[scribus] arcs

[Gregory Pittman]

On 01/15/2011 09:16 AM, a.l.e wrote:
>
>
> the question is more: should scribus copy inkscape for this tool?

I've just taken a look at the new arc tool, and also the 
circle-ellipse-arc tool in inkscape.

The new Scribus arc tool is actually quite similar to the c-e-a tool in 
inkscape. There is definition of horizontal and vertical radii, and then 
a couple of sliding nodes at the edge to define whether this is a closed 
circle/ellipse or an arc. In each project there is some glitchiness to 
operation, with some things seemingly not possible or at least 
difficult. Each assumes that you want some sort of symmetrical shape.

I don't think it would take too much work to have the two tools be 
identical in operation. It would be useful in Scribus to be able to use 
the arc for making a complete circle/ellipse -- now when you get to 
something like 345° or so, it flips to making the small arc of ≤ 45°. 
The tool in inkscape could use some work too -- it's a bit fiddly for arcs.

OTOH, I wouldn't want to lose the circular shape in Scribus and the way 
it is edited, which allows for some easy asymmetric distortions of a 
shape. For example, when I wanted to make a speech bubble for a 
cartoon-like slide for a presentation, it was easy to take an ellipse 
and modify it using the edit shape features in Scribus.

Meanwhile, there is also the script I wrote some time ago (June, 2006) 
for making pie charts, which I find still works in 1.5.0:

http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Making_a_Pie_Chart

Greg