TOC 1.4

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Contents

Introduction

Notes On Usage

How it all began ...

Installation

Scribus on Linux and *NIX

There will be some new dependencies for 1.4, eg. podofo, boost+, GraphicksMagick, UniConvertor, Qt 4.4.3 or even later, pdfLaTeX/lilypond/GNUPlot/GraphWiz/POVRay for Render Frames, AbiWord.

Scribus on Mac OS X

Complete DMGs for Intel/PPC versions are promised for 1.4. There has to be a note on additional programs that need to be installed to get all the features. Describe building on OS X (much easier now).

Scribus on Windows

1.4 will no longer need GDI+, but probably GraphicksMagick, UniConvertor and more.

Scribus on OS/2 and eComStation

Updating Scribus

New feature.

Scribus Quick Start Guide

I think we should introduce some cool new features of 1.3.5+ here (distribute/align, Colour Wheel, Image Browser


File 2:

Scribus Basics

Basic Concepts

May need some enhancements. I'm not sure yet, though. Explicitly introduce the dual modality of frames: as objects and as content. Mention color management and other DTP specialties.

Creating a Workflow

Probably needs a remark that despite of the plethora of import filters provided by Scribus 1.4, a proper workflow is still necessary. Mention the necessity to plan backwards, i.e. from print to content. Fonts!

The Scribus Workspace

There will be a new GUI, so that we'll have to update this section.

The Help System

New entries in the Help menu. Craig is also planning an additonal help system that shows tooltips in the status bar.

Opening, Creating and Saving Documents

Let's see what will have changed in 1.4. I assume there will be some changes, eg. opening PDF and all supported vector files directly. The file dialogs have also seen major changes.

Cutting, Copying and Pasting

There are some major enhancements in 1.3.5 (and probably more to come) that justify a separate chapter on this topic. Maybe this could also become/remain part of Working with Frames.

Viewing Options

There are more options in 1.3.4+ (View menu), plus the new buttons in the lower right of the UI and enhancements to the Preferences. More to come.

Navigating in a Document

The Outline dialog has been remarkably enhanced. I also suggested that Master Pages can be accessed via the page list in the status bar. The Bookmarks code is in urgent need of a rewrite (1.3.6+). Petr has enhanced the Arrange Pages dialog. Explain how to delete bookmarks!


File 3:

Managing and Laying Out Pages

t.b.d.

Working With Frames

Render Frames and Sticky Tools will have to be mentioned. Also, Groups are now a separate tab in the PP. Combining Polygons & Splitting Polygons will have to be moved to a separate chapter now (Path Operations).

Working With Text

More runaround options, new columns options, changes to the PP, loads of new text import filters from Plaidrab/AbiWord, to be added in 1.3.6: Abiword (abw, abt, zabw), MS Word (doc, dot), RTF, XSL-FO (fo), WordPerfect (wp, wpd), WML, T602 (602, txt), StarOffice 5.x (sdw), Psion Word (psiword), Psion TextEd (psitext), OPML, Word 2007 (docx, dotx, docm, dotm), MS Write (wri), FrameMaker Interchange Format (mif), KWord 1.x (kwd), ISCII Text (isc, iscii), Hancom Word (hwp), DocBook (dbk, xml), Claris Works/Apple Works 5 (cwk), Applix Word (aw).

Working With Styles

Style Manager, Character Styles, applying/removing styles via the PP ...

File 4:

The Story Editor

The UI has changed a lot.

Working With Images

Loads of new import filters from Herm's GSoC work: ART (PFS: 1st Publisher Clip Art), AVS (AVS X image), BMP (Microsoft Windows bitmap image), CIN (Cineon Image File), CUT (DR Halo), DCM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine image), DCX (ZSoft IBM PC multi-page Paintbrush), DJVU (Déjà vu), DOT (Graphviz), ICB, TGA, VDA, VST (Truevision Targa image), JP2 (JPEG-2000 File Format Syntax), MIFF (Magick Image File Format), PCT (Apple Macintosh QuickDraw/PICT), RAS, SUN (SUN Rasterfile), SCT (Scitex HandShake), SGI (Irix RGB image), WPG (Word Perfect Graphics), XCF (GIMP image), RLA (Alias/Wavefront image file); changes in PP > Image ...; Jean plans to implement 16-bit-per-channel image support in 1.3.6+, image info (if available) in the context menu for image frames (“More Info”), Scale to Frame Size now also available in the context menu. Preview Settings have the option Invisible now. New entry in the status bar to globally change the preview quality of image frames (yay!).


