First , Thank you for this awesome Software. I used it for first time and impressed lot. From Adobe page maker to Affinity Publisher, i have used many publishing software. But never saw a free open source, Indic language supportive and awesome software like this!!
ok, I have two issues am facing,
Ist as you can see in the attachment, when i try to add numbering to my list, after 9, i get "extra push" to 10 and it continues, Dont know how to solve it.
2nd issue is with e Pub plugin, i saw a plugin it github which simply convert ".sil" file to simple e pub, which can later edit with any e pub editing software, as am a graphic designer, i am not familier with coding or development.
Could you tell me step by step, how i could install it on my mac?
3rd issue, is am on a project to digitalise old books, by re publishing , epub, pdf form. to give authentic feel i use old malayalam lipi font like Anjali oild lipi font. You can Download it (https://smc.org.in/ml/fonts/anjalioldlipi/) it here. The issue is the Glyph doesn't show full charaters. It display only assigned characters, But its an old style font which use many characters which not using in modern lipi fonts. Is there is any way i could see all in glyph?
thank you so much
The first issue I assume is related to tab stops.
i don't see any option to set that
https://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Help:Manual_Textframes#Tabulators
Quote from: Nermander on August 15, 2025, 12:03:13 PMThe first issue I assume is related to tab stops.
It is not. I've tried it in 1.6.4
Paragraph numbering can have a offset set, which is clearly computed from the end of number.
It can also have prefix/suffix, a Tab character cannot be inserted there from keyboard as it switches field, but can be copy&pasted into it. In that case zero width is used for it and it ignores paragraph tabulator settings unfortunately.
I can imagine some workaround but didn't find any solution.
<rant>I hate that mouse wheel on number input box with those small arrows Up/Down increases/decreases value and then scrolls content of window so I mess several of values by slight turn</rant>
Tabs stops are a solution. It will be a bit tedious to insert tabs where needed. but numbered lists are generally short.
Ok, I have tested and yes, it seems as if Scribus (at least 1.6.4 which is the only 1.6 version I have installed) does not insert a tab after the number (there is only an option to add a fixed distance), but you can get the same effect by inserting a tab at the start of each line and then apply the numbered list.
sadly, it's a known issue...
https://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=17243
so no hope? at-least for now?
The best solution at the moment is to manually add a tab at the start of each line before applying the numbering. I tried it yesterday and it work well.
Or well, you can probably insert the tabs after applying the numbering too. But it has to be manually added (so for example for a ToC it may not be possible to do).
Unless there is a way to enter a tab as number suffix? I did try "^t" (tabs in MS Word) and "\t" but they did not seem to work, but I did not try to copy and paste from a tab entered in a text frame.
Well, in my eyes the the best solution is:
- Create a "list" paragraph style with hanging indent and a tab at the right place.
- Use it to create your list and add your endashes manually at the start of each list item (you can even type -- and later replace it to an endahs)
No hassle, just works.
The only case where automatic bullets are IMO really useful: when importing text from a source that uses automatic bullet lists (of course, in that case, you don't want to redo the work manually)
In all other cases, the gains are mostly marginal.
But, yes, I'm almost sure that I started using word at a time when there were no bullet lists...
word-4-0.png
Now I think you are talking about something completely different? The discussion was, as far as I understand, about lack of alignment of the text in numbered lists, not bullet lists.
Quote from: Nermander on August 17, 2025, 08:22:40 AMThe best solution at the moment is to manually add a tab at the start of each line before applying the numbering. I tried it yesterday and it work well.
Or well, you can probably insert the tabs after applying the numbering too. But it has to be manually added (so for example for a ToC it may not be possible to do).
Unless there is a way to enter a tab as number suffix? I did try "^t" (tabs in MS Word) and "\t" but they did not seem to work, but I did not try to copy and paste from a tab entered in a text frame.
i think this will solve my first issue.. thankx :D
can you help me to install the plugin? in mac?
No plugin needed.
As I wrote above, the best option for you is probably to create a paragraph style with the hanging indent and use that, with manual dash / bullet, correct tab stop, and a sane hanging indent.
I think the question refers to the ePub plugin mentioned in the original post. But it mentions .sil files and I have no idea what that is. Likely nothing Scribus uses.
I think the general recommendation from earlier discussions about ePub is that it is better to start with the ePub and import into Scribus to create a PDF for printing.
