How to get LO Writer to print 6 x 9

[frazelle09]

i usually make a PDF of a book from LO Writer and import it into a website to be printed and sent back. The book is 6" x 9" and so i set Writer up with this Page Size. i can’t seem to get this to print out on a regular 8.5" x 11" page in such a way that i could just print the whole book on my printer at home and cut it down to size.

What settings do i need to make in LO Writer to get this to print in a 6" x 9" area on the 8.5" x 11" paper instead of Writer enlarging it to fit the 8.5" x 11" paper size? i’ve already tried fiddling with innumerable settings both with the .odt file as well as the exported PDF.

i’m using a Color LaserJet Pro M454. LO is the 7.5.4.2 version.

Have a beautiful week and be happy!

[EarnestAl]

If I create a document with 6" x 9" pages and print it to Letter size, this is what the print preview shows me

I added the border to show the margins, there is no expanding to fit the paper. The page is centered on the Letter size paper. Check to see if the HP printer driver is set to Fit to Paper.
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If you exported to pdf and are printing the pdf then check that Fit to paper isn’t set in the pdf reader print dialogue.
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If the final dimensions weren’t needed to be exact, say for a sample, you could print it as a brochure so page size would be 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

[frazelle09]

This is for both of you guys - Ernest and Michael i think it is… Wow. You guys are fast! Thanks for posting. i just checked the layout again in LO and you are correct - it will print centered on the 8.5" x 11" page at the size of 6" x 9". So we have our first step. We could print the book like this but i’d have to figure out where the actual page edges were - top, bottom and side so we could take it to the shop and have them cut it with a more pro guillotine than the one we have here at the house.

Is there another option that is not “Centered on the Page”. If i could get it into one of the corners, then we’d only need two cuts - lol. Sorry - maybe this is a big ask. It’s late.

Again, thanks for all the trouble you have taken to answer the question. Have a great evening and be happy!

[EarnestAl]

The easiest way would be to cut the paper to size first then print the pages
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If you can’t do that then work out the width and height of the area inside the margins of your existing page.
Set a new paper size of Letter, Mirrored
For the first page apply the current top and left margins and then set the right margin to be left margin +width of text area. Set the bottom margin to be Top margin + height of text area
The second page should be the same except it will be set to the right, not left, so when they are back to back you will cut away the blank area

[Wanderer]

@frazelle09

but i’d have to figure out where the actual page edges were -

One of the few reasons, why Adobe reader is still installed on my Windows desktop is printing options: It has a checkbox to print a border around a page.
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But I would not recommend this in two-sided printing, as you will see the little imperfection in positioning the paper. My two-sided labels have the lines only on the front side.
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In professional printing we use crop-marks outside the printing area. But LibreOffice does not support this. You could print some pages with adobes setting for border and put them on top when cutting. (Or create some frames for as empty pages with the same page settings as your book.)

[wmichaelb2]

A5 is 5.83" X 8.27", and it’s available on the Linux printer driver for my HP 2420DM laserjet. Is that close enough? Is it available on your OS/driver? For sizes, see:

[List of paper sizes | Page dimensions from A4 to Letter & Demy Quarto]

[frazelle09]

Yes, it’s available. How strange that 6" x 9" is not available… - lol.

Thanks for posting!