Bug 166935 - UI label: Toggle Print Preview or 'Toggle Preview'
Summary: UI label: Toggle Print Preview or 'Toggle Preview'
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: UI (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.8.0.0 alpha0+
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: needsUXEval
Depends on:
Blocks: Print-Preview
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Reported: 2025-06-10 11:17 UTC by Telesto
Modified: 2025-06-17 09:38 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description Telesto 2025-06-10 11:17:45 UTC
Description:
UI label: Toggle Print Preview or 'Toggle Preview'

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Calc (or Writer)
2. Press Toggle Print Preview

Actual Results:
UI has a button 'Toggle Print Preview'. Suggesting the Preview to be limited to Printing. However The Preview setting is also affecting (Direct) PDF Export. So not limited to printing

Expected Results:
Drop Print, because it's to limiting. Simply call it Preview


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
Version: 25.8.0.0.alpha1+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 17e8dbead42e2d4b55815b1b7b2846b03d62a15d
CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 10 X86_64 (build 19045); UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: nl-NL (nl_NL); UI: en-US
Calc: CL threaded
Comment 1 Telesto 2025-06-10 11:18:52 UTC
@Eyal
I'm I overthinking this or is this valid point of view?
Comment 2 Eyal Rozenberg 2025-06-10 22:33:43 UTC
Well, it's true that "Print Preview" effects PDF export. But:

1. Exporting to PDF is basically interchangeable with "printing to PDF", as it's exporting to a printer-friendly 'final' format and placing it/sending it somewhere. So the current name is not quite false.
2. "Preview" without saying what you're previewing is meaningless - worse than what we have now.

But if you had a better suggestion for a name, I wouldn't be against that on principle.

What worried me more is that the Export PDF dialog does not show me information I've actually set using the Print Preview; specifically, the scale.

What other things can we set in Print Preview mode which effect PDF export?
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2025-06-11 03:02:12 UTC
(In reply to Eyal Rozenberg from comment #2)
> 2. "Preview" without saying what you're previewing is meaningless - worse
> than what we have now.
This, and I hardly see any user struggling with the current string. => NAB
Comment 4 Eyal Rozenberg 2025-06-11 07:15:40 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #3)
> This, and I hardly see any user struggling with the current string. => NAB

Heiko, the fact that a suggested course of action is not helpful, does not mean the problem reported does not exist.

Also, "hardly see any user struggling" - if a string is misleading, of course users won't struggle with it, they'll just believe it means something different than what it actually means.
Comment 5 Telesto 2025-06-11 11:53:15 UTC
(In reply to Eyal Rozenberg from comment #2)
> What worried me more is that the Export PDF dialog does not show me
> information I've actually set using the Print Preview; specifically, the
> scale.
> 
> What other things can we set in Print Preview mode which effect PDF export?

Some context:
A) It started me fuddling with File -> "Export as PDF" to reproduce (in hindsight spurious) bug 166928. I didn't find the issue, but I was rather annoyed by by the print range/layout. Export it on 2 pages
I couldn't figure out how to change that in Export as PDF dialog. Well aware about, Print Preview; but I assumed that's about Printing, right

Nevertheless I tried the Print Preview. Toggling on Print Preview, makes the Export to PDF directly quite prominent. All other buttons disabled, except Export directly to PDF and Print. At this point I made the connection between Print Preview affecting PDF export. With the conformation by that actual export result.

In hindsight I can absolute argue: pressing "Export directly to PDF" button is  nearly the same as printing. So Print Preview being relevant for PDF Export makes.  However not that was surely not my initial thought.

B) When pressing Print - skipping the Print Preview - I still get a preview of the end result before printing. It's more a black box case of Export to (directly) to PDF. 

C) I still don't really associate. "File -> Export as PDF" with Print preview. Nor do I associate the button " export directly to PDF" with Print Preview as long I don't toggle Print Preview ON first. 

You can get used to it, but it's not totally intuitive. 

Sure, only changing the label doesn't solve the problem. Which I assumed at first. 

Do I have different concrete proposal for improvement; not yet...
Comment 6 jan d 2025-06-17 09:38:19 UTC
I personally would opt for keeping the "print" in the label. I understand that "print" might limit the associations but vice versa, a mere "preview" widens the associations a lot: What is previewed? What for? It could now be a preview of a next edit, a preview for all sorts of other export formats etc.