Please help with Arabic text printing and PDF creation

[ahmedb]

I'm trying to print an Arabic text to PDF file and to a normal printer using QPrinter. I face two different problems.

First, when printing to PDF, text appears as if cracked; with spaces between characters (letters) that should be there.

Second, when printing to a normal printer the text appears correct, but with wrong text alignment !

printing code:

void Widget::printDocument(QPainter &painter, QPrinter &printer)
{
    qint32 margin = 40 ;
 
    QRect rct = printer.paperRect().adjusted(margin, margin, -margin, -margin) ;
    painter.drawRect(rct) ;
 
    QTextOption toption ;
    toption.setTextDirection(Qt::RightToLeft) ;
 
    QFont fontTitle("Arial", 36) ;
    fontTitle.setBold(true);
    painter.setFont(fontTitle);
    QString title = ui->leTitle->text().trimmed() ;
    toption.setAlignment(Qt::AlignTop|Qt::AlignHCenter);
    painter.drawText(rct.adjusted(0, 10, 0, 0), title, toption);
 
    QFont fontText("Arial", 28) ;
    painter.setFont(fontText) ;
    QString text = ui->teText->toPlainText() ;
    toption.setAlignment(Qt::AlignLeft|Qt::AlignHCenter);
    painter.drawText(rct.adjusted(0, 10+painter.fontMetrics().height()*4, 0, 0), text, toption);
 
}
 
void Widget::on_pbPDF_clicked()
{
    QString fileName = QFileDialog::getSaveFileName(this, QString(), QString(), QString("*.pdf(*.pdf)")) ;
    if(fileName.isEmpty())
        return ;
 
    QPrinter printer ;
    printer.setOutputFormat(QPrinter::PdfFormat);
    printer.setOutputFileName(fileName);
 
    QPainter painter(&printer) ;
 
    printDocument(painter, printer) ;
 
    painter.end() ;
 
    QDesktopServices::openUrl(QUrl(fileName)) ;
 
}

void Widget::printDocument(QPainter &painter, QPrinter &printer)
{
    qint32 margin = 40 ;

    QRect rct = printer.paperRect().adjusted(margin, margin, -margin, -margin) ;
    painter.drawRect(rct) ;

    QTextOption toption ;
    toption.setTextDirection(Qt::RightToLeft) ;

    QFont fontTitle("Arial", 36) ;
    fontTitle.setBold(true);
    painter.setFont(fontTitle);
    QString title = ui->leTitle->text().trimmed() ;
    toption.setAlignment(Qt::AlignTop|Qt::AlignHCenter);
    painter.drawText(rct.adjusted(0, 10, 0, 0), title, toption);

    QFont fontText("Arial", 28) ;
    painter.setFont(fontText) ;
    QString text = ui->teText->toPlainText() ;
    toption.setAlignment(Qt::AlignLeft|Qt::AlignHCenter);
    painter.drawText(rct.adjusted(0, 10+painter.fontMetrics().height()*4, 0, 0), text, toption);

}

void Widget::on_pbPDF_clicked()
{
    QString fileName = QFileDialog::getSaveFileName(this, QString(), QString(), QString("*.pdf(*.pdf)")) ;
    if(fileName.isEmpty())
        return ;

    QPrinter printer ;
    printer.setOutputFormat(QPrinter::PdfFormat);
    printer.setOutputFileName(fileName);

    QPainter painter(&printer) ;

    printDocument(painter, printer) ;

    painter.end() ;

    QDesktopServices::openUrl(QUrl(fileName)) ;

}

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system information:

- tried both Windows 7 64bit, and Windows XP (with Qt 4.8)
- the printer: tried both HP 1018, and HP Laserjet P1005
- Qt version: tried 4.8, and 5.1 both has the same problem.

Note: attached a sample qt project that shows the problem. and the resulting pdf .

[toufic.dbouk]

It worked fine for me.
The pdf file was created without any * cracking of text *.
For the printing part, i didnt test it.

Good Luck.

[ahmedb]

send the result pdf if you please

[toufic.dbouk]

Sure here is the result.
i would have tested the print function too but i dont have my printer installed right now.

pdf-Result.jpg

Good Luck.

[ahmedb]

first, thanks for your help

- I tried several fonts on different OSs but in all cases the font character positioning is wrong ( additional spaces appear between characters)

- after the result you give to me, I tried to compile the same application with Qt version 4.7.4 on windows 7, and I got a very good result pretty like the one you sent to me. looks like the problem is in the printing support of the latest Qt !

thanks again.

[toufic.dbouk]

I used Qt 5.1.1 on Windows 7 64 bit.
How about the printing issue that you were facing ? ( the flipped parenthesis )
Did you fix it ?

Good Luck.

[ahmedb]

the flipped parenthesis problem when printed to a hw printer still exists even when compiled with 4.7.4


I've submitted a bug report, anyway: https://bugreports.qt-project.org/browse/QTBUG-34678

[ahmedb]

@toufic.dbouk

I've just notices the bugfix ( as I think ) in the changes log of Qt 5.1.1:

- REG: Fix character size when exporting PDF on Windows

https://qt.gitorious.org/qt/qtbase/s.../changes-5.1.1

[toufic.dbouk]

I will test it on windows 7 64 bit using Qt 5.1.1 in a couple of days and get back to the post.

Good Luck.