Hello there ;D I've read a few tutorials on the basics but I've yet to find this information.
I'm making bilingual books, with English on left pages and French on right pages.
How can I automate the process of linking text boxes on left pages and text boxes on right pages ? I know how to make it by hand, but we're talking hundreds, thousands of pages accross seven books. I'm sure there's a better way. Is there a script/plugin that does that or a native way I've not yet come accross ?
Thanks a lot in advance :) !
I've read your question already on Reddit (is it indeed you?) and thought: no, Scribus is not really the right choice for a bilingual book.
The issue is that you cannot synchronize the start of the paragraphs and keep the flow going hand in hand on both sides.
But.
But, now that I read a bit better your question, you're asking something different.
Yes, it is possible to import (or paste) a text that flows on the left pages and one other that flows on the rights ones.
And it's even pretty easy to do so.
- Create a Scribus document with facing pages.
- Create the first pages, up to the first two where you want the translated text to start (I have created three of them: a cover page and two pages for the facing translations).
- Create a frame on each of the two pages where the translation starts.
- Paste (or load) your English text in the frame on the left page and your French text in the one on the right side.
- Create n double pages where you want your text to flow into (I've created five of them): If it's not the right number, you can later add more pages in the same way or delete the ones which are left empty.
- Click on the frame on the left side and start "Item > Duplicate/Transform > Multiple Duplicate".
- Activate the "By page" tab.
- Select "Following Even Pages" and check the box for "Link Text Frames"
- Do the same for the right page and the odd following ones.
Now, you have your text and you can add spaces or even try to split the frame inside of a page to manually synchronize the start of the paragraphs / sections / chapters (whatever you want to synchronize...)
That was indeed me on reddit, so thank you one more time (also, hello fellow Swiss person) :)
My post on reddit clearly wasn't accurate enough, but what you're describing now seems perfect for my needs ! Many thanks, I'll get to work now.