[SPAM] Re: [Scribus] 250-300 page book

[Louis Desjardins]

? (At) 13h01 -0500 5/01/05, Gerald Quakenbush ?crivait (wrote) :
>Thanks.
>
>On the page number issue - I found a solution. I just opened the scribus file
>in my programmers editor (jedit) and edited the XML - right near the top there
>is an attribute called FIRSTNUM, by changing that the page numbers all updated
>correctly.
>
>I'll get the last code from CVS. We are coders here - we know that better than
>publishing to be honest, so we are not afraid of wipping up some python if
>need be or evening digging in to C++.

Always impressed by what programmers can do!
On my part, I am a user!

>
>Any tips on preparing screenshots for print? I want my books to look top
>notch. Currently, I do the screen capture with GIMP, change the image mode to
>greyscale, then use the scaling window in GIMP to change the graphic to
>300x300 DPI, then I rescale the size of the picture. It looks fuzzy on the
>screen (in Scribus), but when I print it on my 600 dpi laser it looks good.
>From GIMP, I save the screen catpures as TIFF for use in Scribus.

A screenshot is a screenshot. ;-)
The best way to go would be to test up to the very end of the 
production line, if possible. The printed page is your goal. How it 
looks on screen is only a preview. As we say, we don't go by the 
screen, we go by the print!
My advice is try not to "resize" too much screenshots. This will 
rapidly reveal the defaults.

>
>One printer told me he needs the TIFFs (for the screenshots, PDF for text)
>another said the PDF was all he needed - which one knows what he's doing?

PDF is a container. The images are "in" the PDF. As opposed to 
Scribus, Quark and the like, where images are only linked. Sending a 
high res PDF (minimum compression on images) will be just fine with 
most printers. Again, good communication at the beginning of the 
process can only help. A test page is always a good idea. After that 
page has passed through the whole process successfully, everybody 
speaks the same language. Specs are clear for both the emettor and 
the receivor and if they are followed, you can expect everything to 
work the way it should.

>
>Thanks so much.

Real pleasure!

Louis

>
>Louis Desjardins (louisdesjardins at videotron.ca) wrote:
>>
>>
>>  >  > Anyways - I'm looking for tips and suggestions for doing 
>>250-350 page book
>>  >  > projects in Scribus. Our books will feature lots of screen 
>>captures. One of
>>
>>
>>  Hi,
>>
>>  1. As Craig points out, grab the most updated version of Scribus,
>>  it's getting better everyday!
>>  2. One big issue will be text formatting so be careful (see below).
>>  3. Pics shouldn't slow down the whole process per se. Maybe depend on
>>  the machine.
>>
>>  Having a separate file for each chapter is a good idea.
>>  Bug #0001235: "Custom page start number on new document and in
>>  document setup" is still open.
>>  Until that bug is solved, you will have to assemble your document in
>>  the end for all the page numbers to be there, unless your book has a
>>  page numbering pattern that includes the chapter # in front of the
>>  page number, as we often see in docs. Then of course, there will be
>>  no issue for page numbering.
>>  I would thoroughly edit the text in OpenOffice.org or the like as to
>>  leave the very least text editing possible in Scribus as this is time
>>  consuming. (yet)
>>  Use stylesheets in OO.o and import them in Scribus.
>>  Don't forget the stylesheets for lines.
>>  Use templates, guides, etc.
>>
>>  A well organized and prepared work should not be a pain at all in
>>  Scribus. Quite the opposite, imo.
>>
>>  Be careful with last minute changes as some are a bit difficult to
>>  achieve: page size change is one of them.
>>
>>  Just remember, as of now - and it could change fast - Scribus is more
>>  "at home" with small to medium chunks of text. This is why it should
>>  work just fine with a work broken into chapters.
>>
>>  At output, you will be delighted by the PDF capabilities of Scribus.
>  >
>>  The people on this list will do their best to help you out.
>>
>>  Happy new year!
>>
>>  Louis
>>