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chrome zooming and chessboard dislocation when saved as pdf (chrome built-in)

#1

pieces not spatially synced with squares, depending on browser window size (and aspect-ratio).

well, from a previous post of mine, it was found to exist when using a particular page/text zooming extension, but not the built-in chrome zoom.

I come back here, to point out that the chrome built-in feature of print then "save as pdf", suffers from the same problems.

I have tried various size and aspect-ratio (playing with paper format, custom margins, and custom scales), with and without the zooming extension (to make sure it was not again the source of problems).

somewhat good news: one can find a particular customized set of settings that minimizes the dislocation into a readable slightly distorted chessboard (pieces relative to squares)

Could this be because there are many levels of zoom, or different API entry points for scaling and or zooming?

And that the buil-in zooming for browing and saving as pdf, are not the same, the pdf behaving like the afore-mentioned extension?

I kind of intuit that lichess web site is trying to have something that will be readable whatever the rectangle it is subjected to (desktop vs thumb device--ios/android), by playing with the mobility of sub units on the page setup as a function of the rectangle constraint, in general (can be experienced on desktop, there are break-points for subunits page-setup switches).

perhaps lichess should look into this, to make this more robust to the zooming entry point. There seems to be something not isotropic, something is pinned in space and does not like being pushed around. Did i guess close to reality somehow?

thanks for reading, and keep up the good work. can you reproduce the save in pdf built-in problem i have?

PS: can i paste pictures here?

pieces not spatially synced with squares, depending on browser window size (and aspect-ratio). well, from a previous post of mine, it was found to exist when using a particular page/text zooming extension, but not the built-in chrome zoom. I come back here, to point out that the chrome built-in feature of print then "save as pdf", suffers from the same problems. I have tried various size and aspect-ratio (playing with paper format, custom margins, and custom scales), with and without the zooming extension (to make sure it was not again the source of problems). somewhat good news: one can find a particular customized set of settings that minimizes the dislocation into a readable slightly distorted chessboard (pieces relative to squares) Could this be because there are many levels of zoom, or different API entry points for scaling and or zooming? And that the buil-in zooming for browing and saving as pdf, are not the same, the pdf behaving like the afore-mentioned extension? I kind of intuit that lichess web site is trying to have something that will be readable whatever the rectangle it is subjected to (desktop vs thumb device--ios/android), by playing with the mobility of sub units on the page setup as a function of the rectangle constraint, in general (can be experienced on desktop, there are break-points for subunits page-setup switches). perhaps lichess should look into this, to make this more robust to the zooming entry point. There seems to be something not isotropic, something is pinned in space and does not like being pushed around. Did i guess close to reality somehow? thanks for reading, and keep up the good work. can you reproduce the save in pdf built-in problem i have? PS: can i paste pictures here?
#2

I'm waiting for some answers on how to post my screenshots to illustrate the text above (in another thread)

Meanwhile, i was wondering whether what i'm asking: making lichess robust to various spatial transformations involved in screen zooming (text, full page, pdf printing parameters, aspect-ratio, scale, not mutually exclusive), is impossible?

Could making the page-setup robust to desktop versus thumb-device rendering by moving around what i call modules or sub-units (inviting suggestions) be incompatible with being robust to user manipulation of spatial constraints or settings.

What is zooming? In photography, with lens, it has a center and expands in 2D isotropically (i mean equally in all directions, maybe misusing isotropic). is that a homothecy or a dilation? anyway, there has to be a center. So what happens when modules are shuffled around. Is each module getting its own center? the whole picture.
Is the image of pieces sharing the same center of dilation as the board, and the dilation factor the same (or are they on different level within nested loops). i am just throwing stuff here. When the printer parameters are modified, lichess does this reshuffling of modules at various critical values, and ... i'd like to show a picture of those breakpoint, and the lack of robustness. Maybe i'm just babbling. any echo?

