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#1
Features / Re: ODT footnote import
Last post by chalavi - September 27, 2026, 02:21:49 PMThis i a second release of my ODT import and it follows my workflow and historical needs.
For memory, my association is dedicated to edit historical books with a lot of authors and also students. We have made more than 25 books in the last 4 years. A classic case is to receive a 200/300 A4 format pages with poor image treatment but the willing to present the best from the author point of vue. After a few discussions and explanations, the author may make minor edits to their text and images. Even so, graphic guidelines are almost never followed.
So,how does a graphic designer's workflow look like?
They receive a .docx or an .odf file. If it is a .docx, they quickly convert it to .odt before importing it.
They start by deleting all unused styles and removing empty paragraphs (a typographic rule), then take inventory (which is automatic in this version of the ODT import).
Next, they adjust their styles while taking care not to overwrite local text formatting (superscripts, italics, small caps, etc.). They do the same for footnotes.
Then, they logically split the imported text block—which spans from the first to the last page—according to the book's chapters. Adjustments and text reflows will then only affect a single chapter, which is more than enough.
They do the same for the footnote text frames.
Once the styles and text are cleaned up, and the main text and footnotes are split into sections, they begin adjusting the main text (removing widows and orphans, adjusting tracking/letter-spacing, etc.) alongside the footnote area and any images to be placed on the page.
When it comes to images, the designer mostly needs visual markers. In this version of the ODT import, images are brought in as thumbnails ready to be positioned. The import tool cannot know where to actually place these images, as that depends on how they were anchored in the ODT file—especially since most source files use A4 format, whereas books rarely match those dimensions.
The goal of this import process is not to attempt an exact replica of the original file, which is impossible, but to assist the designer by eliminating the heavy burden of re-typesetting everything or recreating footnotes from scratch. Everything is laid out and ready for composition and final adjustments.
# [EN] ODT import plugin — summary of this version
This version of the ODT import plugin (`odt2im`) adds the following, on top of the base Scribus import:
- **Footnotes** (`text:note`): the call-out number is inserted as superscript text in the main flow; each note's content is appended as a numbered list at the end of the article, reusing the plugin's own paragraph/span parsing (same fonts, styles, formatting). Numbering restarts at 1 per article.
- **Images** (`draw:frame`/`draw:image`, including captioned ones): extracted to an `images/` subfolder next to the source `.odt`. Each image is placed as an independent frame at a fixed 30 mm width (height scaled to preserve the original proportions, no distortion), with text flow disabled — the surrounding text does not wrap around it. Frames are placed on the page roughly corresponding to their position in the source text (or their source page number, for images anchored "to the page"), stacked one under another when several land on the same page. This is a placement aid for layout, not a finished result — manual repositioning is expected either way.
- **Empty paragraphs**: paragraphs with no actual content (a common LibreOffice habit for manual spacing) are no longer imported as blank lines — paragraph spacing is left to Scribus's own paragraph styles.
- **Unused named styles**: only the named paragraph/character styles actually applied to some imported text are created in the Scribus document — not every style defined by the source LibreOffice template, most of which a given article never uses.
Tested end to end on real, large documents (footnotes, images, and styles together on a 300+ page book).
With valuable help from Claude (Anthropic).
---
# [FR] Plugin d'import ODT — synthèse de cette version
Cette version du plugin d'import ODT (`odt2im`) ajoute ce qui suit, en plus de l'import de base de Scribus :
- **Notes de bas de page** (`text:note`) : l'appel de note est inséré en exposant dans le texte principal ; le contenu de chaque note est ajouté sous forme de liste numérotée en fin d'article, en réutilisant directement les fonctions de parsing du plugin (mêmes polices, styles, mise en forme). La numérotation repart à 1 à chaque article.
- **Images** (`draw:frame`/`draw:image`, y compris avec légende) : extraites vers un sous-dossier `images/` à côté du `.odt` source. Chaque image est placée dans un cadre indépendant à une largeur fixe de 30 mm (hauteur recalculée pour conserver ses proportions d'origine, sans déformation), avec l'habillage désactivé — le texte ne la contourne plus. Les cadres sont placés sur la page correspondant approximativement à leur position dans le texte source (ou à leur numéro de page source, pour les images ancrées « à la page »), empilés les uns sous les autres quand plusieurs tombent sur la même page. C'est un repère de montage, pas un résultat fini — un repositionnement manuel reste de toute façon nécessaire.
- **Paragraphes vides** : les paragraphes sans contenu réel (habitude courante de LibreOffice pour espacer manuellement) ne sont plus importés comme des lignes vides — l'espacement entre paragraphes reste du ressort des styles Scribus.
- **Styles nommés inutilisés** : seuls les styles de paragraphe/caractère réellement appliqués à du texte importé sont créés dans le document Scribus — pas l'ensemble des styles définis par le modèle LibreOffice source, dont un article donné n'utilise généralement qu'une fraction.
