Lost in translation: looking for the right Ghostscript version

Previous topic - Next topic

soakedlontra

Well now I have realized that I have made a mistake when I did not install Ghostscript before installing Scribus in my Mac OSx 10.9.5 Mavericks.

I have been looking for the right version of Ghostscript and after searching the net left and right I feel like I am at the center of a labyrinth and I cannot figure out my way out.

Where can I download the right version of Ghostscript?

From my understanding I can installing it without uninstalling Scribus first. Right?

Thank you very much for your patience.

soakedlontra

#1
AH!  I have found "il filo d'Arianna"  :) :

http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Help:Manual_Toolsgs

The battle is not over yet. I am trying to figure out whether using MacPorts is the best options or not. If it is do I have to install MacPorts in order to install Ghostscript?

GarryP

Installing Ghostscript after Scribus and then getting GS to work with Scribus can be a bit of a pain but it's not too difficult (once you know how).

You don't need to uninstall Scribus, and doing so would be pointless unless you also deleted the preferences files where the location of GS is held.

The easiest way to install GS is with the package installer available from http://pages.uoregon.edu/koch/
Don't bother looking for other sources of GS as some of them have been known to include malware, stick with the University of Oregon links.

Follow the link for the latest version - as it is at the time of writing - Ghostscript 9.15. (The Scribus Wiki page you found links you to an old version of GS and should be changed. Actually that whole area needs a good clean up.)
Once you've downloaded the package, double-click on it and accept the default installation options (unless you've got some good reason not to).

(Alternatively you can install GS via Macports but you will need to install Macports first and you'll have to go through the same process as below.)

Once GS has been installed, go into Scribus and go to "Preferences / External Tools".
In the "Postscript Interpreter" box type
/usr/local/bin/gs
into the "Name of Executable" field and OK the dialog.
Then close Scribus and re-open it.

You should now be able to use GS.

If that doesn't work, try
/opt/local/bin/gs
in the "Name of Executable" field instead (closing and re-opening Scribus again).

If neither of these works, go to Terminal and type
sudo find / -type l -name gs -print
After giving your password, your machine will trawl through your file system looking for the GS executable (actually an alias but that's outside the scope of this).
Once it comes up with a path - ending in /gs - you can CTRL+Z to stop it and copy and paste the path into the "Name of Executable" field. Close Scribus and re-open as before.

I know it's not a great way of doing this but it should work.

(It would be great if Scribus had a "Find Ghostscript" button that initiated whatever code it uses when it's first installed. It's probably not that difficult to do.)

soakedlontra

Garry thank you very much for taking the time to explain to me in layman's terms how to install Ghostscript in this increasingly frustrating Mac (whatever I try to do seems more difficult in the mac than the PC that I have, well until the day when I had to update  its operating system and installed Windows 8.1....but that it's another story).

I will try later when I have more time right now I need to get ready to go to work.

The more I dig into Scribus the more I realize how much free time all the developers involved must have spent in putting all its bits and pieces together and making them work. It seems to me that a huge challenge is keeping the technical support info updated.

soakedlontra

Urraaahhh! It worked like a piece of cake!  ;D So far everything seems to be working fine. I followed instructions n. 1. This time I didn't have to open the lock at all to let GS in. Amen!

The only thing is that I was hoping to see in the print preview the pages of my document side by side instead of one below the other. I wonder if it has something to do with the single page document setup. I looked for a button in the print preview dialog box that would allow me to change the position of the pages on the screen but I couldn't see anything obvious.

Thank you very much again!

Nermander

Yes, that is due to the single page setting. That setting affects how Scribus show the pages on screen.

GarryP

You're welcome soakedlontra.

And, on the "frustrating Mac" side of things, I'm sure that as you get used to it you'll find that the OSX way of doing things is actually better than with Windows. It will just take some time to get your head around the differences.

While Apple tends to go down the "Don't worry your pretty little head about that my dear, just do it like we showed you." route, there's a whole load of useful - and potentially dangerous, in the wrong hands - customisation options under the hood if you know where to look.

For a basic instance, try ALT+clicking your WiFi icon to see more info and options. Or, along the same lines, while you've got any menu open try pressing the ALT key and see what happens. (Most of the Finder menus show interesting changes.)

OSX is not perfect though, it's just different.

soakedlontra

I wish somebody made a computer (hardware) and operating system that has the best of both worlds (Mac and Windows), something that would break Apple and Microsoft's monopoly. I have just read reviews about Yosemite and Man!except for the  gimmicks that it can perform with other Apple devices it sounds like a piece of crap! (excuse my language). I will not update my mac to that!

PS: About my project I have to start all over again from scratch. I have to nail down the margins that would work with the printer at the printing shop I go to (nobody there knows about  imposition for instance. From my understanding  they use Acrobat Reader printing settings) and the use of master pages and other fundamental Scribus tools. There are a lot of "missing links" that I have to find somewhere in the Scribus documentation, manual and the net (I have just noticed that there are some videos on YouTube).


