[Solved] "Export to PDF" resets "Print blank pages" option

[DavideAndrea]

Clicking the "Export directly to PDF" button resets the "Print automatically inserted blank pages" option.

To reproduce:

1. Select the Options/ OpenOffice Writer / Print page
2. Enable the "Print automatically inserted blank pages" option
3. Click OK
4. Click the "Export directly to PDF" button
5. When the print is done, note that the blank pages are missing
6. Select the Options/ OpenOffice Writer / Print page
7. Note that the "Print automatically inserted blank pages" option has been cleared

Workaround: File /Print print to a file using a pdf printer

Question: is this a known bug?

[Zizi64]

It is not a bug. This Blank pages settings are for the printed copies only.

The feature EXPORT is not same as the PRINT procedure.
The setting of the PRINT procedure can be different than the settings of the EXPORT.

Use the Menu item:
File - Export as - Export as PDF.
In the appeared settings panel there is a TAB named General. That contains the setting for the blank pages in case PDF Export.
The attached image was created in my LibreOffice 6.1.6 (it is similar in the ApacheOpenOffice too):

Option: Export automatically inserted balnk pages
Cick on the image for a better view.

The PDF Settings panel will not be appeared at the Direct PDF export.


The another way to creating a PDF from your document: Printing to PDF by a virtual PDF Printer software.
The Windows 10 has such software by default, and there are more free virtual printer softwares (PDF24 Creator, etc...)
Use it as a real printer:
File - Print - choose a virtual PDF printer...
In this case the settings of the Print procedure will be relevant.

[Hagar Delest]

The feature EXPORT is not same as the PRINT procedure.
The setting of the PRINT procedure can be different than the settings of the EXPORT.

That is the point of DavideAndrea I guess: the setting of a procedure should not change the setting for another procedure.

Tha another way to creating a PDF from your document: Printing to PDF by a virtual PDF Printer software.

Much less powerful than the built-in PDF export since it will remove the cross-references (hyperlinks) and the outline that can be displayed in the PDF reader.

I tried DavideAndrea procedure with LibreOffice 7.2 on my Xubuntu machine and I confirm that I see exactly the same problem. But only if I deactivate the option in the Export as PDF first.
If I save the file with the option activated for the printer and the Export as PDF, it remains (for both methods) when I load it later, works as expected.
If I Export directly as PDF, then the option remains in both methods, works as expected.
If I Export as PDF but deactivate the option, then it is removed from the printer dialog as well, clearly a bug.
Since the Export directly as PDF takes the settings of the last Export as PDF configuration, it wipes this setting as well.

You can file a bug if it has not been already: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.
No such bug filed for LibreOffice.

[Zizi64]

Hagar, thank you for the detailed test.

I just tried it: same in my LO6.1.6.

Workaround tips:
- check the option at every Export/Print action.
- a custom Export/Print macro can set the proper option.

[Hagar Delest]

Filed for LO: Bug 145657 - Export to PDF resets automatic blank pages option for printer

Workaround: File /Print print to a file using a pdf printer

I would say that the best workaround is to avoid the direct PDF print. Since it takes the last configuration of the Export to PDF, you may produce a file that tells too much: sometimes I make hybrid PDFs, that is with the source file (.odt) embedded in it. If after a couple of days, for a different file I want to make a mere PDF, then using that button will embed its source file too, without me remembering!

[DavideAndrea]

Thank you all. I wasted 4 hours working on this problem, so I appreciate all of your help. I am writing a book (http://connectorbook.com/), my 4th one using OpenOffice Writer, so it takes 10 minutes to print to PDF, only to discover that the pagination was changed.

> In the appeared settings panel there is a TAB named General. That contains the setting for the blank pages in case PDF Export.

Well, I'll be darned! I never used the menu, I always used the button. So I never saw that dialog. Thank you!

> The another way to creating a PDF from your document: Printing to PDF by a virtual PDF Printer software.

Yes, that is what I described in my "workaround".

> the setting of a procedure should not change the setting for another procedure.

Exactly. Thank you for expressing my point better than I did.

Again, thank you all for the great service you provide.