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Scribus => Text and Typography => Topic started by: JohnJR on March 06, 2017, 09:26:37 PM

Title: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 06, 2017, 09:26:37 PM
Hi,

It seems there is some conflicting advice on the internet about importing these two file types in OS X 10.x, with regard to "filters".  Can you do this directly or still convert with LibreOffice first?

Thanks,
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: GarryP on March 07, 2017, 01:59:37 PM
JohnJR, Scribus can import .DOC but I'm not sure about .DOCX. I've just tried to import a random .DOCX file into 1.4.6 - I had to set the Get Text dialog to show all files - and told it to import as a Word Document. Nothing was imported. This might have just been a problem with my random document but the fact that .DOCX isn't shown in the list is telling.

.PAGES isn't in the list - in the list of file types in the Get Text dialog (on my Windows machine) - either so I've a feeling that they aren't allowed, but someone might have had some success (probably not though).

In general, if it's on the list you should be able to import, but if it isn't you probably won't be able to unless you get lucky.

The "trick" is to set the correct Importer in the dialog and that depends on the document you're trying to import. For example, say you have an .ODT file that contains HTML text (not an HTML file). Importing it as HTML, or an OpenOffice Writer document, or with Text Filters will all give you different results.

Some experimentation might be necessary to get things importing correctly but once you've got the right settings you can keep using them. If you have issues with a specific file that you can attach then I'm sure that people will be able to help you with it.

If in doubt, (and if possible) I would convert the file to an .ODT with Open/LibreOffice first. (I would not trust Word to make the conversion to .ODT. Use the software that uses the file type natively to do the conversion to the type you want.) That way, if you have problems with it, it will be easier for people to figure out what's going wrong since everyone has access to Open/LibreOffice without having to convert the .DOC(X) which might obscure the issue.
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 08, 2017, 01:43:37 AM
Hi GarryP,

Thanks for you reply.  I did manage to create an .odt file in LibreOffice and when I opened it I had a very pleasant surprise: page, font and size, spacing, numbering were preserved.  It was as if it was a photo of the .docx file--blank page spacing and all.

By the way, I'm using Mac OS X 10.11.6.

The text and font were maintained, but not the font sizes, line spacing, indents, drop caps, or justification.  But it did make an attempt, for instance thin lines and some point sizes.

I thought I could go into the imported text to correct these but could find no way to manipulate anything.  This is reasonably serious because some of the text is not on the right page while two pages of text wind up on the same page.

Can I, and How can I, correct these issues in Scribus?

Also I tried to just delete the imported text and re-import it.  The first time I was able to just edit "undo", but the second time I lost the ability to do this.  Rummaging around I did something that triggered a "crash warning--Signal 11" that stalled out all of Scribus, correctable only by Force Quitting Scribus.

As it is now the imported text is sitting there in my Scribus pages with no way to either delete it or edit it.

What can I do with either; delete or correct (edit)?

Thanks,
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 08, 2017, 06:04:03 AM
hi john

Quote from: JohnJR on March 08, 2017, 01:43:37 AM...but could find no way to manipulate anything.

...Can I, and How can I, correct these issues in Scribus?

i assume you're not working on the right layer. (but i could be wrong, there are more possibilities to save items from accidental changes. as often – hard to tell without the file...)

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: GarryP on March 08, 2017, 10:21:11 AM
JohnJR, I'm confused.

Essentially, I can't tell which software you're using at any particular point in time. The move from LO to Scribus isn't clear so I'm not sure how to diagnose what is happening.

You mention opening an .ODT file and having a pleasant surprise, but Scribus can't "open" files like that, it can only import stuff from them. Are you in Scribus at this point or in LO? If you're in LO then that's one thing but if you're in Scribus it's another.

