Scribus Forums

Scribus => Beginner Talk => Topic started by: inkuser on November 28, 2017, 12:32:11 AM

Title: Trouble getting styles to apply and to update
Post by: inkuser on November 28, 2017, 12:32:11 AM
For the most part, styles I create in Scribus work very well for me. There are times when they either don't seem to "want" to apply to text I apply them to, and/or don't want to update the text so styled by styles I modify.

To be clear, I make my styles first, then apply them. I apply them by highlighting the text I want styled, then I either Edit Text, or  use Properties>Text>Style Settings to gain access to and apply the style.

Any thoughts on why styles might be stubborn this way and how to make things better?

Thank you!
Title: Re: Trouble getting styles to apply and to update
Post by: GarryP on November 28, 2017, 10:26:58 AM
Welcome to the forum inkuser.

I use styles quite a lot and they have always been fairly well-behaved for me.

Are you sure you're applying the right type of style to the text as applicable to that type of style? In other words, are you applying paragraph styles to paragraphs and character styles to selections of text within paragraphs?

I don't know if I'm reading what you've written correctly but you shouldn't be applying styles to text by selecting the text in the frame and then using the Story Editor (e.g. "Edit Text" from the contextual menu) to apply the styles. The story editor only applies paragraph styles to whole paragraphs and you can't set character styles in there. In general, it's best not to use the story editor to apply styles. In most cases you should be applying formatting - including styles - from the Properties Palette.

It's difficult to know what's happening without knowing exactly what you're doing. The slightest little thing could make all the difference.

If you can say which version of Scribus you're using - and on which OS - and give a precise breakdown of what you're doing - with pictures if possible - then someone might be able to help.
Title: Re: Trouble getting styles to apply and to update
Post by: dezcat on November 28, 2017, 02:59:03 PM
Thank you, GarryP;

I am the OP. I posted from my work, where I'm having the issue.

I'm pretty sure (99.9%) that I'm selecting the right style (paragraph, in this case).  I think it might be a session RAM issue. I had to close the document for a bit, then when I re-opened it, the bits of text that hadn't changed in response to having the style applied to them suddenly were "obeying" the style.

It could be that machine..it's an HP with I think i7, 8gb of RAM. Pretty generic machine; everyone has the same one at work, whether they're in accounting or design.
Title: Re: Trouble getting styles to apply and to update
Post by: GarryP on November 28, 2017, 03:44:04 PM
8GB of RAM should be plenty unless you've got a really big document and/or have lots of applications running. Task Manager should be able to tell you if there are any pressures on the machine.

When I was using my old Mac (2GB RAM) I used to get problems after a few hours usage but restarting Scribus usually fixed them - probably memory leaks or excessive undo stack. (Also, web browsers can fill up memory very quickly caching pages.)

In any case, Scribus functionality shouldn't be affected by low memory availability. It might slow down but it shouldn't stop doing what it's programmed to do. (There could be cases where it might be possible but they're on the fringes of all the other more likely possibilities.)

Unfortunately this is one of those things where it's best to actually see what's happening when it's happening. There could be so many variables involved it's difficult to say what the base cause could be.

I can't remember a similar thing happening to me - or reading about it in the forum - so I don't know what to suggest. If you could create a replicable work-flow that shows the problem then it should be easy to tell whether it's a bug, a quirk of the software, or just user confusion. Without something that can be repeated it's not something that can be checked, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Trouble getting styles to apply and to update
Post by: dezcat on November 28, 2017, 03:49:16 PM
Thanks, GarryP

My document is small: 2 pages. I have about 20 images and 10 or fewer styles.

I have noticed that ms windows doesn't play well with others...I've been on the Mac side for about 30 years and the same apps that I'm using in windows behave much better on mac and on linux.

I'm not sure how to describe it other than ms windows likes to keep iron-fisted control over every aspect of the computing experience, and sometimes applications need to be "allowed" to display things the way they need to...mac os and linux both afford this. ms doesn't.