I'm waiting for some answers on how to post my screenshots to illustrate the text above (in another thread) Meanwhile, i was wondering whether what i'm asking: making lichess robust to various spatial transformations involved in screen zooming (text, full page, pdf printing parameters, aspect-ratio, scale, not mutually exclusive), is impossible? Could making the page-setup robust to desktop versus thumb-device rendering by moving around what i call modules or sub-units (inviting suggestions) be incompatible with being robust to user manipulation of spatial constraints or settings. What is zooming? In photography, with lens, it has a center and expands in 2D isotropically (i mean equally in all directions, maybe misusing isotropic). is that a homothecy or a dilation? anyway, there has to be a center. So what happens when modules are shuffled around. Is each module getting its own center? the whole picture. Is the image of pieces sharing the same center of dilation as the board, and the dilation factor the same (or are they on different level within nested loops). i am just throwing stuff here. When the printer parameters are modified, lichess does this reshuffling of modules at various critical values, and ... i'd like to show a picture of those breakpoint, and the lack of robustness. Maybe i'm just babbling. any echo?
#3

Somebody nice enough to help a newbie (in forums), gave me pointers toward me illustrating this post. While i gather the steam toward that, i wanted to amend something.

In the above, one might want to expand nested loops to any nested coding structure. Is that helpful for the developpers?

If the code has been conceived purely sequentially, the nesting and parameter updating might be easy to read in the code itself, but what if it was a bunch of parallel threads relying on external flags (semaphores?) for coordination in parameter updating, then the nesting is only traceable/apparent at execution. Am i even more babbling here. I'll stop. I'm a tourist w/r coding.

back to illustrating (and I'd like to quote that other thread and the helpful post here, how? link to the post itself, next post).

Somebody nice enough to help a newbie (in forums), gave me pointers toward me illustrating this post. While i gather the steam toward that, i wanted to amend something. In the above, one might want to expand nested loops to any nested coding structure. Is that helpful for the developpers? If the code has been conceived purely sequentially, the nesting and parameter updating might be easy to read in the code itself, but what if it was a bunch of parallel threads relying on external flags (semaphores?) for coordination in parameter updating, then the nesting is only traceable/apparent at execution. Am i even more babbling here. I'll stop. I'm a tourist w/r coding. back to illustrating (and I'd like to quote that other thread and the helpful post here, how? link to the post itself, next post).
#5

I skipped your entire post to ask: why save as a pdf?

I skipped your entire post to ask: why save as a pdf?
#6

It is fast and portable and local in chrome printing, and you can extract text, and annotate, bookmark ect....

Also, in correspondance, you can use the analysis checkboard to explore hypotheses before you send your move, and you can do pre-moves.

However, when you send your move, you lose all the other hypotheses, that you chose not to apply at that point. But ideas there could be useful later in the game. sub-patterns not ripe at some point can become interesting. Don't want to redo all my explorations.

I tried to use the pre-moves to keep track of the bad hypotheses as well (and had to request take backss because of impulse clicks at the wrong button, not knowing which sequence i sent, perhaps the bad ones).

So i like to keep a record of my explorations, that way. I am not yet confortable with the study interface, but i might end up migrating those records there.

It is like taking notes in the classroom (college and up), even if you don't read them after, they make you digest the class experience more than if you just listen. I may be cognitively more visual, and this possibly useless step, reverberate my audition with my vision, more connectivty. Here, there is no audio, but it focuses my volatile attention, to do that. Some echo to compete with the distractions.

too much, i bet.

