Text layout differences between Linux and Windows

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apastuszak

I have 2 machines in my house.  One runs Windows 10 Professional 64-bit, and the other runs Arch Linux.  Both have Scribus 1.4.6 64-bit installed.

Both documents use the font Nimbus Sans L, which is obtained from the same source: the Ghostscript website.

I also make extensive use of the resize text box vertically script from here:  http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Adjust_a_text_frame_to_fit_its_content

As I switch back and forth between Windows and Linux, I keep running into the following issue:

I have a 10 box with one line of Nimbus Sans L text in bold.  I run the resize text box script in Linux and it makes a text box that is 4mm high.  Running the same script in Windows makes the text box 5 mm high.

The 1 mm discrepancy I could kind of deal with, but when I load my document up on the Windows machine, all these text boxes have the red x in them indicating that the text box is too small to fit the text.

Is this an issue with the font I am using, with Scribus or is this something OS related that I won't be able to work around?

Nermander

Make sure none of the machines have two different copies of the font.

GarryP

My first question would be what measurement units are you using? The page where the script is says that it (only?) works when using "pt", whereas you mention frame heights in "mm". (I've no idea why it's specific, this is the first time I've seen it.)

My second question is why are you making "extensive use" of this script? Just make the frame big enough to hold the text rather than worrying about extra unused space at the end. I've used Scribus for years on lots of different projects without using this script at all so I don't understand why you'd need it. Surely you can just make the frame(s) big enough to contain what you want them to contain and don't worry that they're a little larger than they need to be. Maybe I'm missing some vital information but it sounds like you're just creating a problem for yourself.

Nermander

People who use that script usually do it because they use visible borders on the text frame.

But I agree that I have myself almost never seen the need for it. Most likely because I try do design using alignment and whitespace instead of lines.

GarryP

Doesn't Scribus need extra "space" at the bottom of a text frame because of the way it uses fonts?

When I've needed a visible border I've had to use fairly large "offset" distances to make sure that this extra space is given and is equal/balanced around the frame. Otherwise the text overspills. I usually get round this by using another shape underneath the text frame. Not great but it gives me more control over what I want to do rather than put up with the way Scribus does things (which might actually be the correct way to do things, I just find my way easier for me).

I do all this manually because I wouldn't trust something to automatically make it look right with the rest of the page but I can also see how it could become tiresome if someone has lots of frames they needed to change.

I can see why people would want to have visible borders around things sometimes but I would have hoped that that sort of thing was used sparingly rather than "extensively".

I agree that using alignment and whitespace is better for layout design rather than putting stuff in boxes. I find that having boxes/lines all over the place makes documents a chore to read. Good layout and font choice can normally remove the need for adding extra separators.

Nermander

Yes, for some reason Scribus usually need more space above and below the text than what people are used to, which makes borders on text frames less useful.