[scribus-dev] Scribus 1.5.0 released

Tue May 26 19:13:06 UTC 2015

On Tue, 26 May 2015 00:08:00 +0200
"Christoph Schäfer" <christoph-schaefer at gmx.de>
wrote:

> After many years of work and more than a
> thousand bugfixes and feature implementations,
> the Scribus Team is pleased to announce the
> release of Scribus 1.5.0. Scribus 1.5.0 is a
> preview of the next stable version 1.6.0 and
> has primarily been released for testing
> purposes, so more users can help us with
> identifying and fixing bugs. It is not stable
> enough for use in real production scenarios
> yet, but it can help users to become familiar
> with the new interface and the amount of new
> features, the number of which has almost
> doubled in comparison to the stable 1.4.x
> series.
> 
> 
> ==Most Important Technical Changes==
> 
> - Scribus 1.5.0 uses Qt 5 as its UI toolkit.
> The minimum version to compile Scribus from
> source is Qt 5.4.
> 
> - The file format has undergone significant
> changes and may change even further before the
> release of 1.6.0. Thus, files created or edited
> in 1.5.0 cannot be opened in earlier versions
> of Scribus. Potential changes to the file
> format on the road to 1.6.0 notwithstanding,
> the Scribus Team will work very hard to make
> sure that files created by 1.5.0 and the
> following technology previews can be opened
> reliably in the next stable release. 
> - Unfortunately we cannot offer GraphicsMagick
> and Open Scene Graph support for all platforms
> yet, whereas on Linux (and probably *BSD), GM
> and and OSG have become new dependencies. 
> - Scribus will detect an installed version of
> UniConvertor and use it to import some of the
> vector formats supported by this program into
> Scribus.
> 
> ==Most Important New Features==
> 
> ===General===
> 
> -The user interface has been overhauled and
> restructured in many places. For example, the
> context menu takes a lot less screen estate
> than before, and the Document Setup /
> Preferences dialog has been rewritten from
> scratch. The Scribus Team is aware of the
> remaining deficiencies and will work on
> resolving these issues before the release of
> 1.6.0. In some cases inconsistencies in the UI
> (e.g. the "Drop Shadow" tab in the Properties
> Palette) have been deliberately left in place
> to receive feedback from users as to which way
> they prefer. 
> - Scribus can now store bitmap images within
> its native file format. Previously it was only
> possible to link to external images. 
> - Scribus 1.5.0 now offers a "Symbol" or clone
> feature similar to Adobe Illustrator: If one
> master object (Symbol) has been modified, all
> of its copies (clones) are being modified as
> well. 
> - With the new "Weld" feature, objects can be
> combined and moved without being "grouped",
> i.e., each object remains fully editable.
> 
> ===Text / Typography===
> 
> Scribus 1.5.0 provides some of the most often
> requested text features, among them:
> 
> - vertical scaling of text;
> 
> - orphans and widows control;
> 
> - foot and end notes;
> 
> - text variables;
> 
> - cross references.
> 
> Moreover, Inline Objects in text frames are
> finally fully editable.
> 
> ===Tables==
> 
> In previous Scribus versions tables were
> nothing more than combined text frames. Scribus
> 1.5.0 finally introduces "real" tables that
> resemble table features in word processors and
> other DTP programs, including table styles.
> 
> ===Graphics===
> 
> - A new feature-rich plug-in called 'Picture
> Browser' enables asset management for graphics
> files by tagging them or creating graphics
> collections. Graphics files can be dragged into
> a Scribus document from the Picture Browser. 
> - Scribus 1.5.0 supports all advanced gradient
> types available in Adobe Illustrator and XARA
> Designer, including mesh gradients.
> 
> - One of the most-requested features -- drop
> shadows -- is finally available, albeit still
> experimental. 
> - For documents that comprise many large (in
> terms of file size) bitmap images, a
> configurable image cache has been added. It can
> buffer image files to the hard drive and free
> RAM, so Scribus can continue to run smoothly.
> 
> ===File Import / Export===
> 
> Scribus 1.5.0 is being shipped with a huge
> number of new or rewritten import filters,
> although not all of them are of equal quality,
> and some are still experimental.
> 
> 
> ====DTP Files====
> 
> For the first time in its history, Scribus
> 1.5.0 can open / import files created by other
> DTP programs, namely: Adobe InDesign XML
> (IDML), Adobe InDesign Snippets (IDMS), Adobe
> PageMaker (P65, PMD), Apple iWorks PAGES,
