Several basic stuff I cannot do in Scribus... Please help!

[PatJr]

Here's my 'conversion' map for Corel software to open source

Draw > Inkscape
Paint or that other raster editor they bought > GIMP or Krita
Ventura, not sure they still offer that > Scribus
WordPerfect > LibreOffice

yes, the Corel products do have features that make many tasks easier then the open source products but for most people using open source is more like a philosophy
it might not be worth it to you to make the transition, there is a steep learning curve and you already know how to use what works for you with the commercial software

[tom]

I think it's pretty easy to resample an image in Scribus

Could you please share how?

Here's my 'conversion' map for Corel software to open source

PatJr, I am always after abandoning the commercial software and instead do these very simple tasks with Scribus and similar applications. We don't really need to pay thousands of dollars to code the most comprehensive Bezier editor using minimalistic controls as Corel did. It is there since tens of years and it's not rocket science. A software shouldn't be weaker than the commercial one in the simplest tasks just because it is free. This has no technical explanation.

[Nermander]

Let's check this everyday example...
Subject: There is a poor bitmap logo (sent by client) and you typically need to vectorize it by hand.
Steps:
1) Bring the bitmap logo on the page. (works fine)
2) Decrease transparency as much as needed. (works fine)
3) Lock the bitmap image so you can comfortably work on it. (works fine)
4) Pick Bezier and start working on it. (works nice except why do I have snapping? -CASE A-)
5) Switch to wireframe view to precisely draw your curve. (oops... the bitmap became invisible -CASE B-)

Suggestion?

Do it in Inkscape instead.

[tom]

Do it in Inkscape instead.

Oh, man! Now this is great and feels like home! So, why can't we have the same Bezier functionality in Scribus? Going between several applications is not the end of world but, doing it just to manage a few control points decently is funny.

[utnik]

hi tom

OK, I will try to be clear without tons of complaints.

Let's check this everyday example...
Subject: There is a poor bitmap logo (sent by client) and you typically need to vectorize it by hand.

i would never do this with scribus.
scribus ist just a layout-tool and your task is better done with a vector drawing/editing tool (like inkscape...)

i'm not sure, which applications from corel you use and try to replace with scribus. but if it's 'draw', it will never work as the two applications are for completely different tasks.

utnik

[a.l.e]

why inkscape, a vector drawing tool, has a better nodes handling?

the inkscape devs have spent 20 years working on that (plus a few other things...), while at the same time the scribus devs figured out how to create print ready PDFs and a rather solid color management.

still, it would be wonderful, if somebody who knows more than average about vector drawing could help improve the node editing in scribus!
just the interaction, not the features.
as it is now, it's painful.

but as you might have understood, it's not high priority for scribus, since real vector drawing is done in inkscape anyway.
in scribus one mostly only does small tweaking tasks.

anyway, vectorizing a logo is clearly something scribus should not be doing.
that's a task for inkscape. they already figured it out and if improvements are needed it's on them : - )a

the goal for scribus should be, that you can "easily" import the result in your layout.
and, personally, the fact that the exchange is not perfect, is something that bothers me much more than all the negative points you listed.

[tom]

The confusion comes from my Corel background. Because, CorelDraw alone is an all-in-one solution which is highly capable of editing vector and image stuff together while offering complete layout editing. (In the recent years very crash prone and bloated...)

I found Inkspace really great (Pen tool is almost perfectly same with CorelDraw) but then hit another wall. It is mainly RGB oriented and has very weak CMYK / spot color support, yet. (I hope it's going to be improved.

Tried CMS workaround and SVG export/import between applications, both Corel and Scribus imported that SVG with accurate CMS CMYK values. This is good news while, the intended color profile is not transfered.

So now, with Inkscape and Scribus; I can stop complaining about handling vector images.

Any suggestion about handling images with arbitrary resolution and color spaces in Scribus? Do I have to manage them in another application like Krita/GIMP etc and then bring to the layout?

[Nermander]

Oh, man! Now this is great and feels like home! So, why can't we have the same Bezier functionality in Scribus? Going between several applications is not the end of world but, doing it just to manage a few control points decently is funny.

Because there is not much use implementing the same things in several applications.

You are essentially saying that you do now want to use a screwdriver for screws, you want your wrench to also be able to handle screws.

[tom]

Because there is not much use implementing the same things in several applications.

Not exactly. Just for sake of already having vectors elsewhere, they now need to add full CMYK support to make it compatible with Scribus. Apart from all the file export/import chain...

[a.l.e]

I moved the suggestions for the nodes editor to its own topic in the UI section:

https://forums.scribus.net/index.php/topic,4949.msg22769.html#msg22769