File 5:

Working With Shapes and Polygons

New shapes are available, more polygon options. Add an explanation that changes in the polygon properties will only affect future versions of polygons, unless Franz fixes this.

Straight Lines and Arrows

New line styles available, line style editor, feature to connect polylines, there may be an import filter for OO.o arrows, Franz has added hairlines.

Bézier Curves and Freehand Lines

Minor changes, including a new button in the editing dialog.

Solid Colors, Gradients and Patterns

Loads of new features: ability to read OO.o, GIMP, and EPS/AI colour swatches, enhancements to the colour manager, patterns, minor changes to the Edit Colours dialog, a new set of basic colours, including Rich Black, Warm Black, Cold Black, Registration, changes to PP > Colours, ability to replace colours in a document, a new gradient editor ... Cf. 8.3

Describe the use of Swatchbooker.

File 6:

Importing Vector Drawings

New import formats thanks to Herm's GSoC work, Franz's importers and Jean's (platform-independent, a first AFAIK!) WMF filter. There's one single import dialog for vector files now. Franz and Jean have also completely rewritten the SVG import filter. Vector files can be inserted via the context menu of a page. New file formats: CorelDRAW Graphics files (CDR), CorelDRAW templates files (CDT), Corel Compressed Exchange files (CCX), Corel Presentation Exchange files (CMX), Computer Graphics Metafile files (CGM), Acorn Draw files (AFF), Sketch/Skencil files (SK), sK1 files (SK1), Adobe Illustrator (AI), Windows Metafile (WMF), Xfig (FIG), Dia shapes (SHAPE), Kivio Stencils (SML), Scribus Scrapbook Objects (SCE), WPG files, CVG files.

Add tip for complex ODG/OO.o Draw import: Print to a PS file and import it.

PDF Import

Andreas has written a new PDF importer that enables embedding PDFs in PDF files and also to select pages in PDFs. More to come. This feature justifies either a separate section or significant enhancements to the previous chapter, in case he also implements multi-page import/ page selections for PS and SXD/ODG files. Pierre has found a way to open PDFs, edit them and then re-save them.


File 7:

Tables

If the tables feature hasn't been rewritten, we need to update the information reganrding OO.o 3+.

Master Pages

I expect that Jean will enable the editing of items on master pages outside the master page mode in 1.3.7+.

Page Numbering

Craig has already added a “number of pages” feature. More to come in 1.3.7+ (if he implements text variables, this section needs to be renamed to Text Variables).


File 8:

Customizing Scribus

There have already been significant changes in 1.3.4+, and Craig will rewrite the Preferences code in 1.3.6.


File 9:

Advanced Features

Placing and Moving Items with Precision

Measuring Units

The different units and their use should be described. Picas are used correctly now.

Measuring Tools

Franz has introduced a new measuring tool (with the mouse cursor) and enhanced the measurement palette.

Using the Properties Palette

Using the Keyboard

Rotating Items

File 10:

Multiple Duplicate

Major enhancements in 1.3.4+ (documented in the help files, but not there atm).

Transforming Items

New feature. Franz has made Scribus's transform options even more more powerful than Illustrator's!

Aligning and Distributing Items

New features in 1.3.4+, more to come. Should we show simple examples of the effects?

Grids and Guides

New guides dialog in 1.3.4+. More to come in 1.3.6+.


File 11:

Advanced Text Features

Importing Text with Custom Text Filters

Search and Replace

Spellchecking (New)

Creating a Table of Contents

File 12:

Advanced Typographic Features

Fonts and Font Technology

Franz made some changes here (Type 3 and CFF support). Mention lcdf Type Tools, especially mmafm and mmpfb.