 

Zyphon

Quote from: soakedlontra on October 30, 2014, 05:02:33 PM
I wish somebody made a computer (hardware) and operating system that has the best of both worlds (Mac and Windows), something that would break Apple and Microsoft's monopoly

They already have, it's called Linux.  :D
Kind regards,

Michael

soakedlontra

Quote from: Zyphon on October 30, 2014, 05:36:57 PM
Quote from: soakedlontra on October 30, 2014, 05:02:33 PM
I wish somebody made a computer (hardware) and operating system that has the best of both worlds (Mac and Windows), something that would break Apple and Microsoft's monopoly

They already have, it's called Linux.  :D

I knew that somebody would have mentioned Linux. ;) I have heard that you need to have a solid computer knowledge that is far above the one possessed by an average folk like me.  Anyway, it's another story for the Linux Forum.

Zyphon

Quote from: soakedlontra on October 31, 2014, 08:42:04 PMI knew that somebody would have mentioned Linux. ;) I have heard that you need to have a solid computer knowledge that is far above the one possessed by an average folk like me.  Anyway, it's another story for the Linux Forum.

Lol.  :) Yes Linux might have a slightly steeper learning curve then say Windows or even a Mac but it's not as daunting as you may think. I guess we have been spoiled by being spoon fed by Microsoft Windows and Apple OS and the thought of using a command line seems scary I know it was for me when I first started using Linux. I started off with a ZX Spectrum and Commodore Amiga back in the day and one you had to learn to program in BASIC and the other sometimes required the use of Shell (the Amiga's command line tool).

I still use Windows also but I started exploring Linux in 2010 and started out with Ubuntu. This is a great OS to start off with as it is very much like the Windows Desktop Environment and makes migrating to a new OS less painful. My recommendation would be to play around with Linux Mint 17 this distribution is based on Ubuntu and Debian but it is built to be as user friendly as possible. You may have to dip your toes in Terminal (command line) but once you do a bit of research and perhaps watch a few YouTube videos then you will feel more comfortable with it.

You can download an ISO image and perhaps burn this to a re-writable DVD and run what is termed a 'live-cd'. This let's you test the OS without having to actually install it on your PC. As far as I aware you can't install Linux on a Mac (someone please correct me if i'm wrong) so you would need an IBM compatible PC/Laptop lying around.

Hope this helps. :)
Kind regards,

Michael

soakedlontra

Quote from: Zyphon on November 02, 2014, 01:08:08 AM
Quote from: soakedlontra on October 31, 2014, 08:42:04 PMI knew that somebody would have mentioned Linux. ;) I have heard that you need to have a solid computer knowledge that is far above the one possessed by an average folk like me.  Anyway, it's another story for the Linux Forum.

Lol.  :) Yes Linux might have a slightly steeper learning curve then say Windows or even a Mac but it's not as daunting as you may think. I guess we have been spoiled by being spoon fed by Microsoft Windows and Apple OS and the thought of using a command line seems scary I know it was for me when I first started using Linux. I started off with a ZX Spectrum and Commodore Amiga back in the day and one you had to learn to program in BASIC and the other sometimes required the use of Shell (the Amiga's command line tool).

I still use Windows also but I started exploring Linux in 2010 and started out with Ubuntu. This is a great OS to start off with as it is very much like the Windows Desktop Environment and makes migrating to a new OS less painful. My recommendation would be to play around with Linux Mint 17 this distribution is based on Ubuntu and Debian but it is built to be as user friendly as possible. You may have to dip your toes in Terminal (command line) but once you do a bit of research and perhaps watch a few YouTube videos then you will feel more comfortable with it.

You can download an ISO image and perhaps burn this to a re-writable DVD and run what is termed a 'live-cd'. This let's you test the OS without having to actually install it on your PC. As far as I aware you can't install Linux on a Mac (someone please correct me if i'm wrong) so you would need an IBM compatible PC/Laptop lying around.

Hope this helps. :)

(Oh dear where is a computer glossary?) Thanks but at the moment switching to Linux is not one of my priorities. I need to get back on track and learn how to use  Scribus with a Mac/PC.
   

Zyphon

Quote from: soakedlontra on November 02, 2014, 06:08:10 AM(Oh dear where is a computer glossary?) Thanks but at the moment switching to Linux is not one of my priorities. I need to get back on track and learn how to use  Scribus with a Mac/PC.

That's fair enough, good luck with exploring Scribus.
Kind regards,

Michael

Nermander

I'd say that a modern Ubuntu installation is not harder than Windows 7 or OS X. Different of course, but not more different than the difference between Windows and OS X.

Zyphon

Quote from: Nermander on November 03, 2014, 08:03:42 AM
I'd say that a modern Ubuntu installation is not harder than Windows 7 or OS X. Different of course, but not more different than the difference between Windows and OS X.

Agreed. :)
Kind regards,

Michael