PS: normally with desktop minded websites (under threat of extinction), i can select only what i want and print-pdf it. way better than complete web pages, maffs, mhtml, mht (although, i do use Firefox a lot because i can select and save selection as mht). pdf viewers are lighter than nowaday browsers, snappy reviewing of my records. don't need to roll the drums, blow the horns etc. that is involved in loading today's browsers...But this may become moot, as websites are more controlled a-la-smart-device, not only sucking your data, but also preventing you from discarding the crap. hope i circled the subject. Thanks for asking. I needed to get that out.

oups, i forgot. the opening explorer datatables are easily recorded that way, and at some points i might do some stats with the extracted values; about human behavior as a function of cadence category, as i came across some moves that seem like attractors when in bullet mode, but are completely dropped in slower games. Until, i figure out how to play with chess databases, within lichess or out, i hope this printing as pdf will help. i also use selective sceenshots in parallel, because of the problem of post #1 (pdf for coordinating the text data with the screenshots and labeling the records). if pdf was fine, this would half the amount of work.

complete.

It is fast and portable and local in chrome printing, and you can extract text, and annotate, bookmark ect.... Also, in correspondance, you can use the analysis checkboard to explore hypotheses before you send your move, and you can do pre-moves. However, when you send your move, you lose all the other hypotheses, that you chose not to apply at that point. But ideas there could be useful later in the game. sub-patterns not ripe at some point can become interesting. Don't want to redo all my explorations. I tried to use the pre-moves to keep track of the bad hypotheses as well (and had to request take backss because of impulse clicks at the wrong button, not knowing which sequence i sent, perhaps the bad ones). So i like to keep a record of my explorations, that way. I am not yet confortable with the study interface, but i might end up migrating those records there. It is like taking notes in the classroom (college and up), even if you don't read them after, they make you digest the class experience more than if you just listen. I may be cognitively more visual, and this possibly useless step, reverberate my audition with my vision, more connectivty. Here, there is no audio, but it focuses my volatile attention, to do that. Some echo to compete with the distractions. too much, i bet. PS: normally with desktop minded websites (under threat of extinction), i can select only what i want and print-pdf it. way better than complete web pages, maffs, mhtml, mht (although, i do use Firefox a lot because i can select and save selection as mht). pdf viewers are lighter than nowaday browsers, snappy reviewing of my records. don't need to roll the drums, blow the horns etc. that is involved in loading today's browsers...But this may become moot, as websites are more controlled a-la-smart-device, not only sucking your data, but also preventing you from discarding the crap. hope i circled the subject. Thanks for asking. I needed to get that out. oups, i forgot. the opening explorer datatables are easily recorded that way, and at some points i might do some stats with the extracted values; about human behavior as a function of cadence category, as i came across some moves that seem like attractors when in bullet mode, but are completely dropped in slower games. Until, i figure out how to play with chess databases, within lichess or out, i hope this printing as pdf will help. i also use selective sceenshots in parallel, because of the problem of post #1 (pdf for coordinating the text data with the screenshots and labeling the records). if pdf was fine, this would half the amount of work. complete.
#7

size_A3__portrait_very_broken_A03
https://boring.host/1CJWrzac

size_A3__landscape_broken_A40
https://boring.host/1CJXRAzw

size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_1.67_distorted_C29
https://boring.host/1CK2XQgs

size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_2.03_good_A40
https://boring.host/1CK3blX1

size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_2.04_broken_A40
https://boring.host/1CK4UInb

size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_2.04_broken_A03
https://boring.host/1CK5jQBm

size_A3__portrait_very_broken_A03 https://boring.host/1CJWrzac size_A3__landscape_broken_A40 https://boring.host/1CJXRAzw size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_1.67_distorted_C29 https://boring.host/1CK2XQgs size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_2.03_good_A40 https://boring.host/1CK3blX1 size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_2.04_broken_A40 https://boring.host/1CK4UInb size_A3__landscape_lower_margin_2.04_broken_A03 https://boring.host/1CK5jQBm
#8

One way to fix this problem is to wait for another wave of browser modernisation that will deprecate such features as save to pdf, or print altogether.

I hope lichess developper(s), will find, in time, the energy to maintain desktop features that do not exist on mobile platforms.

