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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0001748ScribusPrintingpublic2008-03-30 07:56
ReporterFrank_Cox Assigned To 
PrioritynormalSeverityfeatureReproducibilityN/A
Status acknowledgedResolutionopen 
PlatformallOSallOS Versionall
Product Version1.6 milestone 
Summary0001748: Feature request - page coverage information
DescriptionIt would be handy to have a function on the menu like "page properties" which would tell you what the ink coverage of the current page and the whole document currently is. This would be useful for determining the approximate cost of printing a Scribus document on a colour laser printer (for budgeting or deciding if it would be worth running the job on a press instead), or making sure that you have enough ink or toner at hand (colour or black) before starting to print a project.
Steps To Reproducen/a
Additional Informationn/a
TagsNo tags attached.
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christoph_s

2006-04-29 21:25

administrator   ~0010652

But wouldn't this require detailed information about the printer, i.e. somehow reading information from the driver and the machine? I'm not sure how difficult this would be to implement, but I assume it will be tricky, not to mention the support of different printing subsystems (Unix/Linux/OS/X: CUPS, Win32: GDI+).

louisdesjardins

2006-04-29 23:15

developer   ~0010667

As I understand it, Scribus would have to gather the percentage of the page covered by each ink (plate). This is a question raised all the time by printers. And in general, nobody really knows what to answer. I guess it would be fine to have a per page and per document total ink coverage. The question is: how will Scribus know the ink coverage for the pics? This feature doesn't exist afaik in other DTP apps although it is a need in this industry. I can only guess that it would be a real challenge to take up...

christoph_s

2006-04-29 23:29

administrator   ~0010669

Louis, Frank was talking about colour laser printers: no plates here ;)

Leaving that aside, even the producers of printers themselves can't tell exactly how much ink their products will use. There are simply too many uncertainties like temperature, humidity, age of the device, its state of tidiness, material to be printed on etc.

I have no idea how developers with no access to the internals of printing devices can determine the amount of ink required for a job. I guess even the developers of CUPS drivers would have difficulties implementing this. IMHO, this is a bit beyond the "responsibilities" of a layout software.

louisdesjardins

2006-04-30 01:36

developer   ~0010670

:) Well!! I think I really read what I wanted to read! :)

Anyhow, I think like you that this is, in a certain way, beyond the scope of the DTP app. At the same time, I think it would be a nice addition, if only it was feasible. The percentage of ink per plate is something we might be able to look after. Maybe the devels have a few thoughts on this.

jghali

2006-04-30 12:52

administrator   ~0010700

I doubt this is feasible for desktop printers, given that printer specific options can have an influence on ink coverage and that these options are generally not accessible outside the printer driver.

For plates this may feasible the day we are able to export n-channel images from pages. But anyway the result will be approximative because it will suppose that no other color management is done at the printer level.

plinnell

2006-04-30 14:40

viewer   ~0010701

Nice idea, but not doable in 1.4 i do not think, given the probable complexity to accomplish this.

brunod

2008-03-30 07:56

reporter   ~0019323

Last edited: 2008-03-30 07:58

And what about an answer like "20% black ink coverage; X% cyan coverage..." for all inks used, per page and total sum ? Would it be useful ?
An approximation could be computed as option in print preview by rasterizing the page preview for each ink.
Each user has then to know how much ink he uses for 100% black ink paper coverage to estimate the answer for his own situation and printing hardware. So you avoid to manage the particular specification of each printer that exists.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2005-03-03 05:40 Frank_Cox New Issue
2006-04-12 14:09 mhanski Priority normal => low
2006-04-12 14:09 mhanski OS Fedora => all
2006-04-12 14:09 mhanski OS Version Core 3 => all
2006-04-12 14:09 mhanski Platform 2.4 Pentium 4 => all
2006-04-12 14:09 mhanski Product Version 1.3 => 1.3.4cvs
2006-04-29 21:14 mhanski Product Version 1.3.4cvs => 1.3
2006-04-29 21:15 mhanski Priority low => normal
2006-04-29 21:17 mhanski Status new => feedback
2006-04-29 21:25 christoph_s Note Added: 0010652
2006-04-29 23:15 louisdesjardins Note Added: 0010667
2006-04-29 23:29 christoph_s Note Added: 0010669
2006-04-30 01:36 louisdesjardins Note Added: 0010670
2006-04-30 12:52 jghali Note Added: 0010700
2006-04-30 14:40 plinnell Note Added: 0010701
2006-04-30 14:40 plinnell Status feedback => acknowledged
2006-04-30 14:40 plinnell Product Version 1.3 => 1.6 milestone
2008-03-30 07:56 brunod Note Added: 0019323
2008-03-30 07:58 brunod Note Edited: 0019323