> Microsoft Publisher (PUB), QuarkXPress Tags
> (XTG), VIVA Designer XML, and Xara Page &
> Layout Designer (XAR).
> 
> Regarding DTP formats not yet supported, a
> workaround is sometimes to use an output format
> as an option. Accordingly, Scribus 1.5.0's PDF
> importer has been rewritten from scratch, and
> Scribus can now reliably open almost every PDF
> file directly with the original layout intact.
> For Windows users, Scribus 1.5.0 also comes
> with reliable import filters for Microsoft's
> PDF alternatives XPS (Windows Vista and 7) and
> OXPS (Windows 8 and later).
> 
> ====Vector Drawings====
> 
> - The import filter for Adobe Illustrator files
> has been rewritten from scratch and Scribus's
> graphics capabilities have been expanded
> accordingly, so most AI files can be imported
> or opened flawlessly. Moreover, Scribus can now
> detect hybrid AI files and enables users to
> choose between the AI and the PDF version. 
> - The import filter for OpenDocument graphics
> files has been rewritten from scratch and
> expanded, so Scribus can now open and import
> ODG drawings and ODP slide shows without issue. 
> - "Layers" in SVG files are now supported if an
> SVG document is being opened (as opposed to
> being imported into an existing document). 
> - Thanks to the libraries provided by the
> Document Liberation Project, Scribus can now
> import native MS Visio and CorelDraw files. 
> - Other new import filters: Computer Graphics
> Metafile (CGM), Photoshop Custom Shapes (CSH),
> Micrografx Draw (DRW), Enhanced Metafile (EMF),
> StarView Metafile (SVM), WordPerfect Graphics
> (WPG), Xara Designer (XAR).
> 
> ====Bitmap Files===
> 
> - Scribus 1.5.0 supports the open standard Open
> Raster (ORA) for complex bitmap files,
> including advanced features like layer effects
> or paths. 
> - With GraphicsMagick installed, Scribus can
> import all bitmap files supported by this
> program, including GIMP's native XCF format. 
> - Scribus 1.5.0 can import PGF bitmaps, an open
> alternative to JPEG 2000.
> 
> ====3D====
> 
> With OpenSceneGraph installed, Scribus 1.5.0
> can import 3D objects in all formats supported
> by OSG into a new frame type called "3D
> Annotation". Scribus also offers limited
> editing functions, such as setting the lighting
> source or the default display mode for a
> PDF-3D-capable PDF viewer.
> 
> ====Colors and Fills====
> 
> Scribus 1.5.0 can use color palettes in the
> Adobe Color Swatch (ACO) and AutoCAD ColorBook
> (ACB) formats, as well as GIMP Gradients (GGR)
> and GIMP Patterns (PAT). The former color
> manager has been extended to a "colors and
> fills manager" to reflect Scribus's new
> capabilities.
> 
> ===Output===
> 
> The most important new feature with respect to
> output is the support of PDF/X-4 in the PDF
> exporter. Another important addition, at least
> in some environments, is an exporter for
> Microsoft's XPS format.
> 
> For a cursory overview of all new features,
> see:
> http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus_1.5_Readme
> 
> 
> A data sheet is available here:
> 
> http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/File:Data_sheet-Scribus150.pdf
> (English) 
> http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/File:Datenblatt-Scribus150.pdf
> (Deutsch)
> 
> 
> The complete changelog is available here:
> http://bugs.scribus.net/changelog_page.php?version_id=60
> 
> 
> ==New Website==
> 
> Thanks to Carsten Liersch and Dennis
> Groenewegen van der Weijden, we're also pleased
> to present Scribus via a new and modern website
> to the world.
> 
> 
> ==Primary Download Locations==
> 
> - Installation packages for Windows, Mac OS X
> and the source code are available here:
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/scribus/files/scribus-devel/1.5.0/
> 
> - Fedora and CentOS RPMs:
> http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mrdocs
> 
> - OpenSUSE, SLED, and SLES RPMs:
> http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mrdocs
> 
> - Packaging for *BSD, Solaris and OpenIndiana
> is beyond our influence. We recommend updating
> the respective repository data on a regular
> basis.
> 
> ==Download Verification==
> 
> Description 			File Name
> 			Sha1sum Source
> 				scribus-1.5.0.7z
> 			7a8dbe7ae7790ecc194dbe9c6c23726bb3b226d7
> Source
> scribus-1.5.0.tar.xz

OK I know how to unravel a gzipped tarball. But
gunzip doesn't like the .xz prefix. Is there a
version for us old-school types? Or should I
just rename  the .xz version?

Slackware 14.1 64 bit for the curious.

John Culleton
Wexford Press Free list of books for
self-publishers:
http://wexfordpress.net/shortlist.html 