >
> > > In this case, the label spec is correct.  Font design will have to
> > > have a factor in this someway too, I suspect.
> >
> > It shouldn't unless LO calculates the position of the next label
> > relative to the end of the previous text. It would seem more natural
> > (and simpler) to calculate in absolute terms.
>
> Upon retrospect, I agree.  But it is something you have to be 
> cognizant of when designing the label, as it can affect the apparent 
> vertical centering of text on the label.  Which can effect what you 
> think may be happening with label output.  In my case, the label 
> includes a graphic, which is unaffected by text positioning.  Makes it 
> easy to figure out where the problem is likely to be.
>
> Another overall negative effect of this problem is, you have to ask 
> yourself, if this is broken, what else in the suite is broken? 
> Especially if you are using LO to make a living.  Is there another 
> feature I use in Writer that doesn't work correctly?  What if one or 
> two functions in the spreadsheet calculate incorrectly?  What if Base 
> occasionally mangles your data?
>
> I remember years ago when Intel turned out a chip that had an error in 
> it's math calculations.  It was a rare happening, but when they 
> finally admitted it publicly, trying to say it wasn't important do to 
> the rare occurrence, it did not go over well at all!  <G>

I've yet to find software that is perfect (except of course for what I 
develop  ;)  ).  Big suites like LO will have the occasional bug but 
I've never found one that was more than an annoyance.

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