For example: You mention that some formatting is preserved but other formatting isn't. This doesn't make sense. Converting a .DOCX to .ODT in LO will normally preserve all of the basic formatting, including line spacing, justification, etc. Importing text into Scribus will not preserve things like line spacing (unless you set-up the styles and do the import correctly). Also, I don't know what you mean by "thin lines" being preserved. Are these lines that have been drawn? They wouldn't be imported into Scribus so that doesn't sound right.

If you can give a step-by-step account - which application, what action you took, and what the result was - we can probably help you much better. As things currently stand, I have no idea what I'm trying to fix.
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 08, 2017, 08:30:55 PM
Hi Folks,

Sorry I left so much confusion in my questions.  It was the Word-to-LibreOffice conversion that went so well, I'm always sort of surprised when technology works.  The conversion was saved as an .odt.

I then returned to my Scribus file (a set set of applied master pages) and followed File > Import > Get Text to place the manuscript into the Scribus pages.  The manuscript appeared in the text frames but in odd spacings and pages and entirely justified to the left.  Sorry about my use of the term "thin lines"; they are a just decorous small font lines in title pages that I "draw" using the hyphen or underscore keys.

But Wait.  This morning I discovered a loose nut behind the wheel and a spark-plug that didn't fire.  I started looking at the converted .odt document that looked so pristine and discovered that a lot of formatting had not converted.  Most noticeable was that the .odt document had preserved the formatting but set into what looks like a standard letter sized page rather than the Word and Scribus documents, which are set for a standard sized 5.25"x8.0" book.

The up-shot of this is that if I go back into the LibreOffice document and edit that to conform to the original Word and Scribus page size a lot of my formatting problems may very well correct themselves.  Also from your hint, it sounds like I had better go back and study-up on paragraph styles.  I thought that would be picked up by the styles that were imported.  Indeed the font style itself and most point sizes did translate.

I'm still left with the mashed up imported text sitting in my Scribus document and found no way of deleting the text for a do over.  Also I noted that once the imported text was inside the text frames, the frame itself would not activate (highlight red) and the text itself seemed uneditable--frozen.  What path can I take to solve these two issues?

In the meantime I'll send you the .sla file and a couple of screen shots of each title page.

Thanks,

Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 08, 2017, 08:49:49 PM
Sorry Folks; it seems that the previous post seized up and I suspect it has to do with the attachments.  Either they are too big or that there are too many of them (3?).  All three of the attachments are in the 33 KB range each--tops.  Or what?

I hate to be a repeat whiner, however being in the dark about why posts don't go through should really bear with some attention, guidance, and clarification.

Thanks,

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 08, 2017, 08:52:09 PM
Here (hopefully) are the screen shots.

Thanks again,

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 08, 2017, 09:12:39 PM
hi john

i opened your file, double clicked at random into text frames and found all of them editable – what exactly is your problem?
(i tested with scribus 1.4.6 on macos 10.11.6...)

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: GarryP on March 09, 2017, 01:49:37 PM
Thanks for the extra info' JohnJR, that makes things clearer.

First, I can confirm that I get the same reaction as utnik when trying to edit your document with Scribus 1.4.6 on Windows 10 which is that I can double-click into various random text frames and edit the text as I would expect. As with utnik, I'm not having the problem you are getting. I have no idea why we can do what you cannot do with the same file. (One thought is that because you have a very long text frame chain it could be causing problems if your machine is slow or doesn't have much spare memory. It's probably not that, it's just off the top of my head.)

I also have no idea why you are having problems with attachments on the forum. All I can say is that the forum software is old and clunky (in my opinion) and should be replaced with something better. a.l.e has already been asking what people think about a change here: http://forums.scribus.net/index.php/topic,2328.0.html

I don't have many .DOCX files, and certainly none that would be good to test conversion to .ODT, but if there's a problem with the conversion in LibreOffice then that's really an issue for the LO team rather than it being a Scribus issue. From personal experience I know that comments give problems and images sometimes do but I've not had much problem with normal text, not that I use LO very much on a day-to-day basis.

