Scribus Forums

Scribus => Beginner Talk => Topic started by: mkozlows on August 15, 2013, 04:35:46 AM

Title: Unable to select frames
Post by: mkozlows on August 15, 2013, 04:35:46 AM
I can't tell if I'm missing something basic, or hitting a bug, but I'm unable to select frames in a document.  I'm using the template from Drivethrucards (available at http://www.drivethrucards.com/themes/dtrpg/Template%20-%20Printed%20Cards%20Scribus.zip)

Steps:

0. Open the .sla file extracted from that ZIP file.
1. Hit "T" to create a text frame on one of the pages
2. Drag out the dimensions, which shows a red box with handles
3. Click "Edit Contents of Frame" in the toolbar
4. Type in text
5. Click outside of the box, making the red frame disappear

All good so far. But now I want to select the text frame again, and I can't.

6a. Click on the text with the Select Frame tool selected. EXPECTED: It highlights the frame. ACTUAL: Nothing happens.
6b. Right click on the text.  EXPECTED: It gives the context menu for a text frame. ACTUAL: It gives a generic context menu.

What am I missing?  This is Scribus 1.4.1-svn on Ubuntu 13.04.

Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: Nermander on August 15, 2013, 07:54:31 AM
Are you on the correct layer? As far as I remember you can only select objects on the current layer (I think there might be a modifier key to select on "any layer").

You could always try to select the object from Windows -> Outline.
Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: mkozlows on August 15, 2013, 08:45:00 PM
I haven't done anything with layers, so I'd hope I'm on the same layer.

If you follow the stops I've posted, can you reproduce the problem?  And if so, does doing some kind of layer manipulation help?
Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: mkozlows on August 16, 2013, 02:37:00 AM
Well, the Windows->Outline workaround worked for me. It made the program super-clunky, but okay.

Now, though, after spending some time working, I get a "Signal #11" error, and apparently my save file contains whatever is killing the program, so whenever I try to load the file I was working on, it crashes.  Which means that my work is effectively totally lost.

It's clear that this program is not ready for actual usage; I'll move on to something else.
Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: utnik on August 16, 2013, 07:17:46 AM
hi mkozlows

Quote from: mkozlows on August 16, 2013, 02:37:00 AM...whenever I try to load the file I was working on, it crashes.  Which means that my work is effectively totally lost.

you can show me the file, if you like – then i'll try to find out what's wrong with it...

QuoteIt's clear that this program is not ready for actual usage; I'll move on to something else.

i use it almost every day...
you may work with a faulty template, a bad font file, or there could be a problem with your installation or your operating system... feel free to switch to another program – but i would first try to find the error – scribus is a good, and usually stable application!

utnik
Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: Nermander on August 16, 2013, 07:22:19 AM
1.4.1-svn doesn't really sound like one of the stable releases.
Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: utnik on August 16, 2013, 08:17:57 AM
hi nermander

Quote from: Nermander on August 16, 2013, 07:22:19 AM
1.4.1-svn doesn't really sound like one of the stable releases.

you're right – i work with the stable version 1.4.3...

utnik
Title: Re: Unable to select frames
Post by: Stentor on June 21, 2014, 01:48:48 AM
I'm not sure if mkozlows is still following this, but at least for the benefit of anyone else frantically Googling this problem, I thought I'd post. I had the exact same problem, using the exact same template file from DriveThruCards, which is what led me to this thread. The solution, which is (now?) mentioned in a little box in the DTC tutorial document, is that the layers are locked by default in the DTC template. Go to Windows > Layers and uncheck the box under the little lock symbol and you will be good to go.