Export of transparent PNG

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shngrdnr

I want to export an image from Scribus as a png file with transparency - all exports so far have given the image a white background.  I notice on bug.scribus.net (https://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=9687) that the issue has already been addressed by user ale:

Quote
indeed i could get a PNG with a transparent background by outcommenting the line

painter->clear(Doc->papColor);

in QImage ScribusView::PageToPixmap().

it may be necessary to do the same for ScribusView::MPageToPixmap() ...

now, i just have to find out, how to pass the value from a new checkbox in the export to PNG dialog...

However, ale hasn't mentioned which file to edit, or where to find it on a PC (operating Win XP SP3).  Feels like a stupid question but there it is.  Anyone help please?

Nermander

He is talking about the Scribus source code, so it is nothing you can edit in your installed Scribus.

shngrdnr

Fair enough Nermander - so there's absolutely no way around it?  Well, fair enough - I guess from what ale says it'll be available in a future version, I'll just export as normal and edit in PS till then...

a.l.e

may i ask you why do you want to export to png?

basically, exporting to png is not really a key feature for scribus.... so there are not that many chances that the devs will focus on it soon :-)

... and myself i wonder a bit why i should spend more time on it...

any good reason?

shngrdnr

Quotemay i ask you why do you want to export to png?

basically, exporting to png is not really a key feature for scribus.... so there are not that many chances that the devs will focus on it soon :-)

... and myself i wonder a bit why i should spend more time on it...

any good reason?

Hey a.l.e

That's a fair question.  To me, my reason is good, but I doubt many others would have exactly similar needs.

I'm currently writing a webcomic, which is located here - it's part-animated in a Flash program, Swishmax.  As I go along I'm also preparing a print version, which I compile in Scribus (I intend to crowdfund in a few months, and I want to offer the print version as a reward, and to sell at conventions and so on).  Typically, I prepare the print version first, and then move on to the Flash version after I'm happy with the layout there.

When I compile the comic, I use a series of pre-prepared images as backgrounds for the text - these are scans of thick inked lines - which I arrange in Scribus until I'm happy.   When I'm happy with the text, I export the inklines as a single PNG for import into Swishmax, where I rewrite the text over the lines, to ensure consistency (I used to export the text as a vector and then reimport into Swish, but this was really inefficient).  Because Scribus exports non-transparent PNGs, I have to make use of Photoshop in an intermediary stage, removing all the white areas that the program has exported. 

So that's the reason.  As I say, it's a fairly uncommon scenario, I'm sure - but I'm fairly confident that other scenarios exist that would mean that a similar transparent PNG export would be useful.  As it says in the bugs.Scribus posting, several users have already asked for it.  That said, I understand if you don't want to implement this - it is your time after all.

Nermander

Have you looked at exporting to PDF and use for example ImageMagick to convert the PDF to PNG?