I've just done a quick test with some sample text in an .ODT file, formatting with in-built and user-created paragraph styles. Importing the text into a Scribus text frame with "Automatic" as the importer brought most of the paragraph formatting with it just fine except for a font substitution. (An import with the importer as "OpenOffice Writer" seemed to ignore the formatting completely.)

Character formatting will not be imported, so if your text was formatted with character styles in LO - instead of paragraph styles - then you will lose that formatting. Also, any bold and italic formatting will be lost as Scribus uses the proper font variants where word processors generally don't (they manipulate the glyphs on-the-fly to create bold-ish and italic-ish versions).

So, I think the upshot is:
* Make sure the correct paragraph styles have been applied to the text in LO;
* Make sure that the conversion to .ODT was successful;
* Import the text using the "Automatic" importer.

One other tip: Split your text into chapters and import each chapter into a new text frame chain. You will find it much quicker and easier to make changes that way.
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 10, 2017, 10:33:31 PM
Hi Folks,

Some of my editing within text frames does appear to be the slower response, things do move and justify and the characters are individually editable if I wait a moment.  I had read about the response delay and should have taken that into account by suspending my impatience a little to realize it.  My iMac is late 2009 and I'm told not overly endowed with memory (4Gb) and that lè El Capitan taxes the poor devil quite a bit

I haven't been able yet to highlight text to, say, change the point size for instance and still do need to delete all the current text within the document in order to re-import  the now corrected .ODT page size.  I'll see if I can figure this for myself first, given the fact that I made so many amateur errors above.

One thing that I'm a little curious about and might be of interest to you: I have both a page-number text frame and a chapter text frame both in the header.  They show as gray (un-selected) boxes in the document.  And they seem to stay that way; every time I click on either one of these boxes they do not activate (outline in red)  I haven't gotten that far yet as to placing text/numbering in those boxes, but am concerned about when I do that they will remain mute.

Thanks folks,
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 11, 2017, 01:01:56 AM
hi john

Quote from: JohnJR on March 10, 2017, 10:33:31 PM...need to delete all the current text within the document in order to re-import  the now corrected .ODT page size.

i can't see why the .odt page size matters...

QuoteI have both a page-number text frame and a chapter text frame both in the header.  They show as gray (un-selected) boxes in the document.  And they seem to stay that way...

you can't edit master page objects on the document pages.
you should insert the page number on the master page ('insert' → 'character → 'page number') – and for the chapter text you have to chose between a solution with different master pages and the scrapbook to copy the text to multiple pages.

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 13, 2017, 05:33:26 AM
Hi Folks,

You were right, the different page-size issue in the LibreOffice formatting made no difference to Scribus document, it flowed the text nicely into all the correctly defined document pages just fine.

I'm going to leave your suggestions about my header issues aside for the moment while I address the font, point size, and indention changes that occurred in translation from .odt to .sla.

For the font and point size (title and chapter pages) I found no way to edit those directly with the text itself albeit in Scribus the recognition of a different font size registered.  My solution was to highlight the text, delete it, and construct two new text frames inside the document (margin) text frames and just retype the text back in (fortunately in a title page there's not much to retype).  From there I could highlight words and use the property palette to apply the various fonts and point sizes.  This technique worked down to letters, LaCunnas for example.  It was tedious but it worked.

The problems I'm facing now involve the body text itself (56 Pages).  In the import all the text came through left-justified instead of the original fully-justified.  And the original five-space indent tabs came through as 17-spaces, a third of a line.

If I highlighted the text in a single page manually (click and drag), using the properties palette I was able to fully-justify that one page only.  I tried using Edit > Select All, hoping to see it highlight all the flowing text--nothing happened.  Story Editor or Edit > Styles offered no choices I could see.  Neither did Document Setup, Sections.  As to the paragraph indention issue: I could delete the tab and set the text back to left-justified, but hitting the tab the indention jumped right back to 17 spaces.  I deleted the tab again and manually entered five spaces and everything went normally, for that paragraph only.

