[Scribus] Single text frame with one, then two, then one column(s)

[Michael Koren]

Alt 033 wrote:
> 
> I have been using Scribus for a only a few days (v. 1.3.3.4).  I've
> searched the archive, but I haven't found a question that quite
> pertains to what I am trying to achieve.  Is it possible to do the
> following within a single text frame?
> 
> - The first paragraph has a hanging indent and extends across the full
> width of the text frame.
> 
> - The second paragraph is in the first of two side-by-side columns.
> The left justification aligns with the indent of the first paragraph,
> not the left side of the text frame.  The right of this paragraph
> extends to the gap.
> 
> - The third paragraph is in the second of two side-by-side columns.
> It extends from the gap on its left to the right side of the text
> frame.
> 

Hi Ron,

I'd like to see functionality like this too. You can't do it at the moment,
and as Louis mentioned, there was some controversy on the bugtracker over
whether to support it in the future. But the discussion there was on making
# of columns a paragraph level property, which (as was realized then) could
cause some problems, and wouldn't really do what you want.

I think a nice solution would be "frame subdivisions," where a frame could
be subdivided vertically into separate regions, just like it is divided
horizontally into columns now. I imagine a single unified subdivision scheme
for frame sections and columns, as well as tabs and indentation levels and
maybe even the new table implementation. There could be a nice general
algorithm which supports explicit subdivisions of a region into n sections
(like columns) as well as subdivision breaks in the text itself, which is
what you would need here.

Each subdivision of a frame could have its own frame-level properties,
including # of columns (horizontal divisions) within it, etc.



> - The columns are of even width, taking into account the left
> justification of the second paragraph.  Thus, they are off-center in
> the text frame (and on the page).
> 

This part would need support for setting column widths and gaps individually
(which is currently requested as bug #162). There could be support for this
as part of a general subdivision scheme, including fancy features such as
specifying which values or relationships to preserve when the frame or other
widths are resized.

Here is the way I would imagine doing what you want to do overall:

1) set an indentation or tab stop for the main frame (optional, so you could
resize it easily later)
2a) define your style for paragraphs 1 and 4 to use the frame's indentation
setting for the hanging indent, or
2b) just apply a hanging indent in the text without using a style if that
becomes supported
3) put subdivision breaks after paragraphs 1 and 3 and set the second
subdivision to have 2 columns
4a) set your column spacing using a slider thingy (like the one for tabs) to
look something like this:

[gap] [col] [gap] [col]
  X     50%  36 pt  50%

where the first gap is locked to the frame's first indentation level, and
the column widths are percentages of the remaining space after the fixed
gaps.
4b) optionally save this as a column style for reuse throughout the
document.

Now you can change the indentation width in just one place or resize the
whole frame/apply the styles in different sized frames, and everything
adjusts itself automatically. (I hope my explanation was followable.) Do you
think this sounds reasonable?

Once you'd set up the styles you'd get all the benefits of having the text
flowed in a single frame, in the format you want.



> - The fourth and final paragraph, like the first, has a hanging indent
> and stretches across the full text frame and page.
> 
> So far, I have only been able to do this in three linked text frames.
> When I try to do it in one frame with column breaks after each
> paragraph, the columns containing paragraphs two and three are of
> uneven width because the gap is centered in the frame (or perhaps on
> the page) and the fourth paragraph goes missing from the frame, though
> not from the story editor.
> 

Out of curiousity, how did you get past even paragraph one this way? You
can't have it in one column above and paragraphs 2 and  3 in two columns
below it, can you?



> Thanks,
> Ron
> 

Michael
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