Getting and Using Good Fonts

This section needs regular updates, independent of the Scribus version. Maybe we should remove it instead, to save some space. On the other hand, I have already discovered some new sources for FLOSS fonts.

Installing and Managing Fonts in Scribus (was Font Preview and Font Management)

I removed Fontmatrix here. Plus, we need to document KDE4's new features. There should be a hint that describes the editing of the 14.rc file to deactivate large numbers of fonts easily, without having to click on each font in the DocSetup/Prefs.

Special Characters

The Insert > Glyph dialog has been rewritten and extended significantly in 1.3.4+.

Drop Caps

File 13:

Advanced OpenType Features (New)

Will be implemented by Pierre in 1.3.6 and beyond. The code already exists.

Microtypography (New)

Optical Margins (New)

Word Tracking (New)

Introduce the term Typographic Colour.

Glyph Extension (New)

Ask avox for recommendations regarding good values.

Spaces and Dashes (New)

Expected new feature.

First-Line Offset (New)

File 14:

Short Words

More options available now.

Hyphenation

More options in the Prefs/DocSetup.

Lists

File 15:

Advanced Image Features

Managing Images

This dialog has been completely rewritten.

The Picture Browser (New)

The GSoC project was a great success. Needs careful documentation with support from Markus.

Image Effects

Many new effects in 1.3.4+. Curves can be saved and loaded.

Extended Image Properties

New features in 1.3.4+.

Clipping paths in JPEG files saved from PS now work correctly!

File 16

Working with Paths

Text along Paths

Many enhancements in 1.3.4+, including being able to attach text to multiple paths, more text-on-path effects.

Path along Path

New feature.

Path Operations

New feature set. Loads of features that need careful documentation (partially done for the help files).

Lens Effects

New feature (documented in the help files, but not there atm).

Mesh Distortion

New feature (documented in the help files, but not there atm).


File 17:

Miscellaneous

The Action History

Needs fixing.

The Scrapbook

Lots of new features

Render Frames

New feature.

Blend Modes

Needs a rewrite, since Blend Modes are no longer restricted to images.

Advanced Selection Features

New feature. Cf. Edit > Advanced Select All

Creating Frames Automatically

New feature set. Cf. Insert > Frame. Not easy to grasp; needs careful documentation and hints to prevent confusion.

Barcodes

Petr will introduce some missing barcodes and especially more colour options (CMYK, HSV, Spot) in 1.3.6.


File 19:

Colors and Color Management

What is Colour? An Introduction to Colour Theory

The Eye Dropper

IIRC, Craig plans to make it more flexible until 1.4.

The Color Wheel

Major enhancements in 1.3.4+, compared to 1.3.3.x.

Managing and Editing Colors in Scribus

Cf. 4.18. I assume it deserves a chapter of its own now, given the amount of new features.

Spot Colors

Scribus can now load spot colour swatches in AI and EPS files. Perhaps it can be merged with 5.18.

Warn about identical spot colours with different names from vector import.

Color Management

Jean plans some major enhancements in 1.3.6 (support for colour managed printing with bubblejets, ability to extract a greyscale profiles from CMYK profiles and also greyscale CM, which will probably be a first!). CM settings for the current document can be accessed from the status bar.

Explain different colour models (RGB, CMYK, CIE Lab, Grey)


File 20:

File Export

Text Files

Plaidrab is working on RTF/ODT export (note: ODT works now) for the SE; maybe we can also write a Python/JavaScript plug-in for a whole document once Henning has finished ScripterNG.

Bitmap Files

Jean is planning some enhancements. Perhaps Herm's GSoC may result in more export options.

Vector Files

Franz is working on a new dialog for EPS export, similar to the PDF export dialog.

PDF

There have been some important enhancements to the PDF export in 1.3.4+. Moreover, the PDF export dialog has seen some changes. PDF/X-1a will be added to the list of export formats/versions, X-4 and XPS might. We need an explanation of flattening files with transparency via Adobe Reader and ps2pdf13, because a transparency flattener most likely won’t be available in 1.4, as it’s a huge task.