Both those reformatting issues are probably related.  Can you give me a path to universally (whole document) correct these two body text issues?

There might be something about Master Pages I don't understand.  When I set up this document I created a set (double) of mirrored pages and constructed three text frames (two in the header and one filling the margins, applied that to 56 pages (blank or not) and imported the .odt document.  In essence the Master Pages are the document.  I might have missed something.

Thanks,


Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 13, 2017, 06:06:37 AM
 hi john

you should define your fonts, point sizes, justification and indention in paragraph styles (and the appearance of highlighted words in character styles).
Quote from: JohnJR on March 13, 2017, 05:33:26 AMThere might be something about Master Pages I don't understand. When I set up this document I created a set (double) of mirrored pages and constructed three text frames...

as i said before, you can't edit master page objects in the individual document pages!

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: CGood on March 13, 2017, 05:44:27 PM
Might templates or scrapbook items be more useful and intuitive here?
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 13, 2017, 06:24:55 PM
Quote from: CGood on March 13, 2017, 05:44:27 PM
Might templates or scrapbook items be more useful and intuitive here?

that's hard to tell – maybe you should play with all the options...
i use own templates, multiple copies of pages, page import from other .sla files, scrapbook items and different master pages – each of them when i think it's the best for a specific task.

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 13, 2017, 08:51:17 PM
Hi Folks,

Dammit, or be damned, One of my own issues above resolved itself, but I was too impatient or slow to realize it happened.  Fully justifying the body text frame from the first of those pages, I just noted, did carry itself throughout the entire rest of the document.  Sometimes I wonder how you guys put up with me.  Hopefully I'm of some use to others equally challenged.  If it helps I'm a user who left middle-age behind me several decades ago with decreasing regrets and just returned to childhood.  Its safer there.  Right now I should go back-in and construct a profile.

I might try going back into that first body text frame highlight all the text (paragraphs), and manually reformat the indention tab-thing  there and see if it applies re-indents to the rest of the manuscript like the justification flowed from there.

I still have a question about Master Pages.  I created my pair of mirrored (double) Master Pages (?) in New Document and just applied that pair 27 times (56 pages minus the original pair equals 54 divided by two equals 27 pairs).  I didn't save this one as a template that I know of since saving to Own Templates had gotten so clogged up with fits and starts.  All three of my text frames were created at that point equally, but only the margin-sized one activates, the other two--text frames, not headers--just sit there outlined in grey no matter how many times I click on them, let alone entering stuff into them.

Thanks again,
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 14, 2017, 06:21:54 AM
hi john

Quote from: JohnJR on March 13, 2017, 08:51:17 PMI still have a question about Master Pages...

...All three of my text frames were created at that point equally, but only the margin-sized one activates, the other two--text frames, not headers--just sit there outlined in grey no matter how many times I click on them, let alone entering stuff into them.

i can repeat it as a prayer wheel:

Quote from: utnik on March 11, 2017, 01:01:56 AM
QuoteI have both a page-number text frame and a chapter text frame both in the header.  They show as gray (un-selected) boxes in the document.  And they seem to stay that way...

you can't edit master page objects on the document pages.

Quote from: utnik on March 13, 2017, 06:06:37 AM
QuoteThere might be something about Master Pages I don't understand. When I set up this document I created a set (double) of mirrored pages and constructed three text frames...

as i said before, you can't edit master page objects in the individual document pages!

for the margin sized frame: i suspect you generated an automatic text frame while creating the file. there may be another frame of the same size on the master page. (i don't have the time to check your file at the moment...)

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 18, 2017, 01:34:14 AM
Hi Utnik,

I finally got it.  The root cause was not really having a clear understanding that the whole document wasn't one big Mater Page pair.  Couple that, then, with a terror of creating new Master Pages just for this header-stuff thinking that it might delete or destroy my original Master Pages.  I see now that all Master Pages can sort of layer on top of other Master Pages, transparently, and any given document page can have more than one Master Page happily applied over it

Given that, with fits and starts, everything became magik-k.  Except for one hex.  I got to the end of my document and found that I had two pages (one sheet) that should be blank.  Instead they had the new header-stuff Master Pages layered on them with their page numbers and header text (in two separate frames).

