Libre Office - brochures

I'm using Libre Office Draw, because I'm cheap and poor and only use free stuff if I can help it... And the Draw part of it is so that I can move individual text boxes and images and such with ease.

But I'm having trouble making something of a brochure(a Gazette for our writing guild)

The internet told me to use A5 as the page format, and then when you go to print, you check the brochure button.
I tried that. It's then operating under the idea that I'm using a smaller piece of paper than I'm using. Print preview looks good, but it's trying to print on a smaller piece of paper so, everything is smaller than it should be.

So, I also just try regular letter size page format. Still no good. Either way, even if I change some settings for the printer to scale to the page size, It just wont come out close to what I see on the screen while putting it together. Ends up too short.

Anyone know how to do this more effectively?

I tried downloading an extension for Libre Office, but it didn't work.
I think Open Office has some extensions for this, I may have to try that.
I have til Monday to get it figured out... but the sooner the better. And I have a big headache now... literally. Blah.

Edit: I'm going to run a test and set the page format size to 5.5" wide and 8.5" tall, then tell it to scale to paper size and select brochure and see what happens.

Edited by millipede, 04 January 2024 - 09:54 PM.

Hi, think got a headache now seems I can make it worse LOL :=}

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=make+a+brochure

Hi, think got a headache now seems I can make it worse LOL :=}

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=make+a+brochure

The internet told me to ...

Sometimes I think when "google it" is the default response in a discussion board where people are asking for help, it's time to take a break from offering help.
I've done those searches. The results are not that helpful so far.
 

Putting in a manual page size of 5.5" wide by 8.5" tall and then selecting print brochure on the print page gave me the correct proportions...  however, it didn't print exactly where it should have. Printed a little high and to the left. Hmmm...
 

So you did not feel like opening my URL and check and see if any of the on-line Brochure Sites would be of any use, the Google URL was provide due to the number of on-line sites.

If did not want to use On-line sites should have possibly said what your preference was and the criteria of not wanting any google URL's.

Withdraw support for this Topic.

G'luck.

#6 - that's because of where the "Margins" are set

#6 - that's because of where the "Margins" are set

I wonder...  I set the margins to .3" all around. Where they fall displays on the page for me to see as I create. Just for testing purposes, I put a 2x2 table with borders and had them line up at the margins. When I printed it, the left line ended up being just the TINIEST hair over .25". And the top line printed about .31".  The bottom printed about .625".  Right side line showed up just a hair more than .65"
This of course left the center way off. The table on the right half is less than an eighth of an inch from center. With the left margin set at .3" and it printing just a hair past .25", the line for the table on the right shouldn't have been that much farther left.
Maybe margins are part of the problem(not sure how I'll compensate) but I think the printer also just didn't print it quite where it should have.

I finally got a hold of the person that was making our gazettes before.
There's supposed to be ways to edit one page at a time and then use the brochure option while printing and have it come out right. I just wasn't finding the right spot there.
The person that was making them before didn't do that. They just put the page in landscape and used half inch margins and put the back and front on one page, then page 1 and 10 on the next, etc... 
I tried that, still using Libre's Draw, set a half inch all the way around. Then dragged ruler lines on to show the middle, and a half inch from there on each side. Inserted tables, etc... ran a test print. It wasn't PERFECT but it was really good. So, this will work. Now I have a lot of copy and pasting to do.

While you may decide to design your Promotional material on your Computer and print out a few copies to test the Public's reaction to your endeavours.

Do not, for one moment, consider home printing, unless you are using a a few black words on a white ground.

Once designed, there are plenty of small Presses that will welcome the business and, after the "Set-up" cost has been covered, will run your stuff at a tiny unit cost.

While you may decide to design your Promotional material on your Computer and print out a few copies to test the Public's reaction to your endeavours.

 

Do not, for one moment, consider home printing, unless you are using a a few black words on a white ground.

 

Once designed, there are plenty of small Presses that will welcome the business and, after the "Set-up" cost has been covered, will run your stuff at a tiny unit cost.

The person that was doing this before sent it off. She ordered 50 and it cost her $37. (We don't need 50)
I looked at how much the toner cost me, and the paper, even the staples...  and I could print out 50 for about $7. I might only print about 30-35.
The only real drawback(for me) would be folding and stapling.
Our guild will reimburse, wherever I choose to have them printed. But I'm cheap. I mean, if I could save the guild $30/month...... why not?
30+ gazettes, 3 pieces of paper each, just black ink(text, and some simple graphics).
The folding part is where I may end up changing my mind. We'll see.

Bostitch B440SB stapler - staplers (247 x 120 x 123 mm, Black) : Amazon.co.uk: Stationery & Office Supplies

What you will need is one of these.

But, you will need to realise that, if you print, folded, landscaped, A4. the centre pages will extend beyond the outer cover. by the thickness of the intervening pages

Edited by wee-eddie, 05 January 2024 - 06:16 PM.

Bostitch B440SB stapler - staplers (247 x 120 x 123 mm, Black) : Amazon.co.uk: Stationery & Office Supplies

 

What you will need is one of these.

This is what I got for the task...  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VCCNVT2

It has a piece of plastic you can slide to use as a stop, so that's good for making that part easier. But man, I should have looked at that one more closely when I made the purchase. The one I got is $13+ here in the US and the one you liked is more than double that. But, that width it has would make it very easy to use to guide from the edge to be consistent with where staples fall... and the bend in it would make it easy to find the center. I like it.
I'll try this month's with the one I have and see how it goes...

Been there: Then got the one I recommended and used it for the next 18 years. My Menus went all round the world.