I am patient and as one can see from my previous post: I have found a particular setting
(A3, landscape, lower margin=2.03, rest is default, also my lichess board pref is at 50&)
that can make me go for a while.

There may be more urgent or important problems, i understand. but i would find it depressing if this was dismissed on the grounds of some mystical (as in marketing) modernisation of browsing that restrict the features, specially those about customization. we can't all fit into small rectangles, my ego is too big...

One way to fix this problem is to wait for another wave of browser modernisation that will deprecate such features as save to pdf, or print altogether. I hope lichess developper(s), will find, in time, the energy to maintain desktop features that do not exist on mobile platforms. I am patient and as one can see from my previous post: I have found a particular setting (A3, landscape, lower margin=2.03, rest is default, also my lichess board pref is at 50&) that can make me go for a while. There may be more urgent or important problems, i understand. but i would find it depressing if this was dismissed on the grounds of some mystical (as in marketing) modernisation of browsing that restrict the features, specially those about customization. we can't all fit into small rectangles, my ego is too big...
#9

Seriously, i have been reading a bit about web development and responsive web design, and the issue of printing, not really printing, but previewing printing, which is where the dislocation is apparent upon paper format or margin variation, in my save as pdf experiments. There is a question of iframes being involved and that somewhere in there some dimensions can't be made relative...

that's one thread, in case the devs are not aware. if needed i can retrace the steps to where i read that.

Seriously, i have been reading a bit about web development and responsive web design, and the issue of printing, not really printing, but previewing printing, which is where the dislocation is apparent upon paper format or margin variation, in my save as pdf experiments. There is a question of iframes being involved and that somewhere in there some dimensions can't be made relative... that's one thread, in case the devs are not aware. if needed i can retrace the steps to where i read that.
#10

Today, the A3 page format with lower margin at 2.03, has suffered a slight distorsion. Given that this optimum was on the break point for this page format (with default upper margin, and side margins), there is no room to alleviate that slight distorsion.

However, each page format has its optimum custom margin settings (and or overall custom scale, still in save as pdf, preview, reminder). Some page format at optimum setting are actually better:

  1. optimum custom preview parameters don't have to be near a breakpoint, i may have found one that is past the last breakpoint, well i could not find one. we still have unreadable check board at default.

  2. some combinations of page format and custom optimum params give only slight graphical information loss, but no textual loss. Basically for 1 or 2 elements (i chose to prioritize checkboard and move list).

next posts, links to updated preview params in picture, and to save the interested reader and convinced, the values that are the best i could find on this date. i might try to update as lichess changes parameters to its ui elements or subelements.

i don't understand what i'm talking about in terms of design yet, but i do for my user-end experiments. i may guess wrong about lichess changes. One thing is probable, once lichess get the responsive multi-platform invariance across print preview, none of what i'm doing here will matter (here is or hear me hoping).

Today, the A3 page format with lower margin at 2.03, has suffered a slight distorsion. Given that this optimum was on the break point for this page format (with default upper margin, and side margins), there is no room to alleviate that slight distorsion. However, each page format has its optimum custom margin settings (and or overall custom scale, still in save as pdf, preview, reminder). Some page format at optimum setting are actually better: 1) optimum custom preview parameters don't have to be near a breakpoint, i may have found one that is past the last breakpoint, well i could not find one. we still have unreadable check board at default. 2) some combinations of page format and custom optimum params give only slight graphical information loss, but no textual loss. Basically for 1 or 2 elements (i chose to prioritize checkboard and move list). next posts, links to updated preview params in picture, and to save the interested reader and convinced, the values that are the best i could find on this date. i might try to update as lichess changes parameters to its ui elements or subelements. i don't understand what i'm talking about in terms of design yet, but i do for my user-end experiments. i may guess wrong about lichess changes. One thing is probable, once lichess get the responsive multi-platform invariance across print preview, none of what i'm doing here will matter (here is or hear me hoping).

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