colour printing bug in Writer?

users
#1

Hi

I have made a writer document with two colour pictures in it and a bit of
text. When I print the document on a Samsung CLP-320 in colour mode then
they are printed like sephia (that is how it looks like most). When I
print the same picture straight from Windows (same machine and printer),
the print comes out in colour... So is there a setting in Writer which
causes this, or is Writer doing something to my print stream to get this
strange output?

Any help would be appreciated.

Raymond

#2

Take a look at Tools | Options... | LibreOffice | Print. Is "Convert colors to grayscale" ticked in error?

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

#3

Hello Brian,

I already checked that option and that box is not ticked (first thing I
checked). That is why I find it weird that it comes out in black & white.

Kind regards,

Raymond

#4

Hi Raymond,

Hi

I have made a writer document with two colour pictures in it and a bit of
text. When I print the document on a Samsung CLP-320 in colour mode then
they are printed like sephia (that is how it looks like most). When I
print the same picture straight from Windows (same machine and printer),
the print comes out in colour... So is there a setting in Writer which
causes this, or is Writer doing something to my print stream to get this
strange output?

Any help would be appreciated.

Raymond

Try to see if the right device is picked in the LibreOffice print section. Print->Properties->Device

Sometimes the wrong driver is picked.

Cheers,

Marc

#5

Are you saying you are doing both tests using Windows? One with Writer and one outside of Writer? Or is it a Windows vs. Linux question?

I run Ubuntu most of the time, and I prefer it. Let me say this about some Linux drivers for some printers. I have found that some color printerdrivers, HP color laser driver the worst, that some of these Linux drivers tend to get the colors for the images wrong. The HP Color Laserjet 2600, I hadbut now dead, tended to print the images more towards the brown shading. I have seen other Linux drivers do the same. Mostly HP printers. I have seen it on an Epson Artisan 810 inkjet printer, but not too noticeable unless you place the Windowsprint side-by-side with the Linux print.

Now, as I was reminded recently, you may have a choice of drivers types for your printer. I see the following options for Print > Properties > Device, in the Printer Language Type "box".

Automatic: PDF
Postscript (Level from driver)
Postscript Level 1
Postscript Level 2
Postscript Level 3
PDF

I had some problems printing a complex document with the default setting of "Automatic: PDF", yet, when I changed the option to Postscript Level 3, it worked fine.

So, please try Postscript Level 3 first, then try the others to seewhich one prints the best.

ALSO,
For my printers, I am able to access some printer controls that will modify the ink density and the color shading to make the printer's color prints look more like the color standards for the printing industry.

#6

Hi. I can't print landscape from LO direct to my printer and have to print to PDF first. Try printing to PDF and see if the PDF prints colour. If so it may be a LO/Driver issue.
Steve

#7

Which Windows OS? or is it Linux?

Do you see controls for Landscape? What does it do if you choose it?

#8

It is some dicky issue with the Brother driver and LO on Linux. I have seen some discussion and it is just as easy to print to PDF and print that.

#9

Actually, I also have a Brother printer and the same fix is to choose the correct device drive with through LibreOffice.

Print->Properties->Device and choose PostScript Level 3. This fixes the problem.

Cheers,

Marc

#10

Thanks. It does too. But I can't set this permanently. The settings in spadmin won't stick.
Steve

#11

Yes, Tim and I are not sure if this is a problem with LibreOffice or with our systems. The device sticks until you exit out of LibreOffice. If you open LibreOffice again, you have to change the device again. I wonder if anyone else has this problem where the device defaults to the wrong one and you have to manually change it each time you open a fresh version of LibreOffice.

Cheers,

Marc

#12

Hi. It's a widely discussed issue for some time.
Steve

#13

Steve Edmonds wrote:

Do you see controls for Landscape? What does it do if you choose it

It is some dicky issue with the Brother driver and LO on Linux. I have
seen some discussion and it is just as easy to print to PDF and print
that.

Actually, I also have a Brother printer and the same fix is to choose
the correct device drive with through LibreOffice.

Print->Properties->Device and choose PostScript Level 3. This fixes
the problem.

Cheers,

Marc

Thanks. It does too. But I can't set this permanently. The settings in
spadmin won't stick.
Steve

Yes, Tim and I are not sure if this is a problem with LibreOffice or with our systems. The device sticks until you exit out of LibreOffice. If you open LibreOffice again, you have to change the device again. I wonder if anyone else has this problem where the device defaults to the wrong one and you have to manually change it each time you open a fresh version of LibreOffice.

Cheers,

Marc

Hi. It's a widely discussed issue for some time.
Steve

I don't know what OS is being used here, but if Linux, then CUPS allows a default printer to be selected. When selected in CUPS, this printer should be the default printer that is highlighted in the LO print dialog. Optionally, printer and printer settings can be changed on a per-document basis by using the File -> Printer Settings option in LO. Once that is set and the document saved, all subsequent loading of that document should have the same printer settings as when last saved. Oh, one must also select Tools -> Options -> Load Save -> General and select "Load printer settings with the document" to enable this behavior. One downside of this is if the document is sent to someone else, it will still try to print on the now-nonexistent printer, or the wrong printer if still on the same LAN. In that case, the settings could be changed or use Ctrl-P to bring up the print dialog and change the printer/settings. I use this feature for printing envelopes repeatedly, which require different printer settings than documents. Works for me.

If the save icon is grayed out when you try to save the document printer settings, just add and delete something anywhere in the document and it should be enabled again.
Hope this helps.
Girvin Herr

#14

Thanks, I set the printer as postscript instead of PDF in my default template and all is good for new documents.
Steve

#15

Yes, I have Epson 1400 printer, and I have to do that each time as well.
It's a bug.

#16

Can anyone on this thread see if this bug has been submitted? If not, could you submit it? It would really help out if you submitted it and we can all then confirm the bug and add our own information to it.

I am a little swamped with work right now.

The BSA (Bug Submission Assistant) is here: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/bug/

Marc