Writer keeps changing my page size settings from letter to A4

English
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#1

I’m having trouble with writer changing my default print settings to a4 or a3 when I’ve created the doc in letter. Under layout, the page size is listed as a3, but when printing it defaults to a4, and even under the printer advanced settings (when selected through libre office) the paper size shows up as a4. The paper size on screen is correct though, so when displayed it shows as letter. I have already changed the locale to English (USA), and created a template with the right settings, but it keeps defaulting to A4 (and A3 in the layout menu). This is true for new and existing documents, as well as docs originally created in Microsoft Word. If I change the size in layout, it just reverts back to a3 immediately (with no visible change to the document). If I change it in the print menu, it will print in letter size, but revert back to A4 if I open it again.

I’ve checked the rest of LibreOffice and none of the other tools have this problem- they are using the system settings.

I’ve uploaded a file with screen shots of what I’m seeing. Can you tell me how to resolve this?

Version details -
Version: 25.2.5.2 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 03d19516eb2e1dd5d4ccd751a0d6f35f35e08022
CPU threads: 16; OS: Windows 11 X86_64 (10.0 build 26100); UI render: Skia/Vulkan; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US
Calc: threadedstrong text
LibreOfficePagesize.odt (267.8 KB)

#2

Is the uploaded document a file experiencing the problem you describe? Here it claims to be Letter and would probably print as such if my printer had a Letter tray.

If the answer is No, please attach a reduced version (2-3 pages) of a faulty document.

#3

Have you set in the printer settings what paper is loaded in the tray(s)?

#4

when I created the file it was replicating the issue I saw elsewhere. When I open it now the page size menu under layout shows a3 still, but the page size itself and the printer settings are set to letter.

When I open the other file that I’ve been working in primarily for the past several weeks, it still shows up with the wrong printer settings.

Since the content I’m working on is sensitive I’ve saved a copy of the file with all the text removed. attaching it here.
LibreOfficePagesize_test.odt (15.1 KB)

#5

yes the printer has letter paper in it. it’s all we use and it’s the default setting for every other program on our computer.

#6

Your blank test file shows up as A4. Is this intended? In case no, how did you (or not) configured Default Page Style?

You constantly mention “Layout”. Are you under a tabbed interface? If I switch to this UI, I effectively get A3 selected under the Page Size menu. IMHO, this a glitch in the tabbed UI. Avoid this kind of UI which mimics Word and unfortunately encourages bad usage. Contrary to Word, Writer is deeply and heavily based on styles while Word and its tabbed UI focuses on direct formatting.

The only reliable information is the one provided by the styles, optionally modified by dreaded direct formatting.

Anyway, this is probably a bug to be reported on TDF Bugzilla.

#7

Contrary to LibreOfficePagesize.odt, LibreOfficePagesize_test.odt was made from a template “Normal.dotm”. Open the template for editing and change the page style(s).

1 Like
#8

What I meant is if the paper is set in the printer, see Setting the Paper Size and Type for the Paper Drawer

But I do notice that if I switch to Tabbed mode, your document crashes my computer. Maybe try with a temporary profile to see if a new document, or an untouched document from MS Word, will have that issue, see LibreOffice user profile - The Document Foundation Wiki

#9

This means it comes from Word. I was not aware that Writer could use Word templates. Or is it simply a manual name set on a real Writer template (since LO does not use extension to route files to a component)?

#10

“Normal.dotm” is the name shown in the File>Properties dialog. I guess, the actual name of the template file is “Normal.dotm.ott”

ajlittoz fixed ott above (ots is spreadsheet template) :wink:

#11

I can do that, but i started writing in word and then moved to writer, so the template it used originally was in word. I am not sure how to resolve the template issue since it’s not based on the native libreoffice template.

#12

yeah - i started writing in word, and part way through switched to writer. The file opened without any issues, and even pulled in my preset styles, so I didn’t think too much of it. The template manager doesn’t show any options for applying a template to an existing document – I created one with my custom style set and margins etc but I don’t know how to make use of it in this case.

#13

I hadn’t set any configs for paper or printing – everything else I’ve done in LO has worked fine to this point.

I have been using the condensed tabbed layout. However, i just tried switching and when I go to page styles (there’s no longer a layout menu anywhere that I see), and the page size shows up correctly there now. It still comes up as A4 in the print menu though.

#14

Yep, printer settings are for letter on all trays. I’ve tried setting to a non-tabbed view and it doesnt seem to make a difference on the file, but I was using tabbed originally so maybe it’s something about changing to tabbed vs just using tabbed.

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