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The settings in print to file option in Ubuntu is limiting and dangerous. All the applications apart from Mozilla print to a file ~/output.pdf, this is dangerous as you can overwrite a previous print.

Edit: I have been informed you are asked whether you wish to overwrite, unlike in cups-pdf

Why can't applications use the title of the document, the filename or the page title of the web page?

What package and where are the settings of this print to file held. I would prefer it printing to the desktop if it cannot intuitively chose a filename, as when it arrives on the desktop it would be a visual reminder for me to change the filename.

Previously I did not use the print to file feature, as the cups-pdf didn't have these short comings. But the latest releases including 12.04 of cups-pdf has been botched and all text are converted to images before embedding them in the pdf. Making the PDFs useless as it prevents the selecting of text and the sharpness of the text is lost too. The bug has been reported for sometime now, https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups-pdf/+bug/820820 and as usual been labelled as a wish list feature.

So my question is where in the system is the ~/output.pdf set?

so one can change it to the desktop.

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pt123
  • 652

3 Answers3

2

There is currently a GnomeGoal dedicated to change this: https://live.gnome.org/GnomeGoals/PrintToFile

However as it looks now, not many Gnome Applications implement this yet.

lanoxx
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0

In general, I'm unable to confirm the premise of your question. When I use firefox or gedit, I'm able to set both the directory and the filename where the output of print to file is saved. I wonder if the problem you are seeing is specific to a particular application. I have never noticed the program behavior you mention.

If it is a general problem, then I'd suggest that there is something wrong and it may be appropriate to file a bug. How do I report a bug? may be helpful.

Nevertheless, to get to your question in bold. Each application can manage its print menu. The Libre suite seems to go for exporting a .pdf file over printing to a file. For gedit the answer is: ~/.config/gedit/gedit-print-settings. For a gnome application that prints to files ~/.config/application-name would be the first place I would look.

Here's mine:

gruber@gruber-precise-laptop:~$ cat ~/.config/gedit/gedit-print-settings 

[Print Settings]
number-up=1
reverse=false
print-pages=all
output-uri=file:///home/gruber/Documents/xyzzy.pdf
output-file-format=pdf
collate=false
printer=Print to File
page-set=all
scale=100
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John S Gruber
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0

Here is an alternative, in case someone is still looking for it: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=172796#p1009080

It provides separate printers for different output quality (different image resolutions, grayscale, etc.), asking you where to store the result. Default file name is based on web page name if printed from the browser, or the original file name otherwise. Works for printing to PDF from Wine applications as well.

It refers to Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu and so should work there, too.

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