Change page dimension of one page only

Previous topic - Next topic

Erhard

Hello,
the pdf for the online Printshop (for a photobook) needs to have the first page as cover twice as great  as a normal page + spine and bleeding. So I only want to change the size of the first page accordingly.
There are methods on the page object getPageSize but not setPageSize. How can I set the dimension of one page only? I do it in scripter, because I want to automate the process of book creation.
Any hints are wellcome
I use scribus 1.55   

Health and Peace
Erhard

RodneyLee

Make it a separate file, you could do Back page, Spine, and cover as one page or two if you are doing text on inside of cover

Erhard

Thanks for this hint. The print provider (gelato.com) wants one pdf file. Is it then possible to concatinate the two pdfs (content and cover) to one pdf ?

RodneyLee

wonder if doing the entire book as a two-page spread (not sure proper name for that) say your book is 8x10 you would make pages 16x10 with your first and last page on your first page (printer spread), not sure about combining pDF's of differant sizes

utnik

hi erhard

i just took a look at the instructions from 'gelato.com'.
you should:

  • set up your file in a 'single page' layout with your standard page size
  • select the first page and go to 'page' → 'manage page properties'
  • change the width of the first page
  • fill in the content of your book (but keep the second and the last page empty!)
this is a really strange workflow, but they like it this way. (i would consider changing the provider...)

utnik

Erhard

Hi Utnik,
Thanks for your approach. The solution for me is making 2 separate sla files. And then import the cover in the content file (page->import choose the file and the page).
The generated pdf has then the correct cover with separate dimensions inside. I generate the book and the cover skeleton by script, because its hard to set the spine content in the exact positions without calculating
I changed the provider from epubli to gelato......because I wait at epubli at least 2 month for a book. I hope gelato is better. Its not only the technique which triggers a decision.

Health and Peace
Erhard

Nermander

As far as I know every page in Scribus can have its own size?

Meho R.

#7
Quote from: Nermander on June 16, 2022, 08:17:10 PM
As far as I know every page in Scribus can have its own size?

While this is true, there is a caveat: "Normal" master page is applied to pages by default, so if you change a page size manually via "Page > Manage Page Properties...", and at some point even just open master page settings (Edit > Master Pages...), those manual changes will be reset, and "Normal" master page will be automatically reapplied to all pages. I am not sure if this is a bug or a feature.

Thus, @OP, even if your way of doing it works for you, it is more of a workaround under the circumstances. For the sake of those that might face a similar issue and stumble upon this thread, I'd suggest trying the following:


  • create a new master page (Edit > Master Pages... > Add a new master page), which will be used for the first page in the document
  • name it something like "Cover Page", and make sure it is selected in "Manage Masterpages" palette
  • under "Page" menu choose "Manage Page Properties...", set size and margins, press "OK", and, if nothing else should be added to the page, press "Return to Normal Page Mode"
  • go to the first page, click on it to make sure it is active page, open "Manage Page Properties..." in "Page" menu, then choose "Cover Page" under "Master Page" at the bottom of the dialog. Click "OK"

Just as one should always use paragraph and character styles for text, same goes for pages: it is a good idea to use "page styles", which are basically master pages. This is true not only when the size of a page should be different, but in general, whenever a different layout or background is needed (a typical example being "Parts" in a book).