And as for the third question, my guess is that the font is not properly encoded. But I have not had a look at the font.
Yes, I'm slowly working on the ePub export plugin.
you can't download it yet, but it might get ready during next fall (that's the plan, at least).
For a real workflow, I would expand on Nermander's suggestion: start with common input files and create the ePub and the Scribus in parallel or one after the other.
If you really want to reuse files, it might be possible to import the .html files you feed into the .epub into Scribus.
It's not planned to make Scribus an ePub creator: the file you will be able to export will need formatting in an ePub editor.
So, even with the plugin, my suggestion for a good workflow won't change much : - )
Concerning the font, I can't read any Malayalam, but what I get in Scribus seems rather similar to what I see on the web page you have linked:
anjalioldlipi-scribus.png
Quote from: Nermander on August 18, 2025, 04:51:18 PMI think the question refers to the ePub plugin mentioned in the original post. But it mentions .sil files and I have no idea what that is. Likely nothing Scribus uses.
I think the general recommendation from earlier discussions about ePub is that it is better to start with the ePub and import into Scribus to create a PDF for printing.
And as for the third question, my guess is that the font is not properly encoded. But I have not had a look at the font.
currently am on a project to digitalizing old cook book published in malayalam. I just want to share the output in both pdf and epub version for easy accessible to any body interested thru by blog. those books are text based . so its ok even its flexible or fixed layout. if i could export directly from scribus to both format it would be fine. I dont understand import pub version to scribus. how it could help me?
the malayalam language is one of the oldest language in india and it developed to modern form took centuries. i am on a project to digitialize old books to pdf and e pub version for better accessibility to everyone. the problem is those books are printed 70+ years old and use old style typesets which is not used in these Unicode font era. please see the attachment.
(https://i.postimg.cc/TPBRn7W3/Screenshot-2025-08-19-at-10-05-40-AM.png)
https://postimg.cc/VSBQ8FRx
to keep the original format, i have to use those characters. But the problem is it is not visible even after asked to display full character set.
Concerning the missing glyphs:
Have you tried to just paste some text using those glyphs into a Scribus text frame?
Does it work?
Have you tried the OTF version of the font?
(I don't know what the WOFF2 file you linked contains.)
I have had a look at the OTF version of the font and it seems to be using some advanced features.
They might or might not be supported by Scribus.
But it might also be that the "Insert Glyphs" dialog does not support them but the text frames do.
My feeling is that the font uses some advanced features that are not supported by Scribus.
But this needs confirmation from somebody who knows more than me about the way fonts work.
People from Kerala already put lot of effort into getting Scribus to work with Malayalam and I think that we should at least document what works and how to get the best out of Scribus.
Quote from: a.l.e on August 19, 2025, 06:09:38 PM(I don't know what the WOFF2 file you linked contains.)
this may shed some light on the issue,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Open_Font_Format
Its TTF format file. and its the only format available.
As you said In kerala Lots of requests are posted online for font support. Fact is in kerala there are lots of publishers include home publishers. And they are looking for some tools which help them publish thier own works. Both Adobe and Quarks are highly priced and not affordable for many. Even affinity doesnt have proper malayalam unicode support. So Scribus stand best option for them. ...
:D
Can you please share a file, a snippet, anything with the text you want Scribus to render?
With a screenshot showing how it should render.
Quote from: a.l.e on August 20, 2025, 09:58:06 AMCan you please share a file, a snippet, anything with the text you want Scribus to render?
With a screenshot showing how it should render.
https://postimg.cc/TKjwRdDp
this is what i see. I replaced english letters with some other characters i frequently used, using font forge. I know its an idiotic act.. but i have to do it. Because some characters cant type with google unicode typing tool. so i have to use glypths
Probably, I was not clear enough:
can you please share a text file, an .odt document, anything with inside the glyphs that you are missing in Scribus (of course with the font you are linked... not with the one you've hacked together)?
Have you tried copy pasting them in Scribus while using the OTF version of the font?
What does happen?
P.S.: the woff2 file you linked probably contains the OTF version of the font.
here i will attach two files. Its an example .. how its represent in actual font and how i could type it in scribus.
this is the screen shot of the letter from the font..
