I had enough of this... Page Layout & Printing

[ccldotnet]

I'm having a hard time using Writer... When printing a document not created by Writer ( Word etc... ) The formatting is all wrong... It will get scrambled... When i adjust it and print it... the print out gets cut off... It's like the margin is out of printing range but when i look at it in Print Preview, the page is ok... What's with this?

Edit: changed Title.. TerryE

[TerryE]

When you say Word etc. Do you really mean the etc. Which other formats have you problems with?

The problems for our guys who maintain the DOC import and export filters is that MS do not publish a format spec for DOC formats. Their view that that's their affair and no one else's. Even their OOXML spec runs to 6,000 pages and includes such useful tag definitions such as "insert end paragraph using Word6 carriage return rules". MS do not want to make it easy for their competitors to open their document formats and replicate the layouts exactly. This enables competition. Actually if you use standard formatting or style based layout then the documents look very similar in my view.

So whilst you may be right that OOo lays out complex DOC files slightly differently to Word, Is this really a criticism that you should be leveling at OOo or at MS for locking you into their commercial products?

[ccldotnet]

I'm in the Philippines, and the most widely used word processing program is MS WORD... so mostly, i encountered problems with the .DOC file... I really mean the ETC thing... and not pointing on a single program..

My problem is what in the Print Preview is showing doesn't look like on print... I'm not criticising it.. I'm just fed up.. I want to have a solution for this... I'm not just in a good mood today with all the pressure in work and stuff... So if someone can help me here... I will really appreciate it...

[TerryE]

Sorry, but I was confused by your usage. Etc is "et cetera" in other words and other packages. Your problems seem to be interoperating with MSO and MS doesn't make this easy. If you have a specific problem then we might be able to help you. But if you issue is that I need a word processor than lays out my pages exactly the same as Word, then you have only one solution: go out and buy Word. That's the way that Microsoft designed it.

It is reasonable for OOo to make a free package that interoperates pretty well with DOC formats. It is not reasonable to expect 100% fidelity with a supplier that by strategic intent does not wish to facilitate this. Sorry.

[ccldotnet]

No... You're not getting me... I'm using OpenOffice here in my cafe cause i can't afford other commercial brands... My problem is everytime a client wants us to print his/her document ( usually in MS WORD format .DOC ) the document format is out of place... so i have to re arrange it.. after arranging it... usually i base it in PRINT PREVIEW if my arrangement is ok... after that and i click PRINT.. the printout is not the same as in the PRINT PREVIEW.. Its like the margin was set out of print range.. Its like this...

PRINT PREVIEW
My name is Tom. I live here in California. I have two sons. Jerick and Jeffrey. They both play basketball.
...........................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................

PRINTOUT
My name is Tom. I live here in California. I have two sons. Jerick and Jeffrey. They both play baske
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................

What's the problem with this? PRINT PREVIEW bug?

[TerryE]

I am getting you. OOo is not exactly interoperable with Word and has difficulty sometimes in generating a facsimile rendering of word documents. BTW are you sure that this isn't just an A4 vs. Letter issue that you are seeing?

Anyway why not attach a [if necessary sanitised] version of your document here, or a sufficient page subset to demonstrate the problem, or alternatively email my userID at openoffice,org

[foxcole]

What's the problem with this? PRINT PREVIEW bug?

It's much more likely a PRINTER DRIVER bug.

What printer model are you using?

Do I remember your saying in some other thread that you're on Windows XP? What version of OpenOffice, please? What version(s) of Word? You might need to make sure the people giving you .doc files to print are putting them in Word97/2000/XP format.

[ccldotnet]

The page setup is ok... 8.5x11 Letter size... Sorry but i don't have the document to sample it.

I'm using HP PSC-1410 printer... Using OpenOffice 2.2 that time but now i'm using 2.3.1.

[foxcole]

The page setup is ok... 8.5x11 Letter size

Okay... but what are the margin settings? Many printers require a half-inch margin all around, so if the right margin extends into this nonprintable area, that could be what you're seeing.

I'm using HP PSC-1410 printer...

HP seems to have the most problems. If the above doesn't help, I would highly recommend you update your printer driver. Even if the printer is new, the driver that ships with it isn't necessarily the best or most up-to-date.

Using OpenOffice 2.2 that time but now i'm using 2.3.1.

Thank you... but you still haven't told us what OS or what version(s) of Word the documents are in.

P.S. -- Please change the subject line in your first post, so other people can tell what this is about and maybe be able to offer more specific suggestions, especially if they've been through this themselves. A meaningful subject line is SO important in a forum!!!
How about something like this: HP PSC-1410 cuts off print in docs not created in OOo

(Or just the first half, if needed, or some variant... there is a limit on the number of characters a subject line will hold. TerryE can tell you if that one's too long.)