combining separate folders...how to

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Douglas Grove

New with Scribus...How can I combine several different projects into One project? Separate chapters of a book in this case...Thought it would be easy but I could find no directions....................?

GarryP

Welcome to the forum Douglas.

There are probably many different answers to your question depending on what you really want to do.

For instance, you can insert pages from one document into another but if you're using very large sub-documents on a low-memory system that could cause problems.

Or you can use a PDF tool to "stitch" the exported PDFs - one per sub-document - together. There are plenty of applications that you can install but the OS you're using will probably make this list smaller. And there are quite a few online services that are free but I'd be wary of using these, especially if the content is sensitive. (Read the Ts&Cs very carefully and don't use if you're not absolutely sure.)

If you can provide a bit more information about exactly what your circumstances are and what you're trying to achieve - and, if possible, what you really don't want to happen - then someone will probably be able to give you a more detailed answer. (Best to say which OS and version of Scribus you're using too as it can sometimes make a big difference.)

Even if you're not totally sure what you want to do then just tell us what you've got and what you want the output to be and we can probably fill in the gaps for you.

P.S. You've posted this in the wrong forum topic. I think "Beginners" might have been more appropriate.

Douglas Grove

Oh.....I have Win 10...I don't think memory would be an issue...I am putting together a book for pre-teen children...I have 8 or 9 separate projects in scribus and would like to combine them together...they are 'chapters' of the 'book'...combine them in the same scribus project so I can number the pages and arrange them for left and right pages...They are full of illustrations inserted with no consistent pattern in the text.........I might have put this thread in beginners if I could have found it...I had a great deal of difficulty in finding anywhere where there was a button for new topic...and pushed the first one I found...I have used forums on various topics...Reaper and Finale, for example...Finding out how to initiate posts is always difficult and unexplained...I have no idea why...The powers that be should assume that compleate idiots like me would come on board from time to time

GarryP

As for putting your post in the wrong topic, don't worry about it. I only mentioned it for future posts. (Maybe a kind moderator will move this to a more appropriate place.) I agree that a lot of forums can be difficult to find your way around at first. They seem to evolve to make it easy for experienced users to do things but sometimes forget about new users. If anyone else reading this is a little confused as to how to post their questions you can find quite a lot of help via the "Help" menu (on the left-hand side of every Scribus forum page, near the top, under the Scribus logo). The links will take you to the Simple Machines Wiki where everything should be explained. (Simple Machines are the makers of the Scribus Forum software.)

Back to your original question...

Given the requirements you've listed, I think you just need to import your existing pages into a new document.

If you create a new double-sided document you can use menu "Page -> Import". You'll be asked which document to import from, which pages to import, and where - in this new document - you want to import the pages into (which, if you're going in chapter order, would normally be at the end.)

Once you have imported all of the chapters you can start to rearrange pages if necessary using menu "Windows -> Arrange Pages". Or you can create Master Pages to make page numbering easier (see https://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Working_with_Master_Pages ).

Once all of the chapters have been imported the new document will contain all of the text and vector graphics you have used but the image frames will be linked to the original images. Because of the way Scribus uses images, you shouldn't move or remove the original images as the document doesn't "contain" the images, it just maintains a link to them.

When you have all of the text in the same document you might want to think about using Styles to more easily apply consistent formatting (the first part of this thread post http://forums.scribus.net/index.php/topic,1728.msg7717.html#msg7717 gives a quick overview of what sort of thing is possible, or better still, if you have the Scribus Manual loaded you can go to "Documentation / Scribus Basics / Working with Styles" for a much better explanation).

If you have any more questions, or I've not explained myself very well, then just say so.

Nermander

Quote from: GarryP on June 21, 2016, 11:19:03 AM
Once all of the chapters have been imported the new document will contain all of the text and vector graphics you have used but the image frames will be linked to the original images. Because of the way Scribus uses images, you shouldn't move or remove the original images as the document doesn't "contain" the images, it just maintains a link to them.

One way to solve this though is to use Collect for output to put all the used images into the same folder.