File 21:

Printing

The Print Preview

Needs adjustment to the new options.

The Preflight Verifier

A major overhaul in 1.3.4+.

Local Printing

The printing dialog has been changed and enhanced.

Overprinting

New feature, but needs some overhaul until 1.4.

Bleed and Printing Marks

New feature(s).

Booklet Printing and Imposition

Let's hope someone has the time to finish Halish's code fragment. If not, we can add a section on PoDoFoImpose, which will be mature enough for everyday use by the time 1.4 is released.

Preparing files for Commercial Printing

File 22:

PDF Forms

We need to add the font restrictions for forms in some PDF versions.

What is a PDF Form?

Creating Simple PDF Forms in Scribus

Enhancing PDF Forms with JavaScript

Emulating Radio Buttons

Let's hope this chapter will be no longer needed in 1.4!

Annotations and Links in PDF Files

PDF Form Viewers and Savers

File 23:

Signing PDF Files

PDF Presentations

File 24:

The Scripter

With ScripterNG scripting in Scribus will be much more powerful and also make writing C++ plug-ins unnecessary in many cases. In the short term we can expect access to Scribus's internals via Python and JavaScript (InDesign's JavaScript interface is already extremely powerful). In the long term we can expect support for other scripting languages like Ruby via Kross. This means that all Scripts will have to be rewritten, but also that we may ship Scribus with more and more useful scripts, like, for instance, the mail merge Python plug-in.

There are also 3 new default scripts: ColorChart, color2csv and csv2color.


File 25:

Tips and Tricks

Creating a Tiled Image

Creating a Circled Diagram

Creating Borders

Text Over Images

Filling Text With an Image

Custom Frames

A Rising Sun Text on Path

Footnotes

File 26:

Recommended 3rd Party Software

Most applications will have new versions released by the time the 1.4 manual is due. The “green” programs are either new or, in the case of Fontmatrix, have been cut from another chapter (Font Management) and placed here.

We could indicate the supported platforms with a symbol. The same goes for the respective licences.

GIMP

Krita

digiKam

Gwenview

XNview

IrfanView

Phatch

Inkscape

Squiggle

Scour

http://codedread.com/scour/

Fontmatrix

FontForge

lcdf Type Tools (possibly better described in the Typography chapter)

Fondu (ditto)

Adobe Reader

GSview

Okular

PoDoFo

PDFEdit

jPDF Tweak

PDFsam

PDFShuffler

KDE Service Menu for PDF

http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/servicemenu-pdf+for+KDE3+and+KDE4?content=37321

OpenOffice.org

Lprof

dispcalGUI and ArgyllCMS

http://hoech.net/dispcalGUI

Swatchbooker

File 27:

Appendices

Installing Scribus from the Command Line on Linux/UNIX

Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts

There have been and there will be changes compared to 1.3.3.x. Plus, we hope to get the ID/QXP/PM shortcut files ready by the release of 1.4. If that's the case, we need to describe how to change the shortcut layout.

File Types and Resources Used by Scribus

There are some new file types used by Scribus since 1.3.4+. Others may be added/created.

File Types Supported by Scribus

After the success of Herm's GSoC project and Plaidrab's text work, we'll have to add about ~ 100 new file types. We'll also have to add the status of the supported file types (e.g. support of formatting or styles in text files or text in vector files).

Copyrights and Licensing

We'll need to update the licencing info, according to changes in the Scribus licence and the licences of external programs used by Scribus, e.g. GraphicksMagick. We could choose to only print the licence of the manual.


File 26:

Glossary

The Glossary will need some new entries.

Links

I'd like to add some more useful links here in the future.

  • add www.scribusstuff.org

Index

We should create the index in the final ODT file and then only change the page numbers in the index SLA file.


General notes:

  • Since GIMP 2.6 it’s possible to save cursors in screenshots. This will be a great help to us.
  • Next time, use better abbreviations (e.g., i.e.)
  • Insert real references (page numbers) instead of chapter/section titles.
  • Explain the difference between dpi and ppi.
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