How to change default "Print to file..." settings

Question

I have a fresh install of Linux Mint 15. In many applications (gedit, firefox, etc.) I can go to "File > Print..." and see a virtual printer called "Print to file".

By default, it prints the PDF to my Home directory, with a vague filename like "output.pdf" or "Mozilla.pdf". I don't want to have to manually change the folder and type out a file name every time I save a file. Instead, I want the "Print to File" dialog to behave more like the "Save File" one does, automatically using the title of the document as the default filename and remembering the last folder I saved to. I would prefer not to save to HTML instead and then convert to PDF later, if I have any choice.

Is there some hidden setting somewhere to change this behavior? If this requires a feature request, for what package? I tried installing the outdated package "cups-pdf", which was at least smart enough to use the document title as the default filename for the PDF, but the image quality is just too bad.

Answer 1

Fedora 27 + KDE + Firefox 58.0 Quantum + Thunderbird 52.5.2 here. In 2018.

When I "Print to File" from Firefox or Thunderbird, the dialog shown use a default file with a default location.

There is no option to set the directory separately or configure a default. Annoying. Less than stellar after 14 years of development, but, ok. (Hey, can I set in the KDE System Settings? Nah.)

Thunderbird

Firefox

A Google Search yields ridiculous responses from various fogeys.

Workaround: Edit the default in "about:config".

See also Editing configuration.

Firefox

In Firefox, go to URL "about:config" and look for "print.print_to". Edit as needed. This is less than stellar, but it is something.

Thunderbird

In Thunderbird, there is no URL bar, so go to "Menu: (Edit > Preferences) > Tab: (Advanced) > Button: (Config Editor). At least on Linux, this differs between systems: Menu differences in Windows, Linux, and Mac.

Answer 2

I'm not sure I understand what the problem is. In both gedit and firefox you can choose the name and save location when printing:

• gedit

  

• firefox

  

Answer 3

Answering my own question... I guess I would have to make this a feature request. The best solution I found for now was to use the CleanPrint browser plugin, available both in Firefox and Chrome.