[scribus] Merge layers capability.

[John Culleton]

On Thursday 27 August 2009 10:49:20 a.l.e wrote:
> hi john
>
> > To be clear I am asking for an internal way to merge layers down
> > in such a way that the overall appearance is not affected, as can
> > be done in Gimp.  Scribus using pdf 1.3 output will today reduce
> > layers, but effects like blends are lost.
>
> there are two functionalities in gimp:
>
> - on exporting to jpg or png you can reduce the image to one layer
>
> - you can manually merge down one (or several?) layers.
>
>
> the first will not be implemented (always afaik) in scribus in the
> near future (but is plannned and difficult).
>
> the second can already be achieved by copy-pasting the items from
> one layer to another (and setting the correct blends for the
> elements pasted).
>
> the .sla won't export better to pdf 1.3, though: the problem is not
> that there are layers, but that you have transparencies which have
> to be flattened.
>
> so at the end, what you are looking for  (if i understood
> correctly) is flattening of transparencies not merging of layers.
>
> have fun
> a.l.e

Some printing standards (PDF/X1a:2001 comes to mind) won't handle 
either layers or transparencies. So there is a need to flatten the 
layers and also blend if necessary the items on those layers.  In 
other words is there is a semi-transparent band as a background for 
some text on e.g. a book cover or a newsletter headline (think the 
Yugo tutorial) there needs to be a way to preserve that visual 
effect.  This would be a manual, layer at a time process. 

Layers in Scribus are very handy during development because they can 
be made invisible or visible as needed. 

I can handle the problem by exporting to pdf 1.5, viewing the 
resultant pdf in Acrobat Reader, printing to file and converting the 
resultant PS file to pdf 1.3 or X/3.  But that is a clumsy and 
complex approach and may cause some degradation of e.g., print.  

My request is simple to state but probably difficult to accomplish: 
provide a way to merge layers  and objects in layers while keeping 
the appearance of the document the same, in order to accommodate the 
requirements of some big printers in the USA. 


-- 
John Culleton
Able Indexers and Typesetters