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#61
Linux / Scribus Does Not Start
Last post by SirMix - October 03, 2024, 04:30:16 AM
On Linux Mint 22 I installed Scribus by package manager.
When I try to start Scribus in the console I get the error:
scribus: symbol lookup error: /lib/libGraphicsMagick-Q16.so.3: undefined symbol: heif_check_filetype

I do not know how to solve this.
#62
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by AdmFubar - October 02, 2024, 03:59:43 PM
it would depend on how many options are available in each panel. Character and Paragraph styles I think would be used more often than text columns. Having C&P panels that can be undocked and fulling opened for ease of access would benefit workflow.
#63
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by a.l.e - October 02, 2024, 07:04:05 AM
Nice.
Very nice.
#64
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by tim_occ - October 02, 2024, 12:01:18 AM
Quotewill one be able to separate the sub panel as a floating window?
You mean separate panels for paragraph, character and layout?


At the moment this is the first version of what I had in mind, with the proposals from a.l.e

Some places still look strange, like the button pattern in Alignment section. Typography section is also not done.

Currently, I'm not sure if the style selection should be split.
#65
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by AdmFubar - October 01, 2024, 06:37:24 PM
will one be able to separate the sub panel as a floating window?that would solve a positioning issue and give easy access when formatting large documents.
#66
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by tim_occ - October 01, 2024, 11:34:04 AM
Quotethis means that having too many levels / too fine graded expansions will make the UI elements have a different position each time.

Good point.

Quoteone content panel, with three expandable sections which are themselves expandable?
Yes, that is the idea.

First, I would try to reorganize the subsections as proposed in the last screenshot. It is easy to wrap or unwrap them in parent containers. Then we can see if the additional nesting makes sense at all.

Quoteif it's the case, i'm not sure it will be necessary to make the character and paragraph section expandable...
Good point too.

I will play around with the containers and check what makes sense. Things that work on paper may not work in reality.

Thanks for your feedback.
#67
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by a.l.e - October 01, 2024, 07:20:28 AM
food for thoughts: muscle memory should probably not be forgot...

this means that having too many levels / too fine graded expansions will make the UI elements have a different position each time.

anyway, do i understand correctly your wild idea?
one content panel, with three expandable sections which are themselves expandable?

if it's the case, i'm not sure it will be necessary to make the character and paragraph section expandable...
but it's a small detail...
#68
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by tim_occ - September 30, 2024, 07:57:36 PM
OK, I've also thought about the "new" layout for a while and the longer I look at it, the more things I see that aren't good. I may have changed too much unnecessarily. Currently, the "Text" section at the top contains some elements from the other sections, which can be confusing when you're looking for them. The basic idea of the "Text" section was to show the most used functions in one place. But we can create a global toolbar for that later (that was planned anyway).

I took a look at InDesign and Affinity Publisher for comparison. Both have a separation between paragraph and character (Scribus has it the style manager too). InDesign has everything in one panel, Publisher has its own panel for each (similar to InDesign in the past). Publisher has a finer division into subcategories, similar to Scribus.

Here's another wild idea: What if we marry both concepts?

In concrete terms, this means that we will put everything in one panel (as was previously the case in Scribus), but there will only be 3 main sections (Character, Paragraph and Layout). This gives us the basic concept of InDesign. Within each main section, we will divide thematically into further categories, similar to Publisher and as was previously the case in Scribus.

Each collapsible section saves its state and can be individually collapsed or expanded. I think that for most user tasks, you only need to expand the first subcategory in the Character Section and Paragraph Section.

Character -> Font
Paragraph -> Alignment & Tabs

I also find the Fonts feature section terrible. At the moment, all possible settings are known. This means that you can also design corresponding icons for them. I would summarize the whole thing under "Typography".

I also noticed that Publisher and InDesign do not have text columns in the text properties. That is a separate feature.
#69
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by a.l.e - September 30, 2024, 09:56:53 AM
my thoughts about indicating local changes: what about making values that are not local less visible (instead of making the ones that are local more visible)?

this can be done by reducing the contrast of the background (light gray background) or of the value (dark gray instead of black).
then the "important" values will stick out by being "normal", and not by being exceptional.
most of the time, those are the values i want to see, but i don't really want to be warned about them...
#70
User Interface / Re: Indigo UI: Text Properties
Last post by a.l.e - September 30, 2024, 09:50:04 AM
one "small" issue:

when i look (again) at the "column and distances" section, i tend to see the "columns" and "sizes" labels as the titles for the fields below it (left and right frame margin).

one possible solution could be:

  • move the columns and distances to the bottom of the  section
  • rename the section as "distances and columns"
  • this might take some visibility away from this way of creating the columns (which in my eyes should not be the default way to create columns in scribus)
  • ... or just remove the label, since the icon alone is good enough...

not a huge thing, since i expect most regular user to turn of those labels, and i also expect more of those labels to disappear with the time (and the improvements in the dialog layout + quality of the icons!)

another minor issue: the top and bottom paragraph space are still missing...
you might want to take into consideration that, one day, they will probably be added somewhere in the text properties.
my humble suggestion would be to move the "tabulators" button below the "alignment" ones (in the text section), the same place it has in the paragraph styles...
(and in the future add there four input fields for the left, right, top and bottom margin of the paragraph...)