So Hah, I thought with my new found prowess I can solve this.  I went back in and re-applied my header Master Pages setting to not include the last two pages.  Nothing changed.  So Hah, it's because of the pagination.  I can handle this.  I went back in and changed the page numbering to stop before those two pages, and re-applied the new Master Pages again.  Sure nuf, the page numbers disappeared, but the header text still remains glowing away on those last two pages, otherwise properly blank.  I think somehow the new Master Pages are still applied there in spite of re-applying to exclude them.  I thought one way out of this would be to just delete those two pages and then append them back in using the original Master Pages.  I can find no path to delete the pages themselves however, making the appending part moot. 

Now What?

Thanks,

Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 18, 2017, 07:53:15 PM
hi john

Quote from: JohnJR on March 18, 2017, 01:34:14 AM...I see now that all Master Pages can sort of layer on top of other Master Pages, transparently, and any given document page can have more than one Master Page...

i don't know what you're talking about.
afaik there's no way to apply multiple master pages to the same document page...

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 18, 2017, 08:28:00 PM
Hi Utnik,

P.S.: I just read your reply after posting this.  Applying two Master Pages to the same document page did seem to solve the problem of header items making it into the document.  However the header text boxes were already formatted (empty) but wouldn't activate (probably as you point out because I added them after initial set-up).  Given that, see below for additional grief.

I hate to complicate your day, but just now I ran into a larger problem related to the post above.  I think they both have something to do with Pages > Apply Master Pages.

This morning my document sat nice and neat on my screen with only the issue above pending.  I wanted to investigate something in Preferences and so I saved and closed the document.  As the document closed, it seems somehow(?) there appeared the same document again underneath it.  I saved and closed that one too (or again).  Suspicious of this process, I re-opened the document and found the same issue posted above still there, but with a new one had interjected itself in as well.

The new Master Pages were applied correctly, however they had re-populated themselves onto other pages where they were not before (or intended) with in-congruent page numbers that assigned even numbers to odd pages and vice-versa, however it did not disrupt the correct numbering system already applied (pp.10-48)  I thought okay I'll just re-apply the new Master Pages again to exclude those pages where they didn't belong.  Nothing changed, they stayed as such.  Just like above.

I did note in the Apply dialog box that after selecting either of the new Master Pages (left or right, even or odd) that the "within page range" would not consistently stay selected.  Also if I typed in the first page to apply "from" and tabbed over to the "to" box and typed in the last page to apply; the first "from" box would change radically.  For example, say, odd pages would have been "from" 11, that number would have morphed into, say, 4 as I typed in the first digit of the "to" destination.  Correcting the "from" box did not alter the "to" entry in this way.  Just now I wonder if this phenomenon might be because the cursor might have highlighted a page somewhere that Scribus automatically assumed was a default start "from".  Might is be a key to the whole root issue?

Anyway when things were finally entered correctly, hitting the Okay button--nothing changed; the old issue in the post above remained and now also this new misapplication remained.  In any event the Apply dialog didn't affect either one.

I can hear you say, "send me the file", so I've attached it herein I hope warts and all.  I wonder though if this might be something inside my iMac or my Scribus download might have been corrupted from the beginning (about three months ago)?

