[libreoffice-users] Re: Avery 8167 label printing

On 2/10/16 3:19 PM, libreoffice-ml.mbourne@spamgourmet.com wrote:
> 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.
>
> You may already realise, but in case not... Adobe Reader has an option
> to "Shrink oversized pages" when printing.

Every PDF reader I've toyed with has  that option for scaling.  Useful 
if you receive something that was created for 11 X 17 paper, and all you 
have is 8.5 X11.  In which case, I would expect a bit of error, not to 
mention difficulty in reading text that may be on the page.

> You might not expect that to
> do anything when printing an A4 PDF printing onto A4 paper, but it
> actually shrinks the page slightly to allow for the non-printable
> margins around the page. To get a 1:1 scale print you have to select
> "Actual size". It remembers the last setting you use, so you have to
> remember to check what's it's set to each time.

I would submit, that the person who created the PDF, should have 
considered non-printable margins.  Which is why I always use margins 
that I'm sure all printers can handle, at least to the best of my knowledge.

> > 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.
>
> Is the vertical offset incorrect on screen as well as when printed? When
> I first read that, I thought you meant it was wrong on-screen as well,
> but from your discussion below it sounds like the PDF is displayed with
> the correct margin, but prints with the wrong margin?

If the onscreen display of the margins for 8167 labels is correct, the 
printed output is incorrect, from both LO and PDF.  If the onscreen 
margins are incorrect (to the needed amount of course), the printed 
output is correct, from both LO and PDF.

> > 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.
>
> So if you have a PDF which displays on screen with the correct margin,
> but when printed it has the wrong margin?

Yep.   <G>

> To get it to print with the
> correct margin, you have to produce a PDF which displays with an
> incorrect margin?

Yep.

< Assuming you're printing the PDF at actual size, that
> would suggest the printer or its driver is in error (unless your PDF
> reader has the same issue as LibreOffice). Once LibreOffice has created
> a PDF, it has nothing to do with any difference between how the PDF
> reader displays and prints it.

Unless the error is embedded in the PDF.   :-)

I hadn't considered the printer driver to be the problem, since the 
other size label does not exhibit this issue.  A .5" margin is a .5" 
margin.   :-)

> If you open a PDF created from a completely different application, does
> that also print with different margins than when displayed on-screen?

Yep.  Just tried Word 2011 on this Mac, same printing error.  Margin on 
the screen is correct, printed margin is not.  Which does point to the 
printer driver as the possible source of the problem.

OT, but I noticed that the 0 point on the vertical ruler in Office is at 
the top margin, not the top of the paper.  Resulting in the ruler saying 
the letter sized paper being 10.5" long.   LOL

> Can you try printing your LibreOffice document and/or PDF on a different
> printer? Rather than wasting labels, you could of course print on plain
> paper and hold it up against the labels ;o)

Wish I could, but my inkjet does not want to feed paper.  I suspect the 
rubber feed roller has hardened on the surface and no longer grabs the 
paper.  I used it so little, it's way down on the priority list to fix.

> > 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>
>
> How many Pentium designers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
> 1.99904274017, but that's close enough for non-technical people.
> ;o)

LOL!!!!

> Mark.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 44.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
     and it's gone!"


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