[Qgis-user] Page setup in map composer

[Alister Hood]

> Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:51:00 +0100
> From: Otto Dassau <otto.dassau at gmx.de>
> Subject: [Qgis-user] Page setup in map composer
> To: qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
> Message-ID: <20101216145100.3975ab39 at nature.site>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> 
> Hi,
> 
> in the map composer I wonder what the menu "File -> Page Setup" allows
to
> do. I haven't understood yet where the exact difference is compared to
the
> settings I can change in the General area "Page and quality"? Can
someone
> explain this to me?
> 
> Regards,
>  Otto

Hi Otto, look at what it does:

- If I set the page to A3 landscape on the "General" tab, then use
"File-Page Setup" (or access the printer preferences from "File-Print")
to choose A4 portrait, I get an A4 printout showing only the left hand
side of the composer layout.  

- If I change the "page setup" to A3 landscape I get the full A3
printout.

So it looks like the settings on the "General" tab define a composer
layout, which may be scaled, cropped, etc. according to the printer
settings chosen.  "File-Page setup" provides quick access to the printer
settings (and allows to change them without actually printing).

Also, the "Page setup"/printer settings are not connected to a
particular composer layout (or project); they apply globally.  If I
change them it affects printing of any composer layout in any project.
Perhaps the current behaviour is a bug - for people that routinely work
with different layout sizes it would certainly be better to
automatically print on the size defined on the "General" tab (this is
how CAD programs usually work; I'm not sure about other programs).  The
current behaviour means you need to change the page layout settings
every time you want to print any layout that is a different size from
the last layout you printed.

Regards,
Alister