[Usability] Re: [Desktop_architects] Printing dialog and GNOME (Summit mockups)

[Michael Sweet]

Till Kamppeter wrote:
> Michael Sweet wrote:
>> Tomasz Janowitz wrote:
>>
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> -> Michael Sweet - very good points!
>>>
>>> I would add:
>>
>>> 1) The 'current page' option should be there in a print dialog (next
>>> to 'all' ?)
>>
>> Agreed.
>>
>>> 2) The same with print to file.
>>
>> Actually, I like what KDE does - "Print to File" is just another printer
>> in the list.
>>
> 
> The extra printer is the better way, as printed to file should be
> printer-model neutral.
> 
>>> 3) Odd/even pages selection should definitely be on print dialog (not
>>> in the settings) - it's just to common option. It should be exposed,
>>> so that user can see what actually is going to be printed. I don't
>>> think there is need for "comment" next to this button as it is of
>>> now, since the button is rather self-explanatory. Could also be made
>>> narrower.
>>
>> Something like:
>>
>> Pages: [radio] All Pages      from [start page] to [end page]
>>        [radio] Odd Pages
>>        [radio] Even Pages
>>        [radio] Current Page
>>
> 
> Odd and even could be combined with hand-selected pages. Example:
> 
> Selection: 2-9, 15-18
> 
> With "Odd" one gets: 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17
> With "Even": 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 18
> 
> There should be a switch all/odd/even and another one
> all/current/manual, as in KDE.

My thought was that selecting All, Odd, or Even would enable the
from and to field(s), while "Current" would disable the field(s).
(basically doing what you want).

An alternative is to just use a drop-down chooser, and selecting
"Current Page" disables the from/to field(s).

> What about a "manual duplex wizard" instead of/in addition to odd/even?
> With pictures, like one sometimes finds in Windows printer drivers.

Do people really still bother with manual duplex printing that
much these days when many printers come with duplex support
already?

Supporting manual duplexing right requires a knowledge of how
the pages come out (face up or face down), but I suspect this
behavior would be best implemented by providing a duplex option
in the dialog and triggering a special two-job submission mode in
the GUI rather than requiring the user to say "print the front
sides" and "print the back sides".

I.e., this should just work and the GUI should be able to do
things the right way for the user depending on whether the
printer supports duplexing in hardware.  I say the GUI because
the print system has no direct communication with the user outside
of user-initiated requests, and putting the logic in the driver
means putting it in all drivers... :(

>>> 4) Maybe the landscape/portrait selection could also be on this
>>> dialog (possibly only with check box - while this may sacrifice some
>>> easy of use, the result would be still visible in 'page preview'
>>> window).
>>
>> I'm not 100% sure on this.  Some applications maintain a document
>> page size and orientation, so it makes more sense to default to
>> that and not bother showing it on the main dialog, but other apps
>> (web browsers, spreadsheets, etc.) are not normally page-oriented.
>>
> 
> "Orientation" should be left out for readily layouted stuff like
> PostScript or PDF, or for apps delivering a ready layout (text
> processor, DTP, ...). For apps with more or less list or non-paged text
> output (browsers, text editors, IDE, HTML, ASCII) there should be choice
> of landscape and portrait, fit to page width, font size, wrap, columns.
>  Photos should have auto (to fit them to the page), landscape, and portrait.
> 
>>> I know that i propose to cram many things in one window, which
>>> probably you would like to keep simple, but hiding to many features
>>> in 'preferences' and 'advanced' tabs can also be confusing, since i
>>> have to remember the options i set, when i am back in 'print dialog'
>>> (not that i have difficulties with it :) ).
>>
>> A possibility (and something I really want to put up for people to
>> play with) is to use expandable dialogs with summary bars, e.g.:
>>
>>     > Printer                   (status icon)
>>
>> becomes:
>>
>>     v Printer                   (status icon)
>>       list of selectable printers
>>
>> and:
>>
>>     > Page: Letter, Portrait, 1-Up, 1-Sided
>>
>> becomes:
>>
>>     V Page: Letter, Portrait, 1-Up, 1-Sided
>>       Size: [size chooser]
>>       Orientation: [portrait] [landscape]
>>       Pages per sheet: [1] [2] [4] [6] [9] [16]
>>       2-sided printing: [duplex chooser]
>>
>> I'll see if I can put up a demo (FLTK-based... :) that shows how
>> this would work...
>>
> 
> That looks realy great. Wen the option tree is fully collapsed it should
> be one line containing all non-default settings. Then having each option
> group be lead by a line summarizing the settings in the group is alo a
> great idea. This could also be done with the option groups in the PPD
> (as long as there are not too many options in one group).

That's the kicker; I'm thinking to use this type of interface for
the common groups (pages, copies, quality, and finishing) and then
the "advanced" options can use a more traditional tab or tree
arrangement.

-- 
______________________________________________________________________
Michael Sweet, Easy Software Products           mike at easysw dot com
Internet Printing and Document Software          http://www.easysw.com