Hello,
after very happily having purchased version 3.0 I am going through my Dorico Preferences again.
If I set the language to German and the default paper format to Automatic I will get my desired default paper size to be DIN A4. So far everything is fine.
But if I want to run Dorico in English (that is, what I have always done and intend to do in the future too) I will always end up with paper format of US Letter, no matter how I configure the default paper size in preferences. International or Automatic will always give me US Letter.
I think this might be still a bug in the configuration. Dorico sees it is run on a German system (even if I want it to run in English). Then it interprets Automatic as opposite of how the Language is chosen and opposite of the system Language. minus time minus results in plus - that is my guess why I can not get the DIN A4 to fall in place…
Any workarounds welcome.
Thank you Rob,
I feel even if my System has a German keyboard and the OS is running in German (my choice), I should be able to choose my default paper size in Dorico independently.
At the moment (actually since Dorico’s release) I have to do it manually for each project and each layout.
That is why I ask…
There must be a way
I’ve been looking into this today, and unfortunately I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it. Dorico asks the printer what page sizes it supports, and this eventually calls down to the MacOS APIs for listing the paper sizes provided by the printer. Based on the Language & Region settings, it appears that this returns a different set of page sizes for the same printer. Our office printer, for example, can print up to A3. When I am using the UK region, the list of page sizes it returns includes A4 but excludes Letter. When I am using the German region, the list of page sizes it returns includes Letter but excludes A4. I’ve been scouring both Qt’s documentation and the Apple documentation for the underlying APIs used by Qt and can’t see any way for us to influence this.
I used to have a similar problem on Windows. The paper size I use for parts is 9.5" x 12.5" but that would never come up by default in Dorico’s Print module. I solved the problem by setting Adobe PDF as my printer using a custom paper size of 9.5" x 12.5" called “Music Manuscript.” Since Acrobat can “print” to any page size, perhaps the OP could make sure his desired page size is available in a PDF printer, and have that printer selected by default. I always print physical copies from PDFs anyway so it’s not an additional step in my workflow to export PDFs first.
Here’s what my Print module now looks like by default, with the correct 9.5" x 12.5" dimensions selected, even though that’s not a size recognized by my eventual output printer:
Fred, if you’re exported PDF using the Graphics Export function then the paper size in Print mode is completely irrelevant - Dorico ignores it and respects what’s set in Layout Options.
If you’re using a third-party PDF “printer” then this opens the door to various problems: mis-embedded fonts, unexpected margins etc.
Yes, but Dorico’s Print module never selected the 9.5x12.5 size correctly and always selected 11x17 as that was the only “supported” size that my Ricoh printer has installed by default that can print 9.5x12.5. By switching the printer to Adobe PDF, Dorico’s Print module can now correctly use my default size of 9.5x12.5. I don’t end up using Adobe PDF to print, and always export PDF graphics directly from Dorico as shown in the image. Selecting Adobe PDF as my printer and then not actually using it, allows the Print module to get the size correct as it’s not an officially supported size by my Ricoh printer. If I switch my printer in the Print module to my Ricoh printer, it never gets the size correct by default.
You’re missing the point. If you never “print” from Dorico, always exporting to PDFs first, then there is absolutely no point in getting Print mode’s settings correct. You’re wasting your time by bothering to do that.
When you export a graphic using the ‘Graphics’ destination in Print mode, it always and without exception uses the page size defined in the layout, not the paper size you have chosen under the ‘Printer’ destination.
Ok, I see now. The bug in this situation is with the on screen preview. Dorico previews it incorrectly as 11x17, but the exported file is actually 9.5x12.5. Dorico incorrectly shows the print preview based on the printer size. (or something like that.) I guess I never actually exported it because the listed size is wrong, and visually the print preview is wrong. It would be great if the print preview actually reflected the selected size when exporting PDFs.
Not going to happen any time soon (as you’d know if you’d searched - this has been discussed at length previously). The Print preview widget is provided by Qt, and this particular thing (which isn’t a bug; it’s expected behaviour) can’t be fixed without Steinberg developing their own Print Preview widget from scratch. This isn’t going to happen soon because
a) the current situation doesn’t prevent you from printing or exporting what you want correctly and
b) it would take time and energy that’s better spent developing new features and improving existing ones.
So going back to the OPs original post, if he just exports PDFs from Dorico and prints from that, then it shouldn’t make any difference what size the Print module says it is?
So if I want the Print preview to match the output as a final proofing tool before exporting, I do need to keep my current method of using Adobe PDF with Music Manuscript selected as the printer, otherwise the print preview will never match the actual output? (Even though the output is correct regardless.)
You can’t trust the Print Preview if your paper size isn’t supported by your physical printer. You can go through your current method of utilising the Adobe PDF printer, or you can assign a shortcut to turn off signposts in Engrave mode and use that for proofing purposes. It’s the latter option that I use…
