On Thu, 2005-12-15 at 16:54 +0000, Ross Burton wrote: > On Thu, 2005-12-15 at 16:01 +0000, Iain * wrote: > > I don't know where I'd put a Print to File option, but I'd like it as > > a seperate entity instead. I'm wondering out loud now, if it could be > > linked to the other file operations (such as open, save, etc.) , > > because its really an operation that results in a file, rather than an > > operation that operates on the printer. But suggesting that would be > > something that I'll be shot down in flames for. > > OpenOffice has an Export option, which currently supports PDF and HTML. > I'd expect generic PostScript to fall happily in there, which is what > people generally mean when they print to a file. > > The only use-case for 'print to file' I can think of, apart from to work > around broken applications (where we fix the apps), is when you have > designed a document and the print shop wants a Postscript file. For > this, Export seems sensible.
The advantage of having it directly in the Print dialog is that applications all get the functionality for free. If we have to have a separate Print to File or Export, my bet is that a lot of applications won't remember to do so. Perhaps having Print to File in the Print dialog isn't the most obviously intuitive thing, but it's common enough that I think users won't have any difficulty discovering and remembering it. As for use-cases, here's one: My girlfriend uses a piece of statistical analysis software called SPSS. It's propriety software for Windows. She once wanted me to print a file for her, so I told her to print it to a PDF and send me that. It turns out that Print to PDF isn't in a standard Windows print dialog, which really shocked me. PDF is a universal printable format. If you want to give somebody something they can print, then you want to convert it to PDF. I'm not talking about high-end print shops here. I might write my resumé in AbiWord, but convert it to PDF to send out to prospective employers. Or maybe I need to print a Gnumeric spreadsheet at Kinko's. Any application that's capable of printing should be able to export to a PDF file. From a platform perspective, the only way we can really ensure that they all do is to have the PDF option inside the Print dialog. -- Shaun _______________________________________________ Usability mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
