Scribus Forums

Scribus => Beginner Talk => Topic started by: KimFoltz on September 19, 2017, 05:19:11 PM

Title: Import pdf
Post by: KimFoltz on September 19, 2017, 05:19:11 PM
I am using Scribus 1.4.6 with Ghostscript 9.22 on 64-bit Windows 7. Trying to open a 32 page Acrobat document to try and add page transitions to the pdf. Attempting to open the document gives a Unrecoverable error: undefined in DELAYBIND. There is a warning the DELAYBIND command has been deprecated and will be removed in the next version. For now you can restore the behavior by using -dREALLYDEALYBIND.

What is the message trying to instruct me to do?
Title: Re: Import pdf
Post by: a.l.e on September 19, 2017, 05:23:46 PM
how are you opening a pdf with scribus 1.4.6?

scribs 1.4.6 cannot open pdfs... it can only load them as images in image frames...

scribus 1.5.3 can open pdfs...

anyway, scribus is not a pdf editor...
Title: Re: Import pdf
Post by: KimFoltz on September 19, 2017, 06:51:10 PM
Quote from: a.l.e on September 19, 2017, 05:23:46 PM
how are you opening a pdf with scribus 1.4.6?

scribs 1.4.6 cannot open pdfs... it can only load them as images in image frames...

scribus 1.5.3 can open pdfs...

anyway, scribus is not a pdf editor...

I am only trying to add page transitions to the document.

If I understand your response, you are suggesting the development branch may handle the pdf better than the stable version. Thanks. Worth trying.
Title: Re: Import pdf
Post by: GarryP on September 20, 2017, 10:53:06 AM
Trying to use Scribus to add page transitions to a PDF sounds like you're trying to knock a square peg into a round hole.
I would recommend thinking about what you have and what you want from the ground up instead.

Think about issues such as:
* Why do you want page transitions? What are they adding?
* Where does the PDF come from? What generates the thing you are trying to change?
* Where does the original information come from? What options does this have for output?
* What is your target readership? What do they need/want from the information?
* Overall, is an "animated" PDF really the best way to get your message across?

If you really need to do what you're doing then you can probably add an image frame to each Scribus page and import the PDF into each frame selecting the correct PDF page in each image frame in 1.4.6 - without needing 1.5.x - but I really think you should be taking the time to figure out what the best solution will be instead of trying to force things.

You might not have any control over what's happening and this could be your only solution, but often there's a better way.
Title: Re: Import pdf
Post by: Nermander on September 20, 2017, 07:13:08 PM
I would say that Scribus cannot add transitions to a PDF.

What you can do in Scribus is import a PDF as text and vectors, and from that content create a new PDF that contains transisions.

Title: Re: Import pdf
Post by: a.l.e on September 21, 2017, 08:23:41 AM
yes, scribus cannot directly add transitions to a pdf.

but, sadly, scribus can create pdf with transitions, so you can do that with scribus.
but it's a bit silly.
most of all if you're using 1.4.x.
Title: Re: Import pdf
Post by: GarryP on September 21, 2017, 10:06:17 AM
Personally I wouldn't touch page transitions with a ten-foot barge pole.
At best, they distract from the content. At worst, they just make the creator/presenter look bad.

Page transitions on PDFs are a bit like flashing text and marquee scrolling in HTML. They were a gimmick that had their day in the sun but should now be retired in favour of more "mature" ways of doing things, I.e. Just go straight to the next page.

If you think you might need page transitions to make your content interesting and keep the viewer engaged then your content isn't interesting enough. Don't paper over the cracks, fix the cracks.

I think it would be a good idea if the Extras tab in the Export dialog was removed completely. I can't believe there's more than a tiny minority of people that actually use these things and it's extra code that needs to be kept up-to-date and tested which will take up valuable development time which could be better-used elsewhere.