A little experiment with ChatGPT...

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a.l.e

Somebody asked about a comparison between Canva and Scribus and, since I did not know what Canva is, went to their website.

I was greated by an AI chat bot asking me what it can do for me.

Well, that was not what I was expecting, and I continued my research by scrolling through the types of documents Canva can create from "templates".

Not really the same target as Scribus, still there is some overlap.

Still, I was curious, what can an AI do for Scribus?
Would it possible to get something into Scribus that fills documents by chatting with it?

I was disgressing.

But I had to give it a try and asked a random chat tool:

QuoteCan you create a Scribus template for a magazine. It should be A4 and the text be in three columns.

Here is the result:



QuoteI can't directly create and send Scribus files, but I can guide you through creating a magazine template with three columns in Scribus. Here's how you can do it step-by-step:

Step 1: Set Up a New Document

  • Open Scribus.
  • Click on File > New.
  • In the dialog box, set the following options:
    • Page Size: Choose A4.
    • Margins: Set the margins according to your preferences (e.g., 20mm all around).
    • Bleed: Optional (set to 3mm if you need it for print).
    • Columns: Set 3 columns for the document. You can adjust the number of columns later if necessary.

Step 2: Create Text Frames


  • Select the Text Tool (or press T on the keyboard).
  • Click and drag to create a text frame that covers one of your columns.
  • Repeat the process for the other two columns, making sure they are evenly spaced across the page.

Step 3: Add Placeholder Text

  • With each text frame selected, you can either enter text manually or use Insert > Text to add some placeholder text (like "Lorem ipsum" text).

Step 4: Adjust the Text Frames

  • Make sure each text frame is aligned with the columns and is set to flow text properly. You can right-click on each text frame and use Text Frame Properties to adjust options like text alignment, spacing, and more.
  • Under Text Frame Properties, ensure that Text Columns is set to "1" to ensure text flows correctly within the frames.

Step 5: Style the Text

  • Select your text frame, then go to the Properties Panel and choose your desired font, size, and line spacing.
  • You can also define paragraph styles for headlines, body text, and captions, making the magazine look more consistent.

Step 6: Add Images or Graphics

  • Use the Image Frame Tool (or press I) to draw frames for images or graphics.
  • Import images by right-clicking on the image frame and selecting Get Image.

Step 7: Save Your Template

Once you're happy with the layout, save it as a template for future use:
  • File > Save As and choose the template location.
  • Save it with the .sla extension.

Let me know if you need any more details or help with specific steps!

I have to admit it: that's much better than I was expecting.

I'm not sure that those are the steps I would go through, but most of them are OK.

Even if some of the instruction are simply wrong...



What I have learned?

When explaining things to newcomers, it might be worth to ask about the workflow to a chat bot, and get a better idea of what the user's expectations might be... from the point of view of someone "very stupid", who is pulling together hints from multiple sources available on the internet.
(To be clear: the "very stupid" is the bot, not the user.)



And now, as soon as I have updated my version of the API docs, I'm tempted to ask the bot to create a script that goes through the instruction above : - )

prcek

I have very similar experience with asking some AI models for instructions for a task I know how to do.

* Mostly instructions are nearly correct but it inserts one or two completely wrong steps or non-existing commands or wrong command line parameters (yes, I've seen 'rm -rf .' as well)
* Sometimes (although rarely) it directs me in a way I didn't know.
--
Any job looks easy until you try doing it yourself.