JohnB47

Quote from: GarryP on June 20, 2016, 02:04:47 PM
P.S. You've posted this in the wrong forum topic. I think "Beginners" might have been more appropriate.

I just though I'd mention that this happened to me too and I later found out why. As a complete beginner, when I typed "Scribus Forum" in a well known search engine, the first hit gave a link to a header called "Scribus Forums - Index", then underneath a link to "Scribus Forums".

I decided that the latter was the one to go for and thought nothing of it taking me direct to a forum called Scribus Forums » Community » Scribus forums. At the time I thought that it was the only forum but it was actually the section for questions about the forums themselves.

I suspect that this is why many posts in the Scribus forums section are from newbies - they think, like I did, that this was' the' place to post any question.

Not sure if anyone can or wants to do anything about that.

Cheers.

Douglas Grove

I want to thank you all for teaching me what to do...I was almost there, anyway...I was far enough to go to page-import...but the I thought I would have to load one page at a time...That's when I asked for help...I don't exactly understand, tho, what happens with the imported pictures...In a couple cases I have deleted a picture and then found that the picture frame becomes totally inactive...or maybe it became inactive for some reason before...I guess there were some pictures I couldn't delete...I could put another frame on top of them and add the desired picture...but the previous frame stays put...I can't move it or delete it or anything

GarryP

JohnB47, I don't think there's much that the Scribus team can do about getting a different page of the forum to come nearer the top of search engine lists without paying the search engine people (or getting lots of people to create links to that page).

A good rule of thumb that I try and keep to when following links to websites is to follow a link to whatever page is presented, then clicking on the logo/name of the site. This generally sends you to the home page which is usually the best place to start. It's good practice to assume that the place you're linked to might not be the "start".

Douglas, I'm having trouble working out what workflow you're using and also the terminology you're using is causing a bit of confusion.

First, can you confirm that the "pictures" you've mentioned are bitmap/raster images - such as JPG, PNG, TIF, etc. - and you're not talking about vector clipart? (It makes diagnosis a lot easier if we know exactly what you're using.) I'll assume that is the case below.

Just to expand on what I said earlier, Scribus doesn't really "import" bitmap/raster images. It just maintains a reference link to the location of the image file from the location of the document file. This sounds a bit complicated but basically, if you move the image file or the Scribus document then the link to the image will be destroyed and the image will no longer be seen in the image frame.

Say you have neighbours who live on your street at number 42 and you refer to them as "the couple from number 42". Then they move to a different house. To you they're still "the couple from number 42" but if you tell anyone how to find them by telling them how you refer to them they'll not be able to find them as they're not there anymore. (I hope I haven't mangled the metaphor too much.)

When you import pages from one document into another, Scribus should create new links so that everything looks fine.

Next, when you say that you have "deleted a picture", what do you mean? Do you mean you have deleted an image file? If you delete an image file then Scribus will no longer be able to display that image (obviously because it no longer exists) but the image frame - the frame you put the image in - will still exist until you tell Scribus to delete it.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by a frame becoming "inactive". Scribus doesn't have a concept of "inactive". Everything on a page is always "active" until you delete it. Things might not have any content but they are always "active". Objects can be locked in a few different ways which means that you can't do certain things to them but this isn't the same as being "inactive". Right-click on an object and see if the "Is Locked" or "Size is Locked" options are checked. If so, click on any that is checked to unlock.

I've done a quick test, creating a single page document with variously locked image frames, and then importing it into another document and all of the frames look fine and can be changed as would be expected so I don't think that's where your problem is coming from.

Would it be possible for you to give a detailed workflow of the steps that produce the problem you're having please? It's so much easier when there's a list of instructions to follow.

Douglas Grove

I was doing something else all day...But I assume from what you said that somehow I must have inadvertently locked the frames, I am yet unfamiliar with "locking" as well as a multitude of other things...The problem arose with a few frames some months back...I dealt with it by building another frame on top of it...After that I took a long trip and forgot the process that got me to that state...Anyway, I assume that is the problem, and will deal with it in a few days...Thank You