[SOLVED] Are there min/max margin limits?

[docmanjones]

Running Scribus v1.6.1 on Windows 10, and encountering something that I feel like should be simple, but maybe I am missing some lower limit. I've only been using Scribus for a few hours, so there's a lot I still have to discover and probably just missing something.

I have a 8.5" x 11" document and I need everything be nice and organized/lined up. Naturally I setup the grid and margins to line up nicely, but it isn't actually lining up properly.

My grid is set like: Major Grid every 1", Minor Grid every 0.25"
My margins are all set to 0.5"

The issue: my margins still look like they are set to the default 0.5556" no matter what size I actually set. Even if I input 1" for margins, they remain at the 0.5556" location. Any idea what might be going on?

I've tried adjusting the values both in File > Document Setup and in File > Preferences, but no changes. The grid updates to new sizes, just not the margins. I've even saved and reloaded Scribus to see if it's just a refresh thing, but no luck there either.

This is what my margins look like, inset all the way around the whole document by what looks like 0.05"

[docmanjones]

There are way too many margin options in Scribus... turns out the answer I needed was under Page > Manage Page Properties

Seems unintuitive to have so many places to enter a margin, especially when it's not clear through tooltips which one is the right one to change... but I can at least move forward now with my project.

[a.l.e]

it's a bit a more complex than that:

- preferences are for the documents you will be creating in the future
- document settings are for the current document
- page settings are for the current page

i see why you (and many others) are confused by it, but it's not easy to find a better solution...

if you have a suggestion, you're welcome to submit it!

in exchange, i can suggest you to (mostly) refrain from using the grid when doing layouts in scribus... except if your work is mostly vector graphics.

[utnik]

hi docmanjones

'file' → 'document setup' works too. but if you would like to apply the new margins to the existing pages, you have to check 'apply changes to all pages' and/or 'apply changes to all master pages'.

utnik

[docmanjones]

it's a bit a more complex than that:

- preferences are for the documents you will be creating in the future
- document settings are for the current document
- page settings are for the current page

i see why you (and many others) are confused by it, but it's not easy to find a better solution...

if you have a suggestion, you're welcome to submit it!

in exchange, i can suggest you to (mostly) refrain from using the grid when doing layouts in scribus... except if your work is mostly vector graphics.

Thanks! I see, that is a bit more complicated but their menu locations make much more sense now. Out of curiosity, why not use grids when doing layouts?

'file' → 'document setup' works too. but if you would like to apply the new margins to the existing pages, you have to check 'apply changes to all pages' and/or 'apply changes to all master pages'.

I noticed that option, but never tried it. With the added explanation that makes sense now and good to know for multi-page docs. Thanks!

[a.l.e]

why not to use the grid for page layout?

personally, i do not have one reason for it.
it's just that in my experience, the few times i've enabled the grid in scribus, it was mostly in the way and it was not really helping me achieve a better result.

but i can try to rationalize it:

• when doing page layout, the text has an important role and it's hard (is it possible?) to fit the text in the grid.
• the blocks of text and images are often rather big and the grid is often too thin to really be helpful when placing and sizing them.
• instead of the grids, people tend to create a set of guides on master pages: that gives pages that have a similar layout.
• ... or they define a typographic grid, which will give a common "rythme" in the page and in the document.

maybe, other people can give you a better explanation... or give their rationals for using grids : - )

[Nermander]

The grid may be somewhat useful for some types of design, but I agree that in most cases using suitable placed guides are a lot more useful.