Testé de bout en bout sur des documents réels et volumineux (notes, images et styles ensemble sur un livre de plus de 300 pages).
Avec l'aide précieuse de Claude (Anthropic).
For memory, my association is dedicated to edit historical books with a lot of authors and also students. We have made more than 25 books in the last 4 years. A classic case is to receive a 200/300 A4 format pages with poor image treatment but the willing to present the best from the author point of vue. After a few discussions and explanations, the author may make minor edits to their text and images. Even so, graphic guidelines are almost never followed.
So,how does a graphic designer's workflow look like?
They receive a .docx or an .odf file. If it is a .docx, they quickly convert it to .odt before importing it.
They start by deleting all unused styles and removing empty paragraphs (a typographic rule), then take inventory (which is automatic in this version of the ODT import).
Next, they adjust their styles while taking care not to overwrite local text formatting (superscripts, italics, small caps, etc.). They do the same for footnotes.
Then, they logically split the imported text block—which spans from the first to the last page—according to the book's chapters. Adjustments and text reflows will then only affect a single chapter, which is more than enough.
They do the same for the footnote text frames.
Once the styles and text are cleaned up, and the main text and footnotes are split into sections, they begin adjusting the main text (removing widows and orphans, adjusting tracking/letter-spacing, etc.) alongside the footnote area and any images to be placed on the page.
When it comes to images, the designer mostly needs visual markers. In this version of the ODT import, images are brought in as thumbnails ready to be positioned. The import tool cannot know where to actually place these images, as that depends on how they were anchored in the ODT file—especially since most source files use A4 format, whereas books rarely match those dimensions.
The goal of this import process is not to attempt an exact replica of the original file, which is impossible, but to assist the designer by eliminating the heavy burden of re-typesetting everything or recreating footnotes from scratch. Everything is laid out and ready for composition and final adjustments.
# [EN] ODT import plugin — summary of this version
This version of the ODT import plugin (`odt2im`) adds the following, on top of the base Scribus import:
- **Footnotes** (`text:note`): the call-out number is inserted as superscript text in the main flow; each note's content is appended as a numbered list at the end of the article, reusing the plugin's own paragraph/span parsing (same fonts, styles, formatting). Numbering restarts at 1 per article.
- **Images** (`draw:frame`/`draw:image`, including captioned ones): extracted to an `images/` subfolder next to the source `.odt`. Each image is placed as an independent frame at a fixed 30 mm width (height scaled to preserve the original proportions, no distortion), with text flow disabled — the surrounding text does not wrap around it. Frames are placed on the page roughly corresponding to their position in the source text (or their source page number, for images anchored "to the page"), stacked one under another when several land on the same page. This is a placement aid for layout, not a finished result — manual repositioning is expected either way.
- **Empty paragraphs**: paragraphs with no actual content (a common LibreOffice habit for manual spacing) are no longer imported as blank lines — paragraph spacing is left to Scribus's own paragraph styles.
- **Unused named styles**: only the named paragraph/character styles actually applied to some imported text are created in the Scribus document — not every style defined by the source LibreOffice template, most of which a given article never uses.
Tested end to end on real, large documents (footnotes, images, and styles together on a 300+ page book).
With valuable help from Claude (Anthropic).
---
# [FR] Plugin d'import ODT — synthèse de cette version
Cette version du plugin d'import ODT (`odt2im`) ajoute ce qui suit, en plus de l'import de base de Scribus :
- **Notes de bas de page** (`text:note`) : l'appel de note est inséré en exposant dans le texte principal ; le contenu de chaque note est ajouté sous forme de liste numérotée en fin d'article, en réutilisant directement les fonctions de parsing du plugin (mêmes polices, styles, mise en forme). La numérotation repart à 1 à chaque article.
- **Images** (`draw:frame`/`draw:image`, y compris avec légende) : extraites vers un sous-dossier `images/` à côté du `.odt` source. Chaque image est placée dans un cadre indépendant à une largeur fixe de 30 mm (hauteur recalculée pour conserver ses proportions d'origine, sans déformation), avec l'habillage désactivé — le texte ne la contourne plus. Les cadres sont placés sur la page correspondant approximativement à leur position dans le texte source (ou à leur numéro de page source, pour les images ancrées « à la page »), empilés les uns sous les autres quand plusieurs tombent sur la même page. C'est un repère de montage, pas un résultat fini — un repositionnement manuel reste de toute façon nécessaire.
- **Paragraphes vides** : les paragraphes sans contenu réel (habitude courante de LibreOffice pour espacer manuellement) ne sont plus importés comme des lignes vides — l'espacement entre paragraphes reste du ressort des styles Scribus.
- **Styles nommés inutilisés** : seuls les styles de paragraphe/caractère réellement appliqués à du texte importé sont créés dans le document Scribus — pas l'ensemble des styles définis par le modèle LibreOffice source, dont un article donné n'utilise généralement qu'une fraction.