(https://postimg.cc/xc8dLcRh)https://postimg.cc/xc8dLcRh
And its dont displayed in glyph i cant add it here. only i could use this type
(https://postimg.cc/LgXmkbzL).https://postimg.cc/LgXmkbzL This is what happen when complete character set not displayed in glyph window. We cant use exact letter. Hope you understand the issue.
thank you
Which letter are you trying to use?
Please paste the letter in a post or add a text / office file with that letter in it.
Is it that hard to post something like
കല്യാണപ്പന്തലില് പാടിയിരുന്ന പാണന്മാര് മണവാളയച്ചന്
Just the text, with the glyphs you want to be rendered?
(and if does not render in the browser, put that text in a text file and attach that one)
no its not hard. :D but i think you thought i getting hard in rendering the type in scribus. But its not my issue. If i typed exactly what it is, scribus render it correctly. But it doesn't happen always. I use OCR to make mage to text. In such case all characters doesn't read. in such case i have to type it manually
for example when it type റ്റ , in old lipi its typed as ററ..
and in modern lipi സുസ്മേരം type like this but in old lipi its rederd like this
https://postimg.cc/svNXh6s7
the issue is if the glyph is showing all the characters i could easily add it instantly .. there are many such characters which moderns fonts doesnt use.
if its showing in glyph it will save hours .. hope now you understand the issue. ;)
You never clearly stated that Scribus can render the old chars.
And this is one of the reasons why I asked you to paste the character as text!
The second reason is that now, I can play around with those chars and see what one can do.
One of the first things I've found out, is that the glyphs in the Scribus "Insert Glyph" and in the Libreoffice are similar but not the same:
insert-glyph-scribus-lo.png
- Libreoffice did recognize that the font has a Malayalam code block, Scribus does not.
- I was intrigued by those dotted circles in Libreoffice...
- I was also under the impression that Scribus did not list all the glyphs Libreoffice was showing.
I've pasted your glyphs into a Scribus and Libreoffice document and now I know that both are able to show the old glyph with the given font.
Thanks to an internet search, I've found out that Libreoffice can show the unicode code of a character by pressing alt-x. I did that.
Now I know that in Scribus you actually can use "Insert Glyph" to insert റ്റ:
You "simply" need to type 0d31↵0d4d↵0d31 in "Insert Code" field and then push the "Insert" button.
A solution that old time Windows users will love.
But not me.
By the way: since, I could not find how to get the code points in Scribus, now there is a Script for doing it:
https://github.com/aoloe/scribus-script-repository/blob/master/glyph_code/glyph_code.py
For the rest of my report , I will cheat a bit and tell you what I've found out, in a different order than how things happened.
Looking at the glyphs table in Libreoffice, there are a few dotted circles that stick out:
compose-decoration.png
What if the circles signify that one can compose the character?
insert-from-glyph-table.gif
Since I have no clue how the Malayalam glyphs work, there was only one way for me to find out the sequence: look at the codes composing the glyph : - )
(And playing around with them a bit...)
You can even drop the glyphs into the list of preferred glyphs and insert them from there:
insert-from-glyph-preferred.gif
Voilà, relief you from some of your suffering...
Finally, I want to get back to the Screenshot of the two "Insert Glyphs" in Window: We need to talk, if it really makes sense that Scribus tries to show all possible combined glyphs or if -- like Libreoffice does -- it should simply better show which are the glyphs that are supposed to be combined.
Once it's clearer what should be improved, we will need to open a ticket in the bug tracker.
sorry for confusing !
the 'ററ' was an example to show you how old lipi was rendered. Never used libreoffice. But i use that drag in to panel for quick usage was very helpful for frequesnt use for example the letter'ർ' is used in most case in old lipi it merely use " ൎ ". for exapmple when typing നിർത്തി .. old lipi use only നിൎത്തി. that symbol never cant typed. Only way is we have to manually enter via glyph panel .
what i am saying is when glyph doesn't show full character list, it will make our job slow. ( you can see that big list at the bottom when you using font forge . any way it may be the issues with the font , that characters are not appear in glyph box.. any way thank you so much
As far as I know, languages that have composed glyphs use specific software to enter (type) them.
That software is between the keyboard and the app you're using (something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fcitx).
No idea if any of these are usable for old Malayalam and Scribus.
I'm trying to see, if I can create a script that lets you define snippets that you can then easily insert into a Scribus document.