Bug 168813 - Clarify wording of “Export as PDF” vs “Export Directly as PDF” (especially in German localization)
Summary: Clarify wording of “Export as PDF” vs “Export Directly as PDF” (especially in...
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Localization (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.8.2.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: needsUXEval
Depends on:
Blocks: UNO-Command-Label
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Reported: 2025-10-11 14:28 UTC by groby999
Modified: 2026-01-27 17:14 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

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Description groby999 2025-10-11 14:28:18 UTC
Currently, LibreOffice uses two similar menu entries:
- “Export as PDF…”
- “Export Directly as PDF”

In German localization, they appear as:
- “Als PDF exportieren…”
- “Direkt als PDF exportieren”

For many users, this wording is confusing, since the difference is not obvious at first glance.
The first option opens a dialog with export settings (pages, compression, PDF/A, password, etc.),
while the second immediately exports with default settings.

Suggestion:
Rename or slightly reword these entries to make their difference clearer, e.g.:

EN:
- “Export as PDF (with options)…”
- “Quick export as PDF”

DE:
- “PDF mit Optionen exportieren…”
- “Schnell-PDF exportieren”

This small wording change would improve usability and reduce confusion for casual users.

(PS: I used ChatGPT for wording help, and it fully agreed with my view of the situation.)
Comment 1 BogdanB 2025-10-11 18:44:46 UTC
Maybe a different term/expression could be use, I agree, but now "quick". Consider some people could have 3000 pages documents with images and want to export as a "quick" PDF. Would be not so quick if he needs to wait some minutes to generate a PDF.
Comment 2 nutka 2025-10-12 08:21:05 UTC
A quick look at the Writer Guide 25.2, p. 171:

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Quick export to PDF

Click the Export Directly as PDF icon on the Standard toolbar,
or File > Export As > Export Directly as PDF, to export the entire document using the PDF settings you most recently selected in the PDF Options dialog. (...)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Comment 3 fpy 2025-10-18 13:12:37 UTC
(In reply to nutka from comment #2)
> Quick export to PDF

Default export to PDF ?
Comment 4 BogdanB 2025-10-18 13:21:13 UTC
(In reply to fpy from comment #3)
> (In reply to nutka from comment #2)
> > Quick export to PDF
> 
> Default export to PDF ?

Its not a default. If you change settings in export to pdf, the direct export will keep the latest changes from export.
Comment 5 nutka 2025-10-19 09:35:43 UTC
(In reply to groby999 from comment #0)
> Currently, LibreOffice uses two similar menu entries:
> - “Export as PDF…”
> - “Export Directly as PDF”
> 
> In German localization, they appear as:
> - “Als PDF exportieren…”
> - “Direkt als PDF exportieren”
> 
> For many users, this wording is confusing, since the difference is not
> obvious at first glance.

Would be that also the case for two print commands: "Print" and "Print Directly" (in German UI, respectively, "Drucken..." and "Direkt drucken")?

Cf. the "Print File Directly" topic in Help
https://help.libreoffice.org/25.8/en-US/text/shared/02/01110000.html
Comment 6 fpy 2025-10-19 11:34:52 UTC
(In reply to BogdanB from comment #4)
> ... change settings 

then they become your new (user) default.
(as opposed to factory default)
Comment 7 Heiko Tietze 2026-01-22 09:32:10 UTC
(In reply to groby999 from comment #0)
> - “Export Directly as PDF”
> ...
> - “Quick export as PDF”
I don't see much of an improvement between 'directly' and 'quickly'. We need a short text for the label and it should be consistent with the respective function (Save/Export/Print <Directly> As <Foo>). Something like "Save/Export/Print <without a settings dialog> As <Foo>" is too long. Even shorter labels are requested in bug 167259.

An alternative approach would be adding the option to the Save dialog and have only one function, see bug 151541
Comment 8 jan d 2026-01-27 17:14:26 UTC
> The first option opens a dialog with export settings 
> (pages, compression, PDF/A, password, etc.), while the 
> second immediately exports with default settings.

I think this is how it should be. The ... is a standard indicator for "it will open a window allowing you provide for further information" and is around since at least 1987 (both via the Apple Macintosh interface guidelines and the IBM Common User Access standard). 

I think we should uphold that convention. (=WF)