Can't import a vector file, properly or at all

[r2]

I work with music notation software (Finale), on Mac. I get numerous problems if I try to import a vector (page)file into Scribus.

1. I have all fonts installed on my machine.
2. All fonts are allowed in the Scribus options.
3. All vector files are available properly in other software that can open these files.
4. Vector files that are tested: svg, ps, eps.

Problems:
1. cannot be opened
2. fonts swapped randomly / missing / changed to default system

[a.l.e]

please, provide a sample file (svg and/or eps), with the matching the needed fonts and a screenshot of how the result should look like.

ciao
a.l.e

[jack_cat]

The quick workaround is to just convert the file to a high-res .png, and then it will work fine. Inkscape will export an .svg to .png. Better than horsing around trying to get the .svg to work. I went through this with the output from Lilypond (which I don't use regularly, and FYI I mostly use MusEdit which cannot compare with the beautiful output of Finale & Sibelius but does export nice hi-res .png files that Scribus accepts easily.) What turned up with the Lilypond issue was that there was some disagreement between Lilypond and Scribus about the specs on .svg, and although I think this got fixed (I opened a bug ticket), it appears very likely that there is a similar issue with the output from Finale.

[a.l.e]

iirc the development version of scribus should be able to import the svg created by lilypond.

i've never heard of finale, if there is an issue, we need the files (svg and screenshot of the wanted output)...

[jack_cat]

iirc the development version of scribus should be able to import the svg created by lilypond.

i've never heard of finale...

We went through that business with Lilypond's .svg, and the bug ticket was closed. The OP of this thread didn't say what version of Scribus he or she was using. But it was solved already - just open the .svg with Inkscape and export to .png. What's so special about using an .svg? Its only advantage is if you want to edit it some more. (This is definitely a plus with Lilypond - if you can't figure out the code, you can export .svg and move the glyphs around in Inkscape.) Other programs export .png. Once an .svg is imported into Scribus it has no advantage over a hi-res .png... ?

FYI Finale and Sibelius are the Coke and Pepsi of staff notation, costing about 500 schmacks each and a fee for annual upgrades. WYSIWYG with many bells and whistles. They have about 80% of the market as opposed to Lilypond's 5%. I don't use them but most of my musical friends have one or the other.

[Nermander]

SVG is vector (=infinite resolution), PNG is bitmap (limited resolution).

Sure, with a high res bitmap you may not always see a difference, but if the resolution of the bitmap is not a multiple of the printing resolution you have a risk of getting interpolation artefacts. So if you do not know the printing resolution in advance, or want to be able to print at many different resolutions, a bitmap will cause problems.

[r2]

Sorry for not replying sooner.
I had a rush job and needed to solve the problem quickly. I need a vector graphic in order to work further with the file, so the bitmap was not a solution. I finished job in Affinity Publisher, but I definitely think to use Scribus in the future. Depends of the efficiency of course.

[AdmFubar]

Dont know if this will help you or not. have you looked at MuseScore 3?https://musescore.org/en/3.0

[a.l.e]

https://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=15454 says that the bug you had with the lilypond svg is fixd in 1.4.8 (and i guess in 1.5

have you any other file generated by lilypond that does not work with a current version of scribus (latest stable, a current development build).

personally, i don't write music (only listen to lots of music...), so i cannot judge about the qualities of those programs.
but i put much weight on free software solutions being able to exchange flawlessly their files. that's why i care more about he lilypond files, than the the other proprietary solutions. even if they 99% of the market each...
also, since nobody in the scribus team is writing music sheets, we depend on your samples for fixing bugs in scribus...

[jack_cat]

A.L.E.: Since I am still using 1.4.6 - (because I'm working on a project I started a couple of years ago and I don't want to redo all the files in incompatible 1.5.x) - I cannot tell you if there are further issues with Lilypond with the new build.

Nermander: Thanks, and yes, I understand that vector files print better than .png.  I have observed that with music graphics even the venerable Oxford U Press - in Taruskin's mammoth history of music of which I have Vol I - prints staff notation examples where the horizontal lines have disappeared because they were too skinny, hard to read and a blot on the OUP's record. 

My interest here is in what will work now in Scribus; .png works, .svg has some issues, yes those should be solved, but what to do today? The trick - IMO - to .png graphic files of staff notation is that there should be no skinny lines less than about 5 pixels wide, because they _may_ disappear if they don't match the printer resolution. This is possible with staff notation whereas with many other graphics, and particularly photos or any fine detail, it might not be. I have printed, now, numerous .png graphics in which the staff notation is perfectly clear and legible, even when the same file rasterizes the text enough to be blurry - (lesson - overlay the text afterward in Scribus). Maybe, of course, my standards aren't high enough.

The OP said in his or her most recent post that he or she needed a vector graphic for further work, but no further work can be done on the graphic once it is inserted in Scribus anyway, so it would be reasonable to convert to .png for use in Scribus and save the .svg separately for the further work. This is assuming that the print result turns out acceptably for the purpose at hand, a matter of a test print. A (1) high quality (2) rush job with buggy software is a recipe for frustration, and in this case there is some ongoing issue with the .svg compatibility in Scribus that is not going to be solved today, most likely, and so I am just aiming to help with the "rush job" part and not the "high quality" part, which could be a little longer and which will require the same process of examination of Finale's .svg  export, just as with the other issue of Lilypond's .svg, by somebody who understands .svg, to determine what's to be done, and that fix won't be applied to the current stable build, but to the development build.

Another possible workaround may be to re-open and re-save the original vector graphic exported by Finale, using Inkscape or Illustrator, and see if the version saved by Inkscape is then compatible with Scribus.

This is all ancient history now for the OP, but other people may encounter similar issues before all the bugs are worked out of the .svg compatibility.

jack

[RodneyLee]

1.4.6 file are forward compatible with 1.5.4 so should load just fine and if you save to a new file you won't lose the 1.4. file as 1.5.4 is not backward compatible with 1.4.6

[jack_cat]

This thread should be in the section on "raster & vector graphics", no?

[a.l.e]

moved...