Thanks,



[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 19, 2017, 12:29:33 AM
hi john

you're right – i would have asked for the file, because i don't understand your problems.
but the file doesn't really help; i can't find anything special except the empty (and unusable) textboxes from the master pages.

btw. there are no other master pages than 'normal left'  and 'normal right' and i can't find any page numbers – so i don't understand the following part:

Quote from: JohnJR on March 18, 2017, 01:34:14 AM...with a terror of creating new Master Pages just for this header-stuff thinking that it might delete or destroy my original Master Pages.  I see now that all Master Pages can sort of layer on top of other Master Pages, transparently, and any given document page can have more than one Master Page happily applied over it

Given that, with fits and starts, everything became magik-k.  Except for one hex.  I got to the end of my document and found that I had two pages (one sheet) that should be blank.  Instead they had the new header-stuff Master Pages layered on them with their page numbers and header text (in two separate frames).


Quote...I can find no path to delete the pages themselves...

just try 'page' → 'delete'.

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 22, 2017, 12:37:28 AM
Hi Utnik,

I checked here and there should be four Master Pages.  The default Normal Left and Right Master Pages I originally used to construct the entire book.  Your assumptions from the beginning that those originals had only the margin-defined text box set up at that point, while I added the header and page number text boxes to those two in Document Set Up later.  When I applied those two Master Pages, only the margin-defined text box would activate, the two header boxes remained mute, just grey outlines.

That is when I thought I was doing the right thing by creating two new Master Pages via Edit > Master Pages.  These two new Master Pages are named "Numbers Left" and "Numbers Right" and are listed as such at my end.  The two new Master Pages were created from the original Normal Left and Right by applying text frames to the two header boxes greyed out on those and adding repetitive text and pagination place holders two those header text boxes.

In that sense maybe they are not stand alone Master Pages in their own right but somehow only derivatives of the two originals.  Could that be why they might not show as Master Pages in there own right--named as such?  And perhaps acting now like such renegades?

After all, I applied these two "Numbers" Pages By defining pagination for them and then what I thought was correct; applying them over the original Pages for the specified pagination and it worked.  I thought the manuscript was done, saved.  But opening it up, originally had only the two pages at the end that just needed deleting.  (Thanks for the tip: Pages > Delete I was highlighting the pages and trying to use my delete-key.  There was na-da I could find in help forums about that simple sequence.)

Upon opening the file for the second time, that is when the rogue new "Numbers" Masters Pages populated themselves where they were never applied to: document pages 3-9 (title page through first chapter page, also note the pagination reverses itself, left odd right even while the text remains correct) with page numbers commencing with 2 and going thru 8.  Beginning with document page 10 (numbered as 2) both header text boxes are applied correctly as specified to document page 48 (page number 40).  As I said, Page > Apply and re-applying the Numbers Pages does nothing to eliminate the initial header wackiness up to document page page 9.

I've saved, closed, and reopened the file enough be fairly confident that the document seems fairly stable and in case something has changed I'm attaching a new zip file again.

Thanks,






[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on March 22, 2017, 06:11:22 AM
hi john

yes, that's different from the file you uploaded before:
Quote from: JohnJR on March 22, 2017, 12:37:28 AMYour assumptions from the beginning that those originals had only the margin-defined text box set up at that point

no, these boxes aren't on any master page. when creating a new document, you can tell scribus to apply a chain of linked margin sized text boxes across all pages of the document – independent of the master pages. that's where they went from.

Quote...also note the pagination reverses itself, left odd right even...

again, it's not something scribus does wrong.
you should be more careful when experimenting with functions which are new for you!
in the 'sections' tab of 'document setup' you told scribus to start the numbering in the first section (pages 1-9) with '0' – so scribus does it's job well and marks page 1 as '0', page 2 as '1', page 3 as '2', and so on.
as all the left pages in this section and te first page are based on 'normal left', they don't show any page numbers.
but all the right pages aof the whole document (except the first one) are based on 'number right' and show page numbers based on the counting and formatting scheme you defined in the 'sections' tab.

utnik
Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: JohnJR on March 23, 2017, 09:55:56 PM
Hi Utnik,

So the numbering and header text are setup on/as a new (or should I say additional) pair of master pages, titled "Numbers" (L and R).