Testé de bout en bout sur des documents réels et volumineux (notes, images et styles ensemble sur un livre de plus de 300 pages).
Avec l'aide précieuse de Claude (Anthropic).
#2
Beginner Talk / Re: No text color options avai...
Last post by JWHYHFR - September 27, 2026, 09:34:51 AMI installed Scribus 1.6.6 twice. I installed it once on Thursday, but because of the problem, I uninstalled it, then downloaded it again and installed it on Friday.
I downloaded the following version from SourceForge:
Released /scribus-svn/1.6.7.svn/scribus-1.6.7.svn-snapshot-20260918-x64.exe
Thank you for your advice
I downloaded the following version from SourceForge:
Released /scribus-svn/1.6.7.svn/scribus-1.6.7.svn-snapshot-20260918-x64.exe
Thank you for your advice
#3
Tutorials, Tips and How-Tos / Layers/calques
Last post by F6EEQ - September 27, 2026, 09:16:47 AMHi,
I'm trying to prepare some layers/calques to insert titles or pagination info on a standard page.
Explanation in the wiki are not clear.
Do you know a simple tuto about that.
I know layer/calque concept from Gimp and this is very convenient, but here it is a little bit lacking of info!!
Thanks
Gerard
I'm trying to prepare some layers/calques to insert titles or pagination info on a standard page.
Explanation in the wiki are not clear.
Do you know a simple tuto about that.
I know layer/calque concept from Gimp and this is very convenient, but here it is a little bit lacking of info!!
Thanks
Gerard
#4
Beginner Talk / Re: No text color options avai...
Last post by AdmFubar - September 27, 2026, 01:17:21 AMOut of curiosity where did you obtain this scribus install?
#5
Beginner Talk / Re: No text color options avai...
Last post by JWHYHFR - September 26, 2026, 12:28:55 PMThank you very much for your quick response. I followed your advice, and it did indeed solve the problem with selecting background colors. However, I'm also having an issue with the font color. In the "Text Properties / Colors and Effects" pane, the pen icon is grayed out and it says "black 100%." I don't have access to the drop-down menu, which would allow me to change the settings. Thank you in advance for your help, once again 
(My desktop gets Windows 11 x64)
(My desktop gets Windows 11 x64) #6
Beginner Talk / Re: No text color options avai...
Last post by a.l.e - September 26, 2026, 10:07:32 AMFor some reason you have "lost" all the colors.
You can add new ones in the "Edit > Colors and fills"... or merge into there the "Scribus Basic" set of colors and get back the ones that are normally defined by default.
And if new documents also have "no colors", then you can add the colors in "Edit > Colors and fills" when no document is open.
You can add new ones in the "Edit > Colors and fills"... or merge into there the "Scribus Basic" set of colors and get back the ones that are normally defined by default.
And if new documents also have "no colors", then you can add the colors in "Edit > Colors and fills" when no document is open.
#7
Beginner Talk / No text color options availabl...
Last post by JWHYHFR - September 26, 2026, 09:23:58 AMHello, can anyone help me? When I install Scribus 1.6.6 and type a line of text, I can't change the text color. In the F3 "Text Properties" panel, it's stuck on black, and in the F2 panel, the background color options are only black, registration, and white. Thank you very much in advance.
#8
Features / Re: ODT footnote import
Last post by chalavi - September 24, 2026, 02:35:54 PMHere is the zip file (scribus_sources-1.7.3/scribus/plugins/gettext/)
These files are for Scribus 1.7.3.
Note : All the styles from Libreoffice are imported (used or unused). More than 400 styles... but there is an option in Scribus 1.7.3 (not in 1.6.6) which permit to delete all unused styles.
These files are for Scribus 1.7.3.
Note : All the styles from Libreoffice are imported (used or unused). More than 400 styles... but there is an option in Scribus 1.7.3 (not in 1.6.6) which permit to delete all unused styles.
#9
Beginner Talk / Re: My page numbers disapear b...
Last post by Thomas - September 24, 2026, 01:53:12 PMThank you Utnik !
They appeared
They appeared
#10
Beginner Talk / Re: My page numbers disapear b...
Last post by utnik - September 24, 2026, 01:44:52 PMhi thomas
you could work with layers. the page numbers will be visible if the pagination is on the second layer of the master page (gabarit) and you place the image on the background layer.
interlacing of the layers:
third layer of the document page
third layer of the master page
second layer of the document page
second layer of the master page
background layer of the document page
background layer of the master page
utnik
you could work with layers. the page numbers will be visible if the pagination is on the second layer of the master page (gabarit) and you place the image on the background layer.
interlacing of the layers:
third layer of the document page
third layer of the master page
second layer of the document page
second layer of the master page
background layer of the document page
background layer of the master page
utnik