Whether I did this correctly or not, in one sense it does seem somehow I did join two sets of master pages: Two Normal's and two Number's to document pages 10-48.  Document Pages 10-48 now appears exactly as intended.  Not knowing any better at the time layering these two sets respectively, L and R, was what I intended to do.  I don't understand, or should I be concerned, why Normal Right is "unused"; it appears as it should with properly formatted text throughout the book.  Maybe I should have named the two new master pages "Header" L an R instead of "Numbers".

Touching on why the wacky numbers show up on document pages 3-9, (I thought all pages had to be accounted for, I was using the zero in "start" to represent none--empty).  With neither header text frame showing then I didn't see that as a concern, the result is what I intended--blank headers.  And initially it stayed that way though a couple of saves and closes.

Out of the blue, on document pages 3-9 the "Numbers" master pages (both header text frames) showed up where they were never applied.  Studying your suggestions, I found the wacky pagination made sense, but why had it suddenly appeared where it was never applied?

The "show" box in Sections had checked itself.  So I'll just un-check "show" again, click Apply and Okay.  They were still there.  I went back into Sections and the "show" box had checked itself again: un-checked again, Apply Okay again; still there again.  It became a loop.  Finally I just deleted the first pagination row in its entirety hoping the remaining row wouldn't jump up and populate document pages 1-9, let alone page 3.  It didn't.  Document pages 10-48 remain as intended.

However only the pagination disappeared (as intended).  The other header text frame still remains with its text visible in document pages 3-9.  Page > Apply Master Pages and re-entering the specified document page range 10,11-47,48 for "Numbers" L and R does nothing to change this for document pages 1-9

You will be relieved to know I did find a solution, unless I didn't find a solution I guess.  I went back into Page > Apply Master Pages and re-applied the Normal L and R pages to the document page range 1-9 and clicked Okay.  The offending header text was gone, greyed out header text frames, and both empty.  Crossing my fingers, I exported the document using the holy grail PDF-x-1a.  The pdf looks perfect, cross your fingers.  Maybe I can stay out of your hair for a while.

I note that on about March 13th the discussion matter veered far from the original subject title (importing .docx etc.) into the world of Master Pages.  Any lessons learned through Master Page fiascos might not show up to other pilgrims searching for similar enlightenment.  Can you--or is there a set procedure for--moving the portion of this thread dealing with Master Pages to a place where it finds more daylight to those experiencing similar Master Page issues?

Thanks,

Title: Re: Importing .docx or .pages files in Scribus 1.4.6?
Post by: utnik on April 08, 2017, 10:29:07 AM
hi john

finally you found a solution to deal with your file – that's good.
but you should still learn a lot about master pages, pagination and sections. it looks still like stumbling over one or another easter sgg by accident...
QuoteOut of the blue, on document pages 3-9 the "Numbers" master pages (both header text frames) showed up where they were never applied.

you applied them by accident. (such things happen – even to me. but as i know if an element is on a document or masterpage, i can recognize what happens – and fix it...)
QuoteThe "show" box in Sections had checked itself.

i see! – my dtp work is much less esoteric than yours...
QuoteHowever only the pagination disappeared (as intended).  The other header text frame still remains with its text visible in document pages 3-9.  Page > Apply Master Pages and re-entering the specified document page range 10,11-47,48 for "Numbers" L and R does nothing to change this for document pages 1-9

of course not, as you only reapplied the master pages for the section starting at page 10.
QuoteI went back into Page > Apply Master Pages and re-applied the Normal L and R pages to the document page range 1-9 and clicked Okay.  The offending header text was gone, greyed out header text frames, and both empty.

yes, on your 'normal' master pages you have two empty frames, while on the 'number' pages there's some content...
QuoteCan you--or is there a set procedure for--moving the portion of this thread dealing with Master Pages to a place where it finds more daylight to those experiencing similar Master Page issues?

no, i can't – that's admin business.
but i don't think, that a lot of scribus users will encounter the same issues anyway...

utnik