Post AJGhN4pUkqeouGpcES by julieninthesky@mastodon.art
(DIR) More posts by julieninthesky@mastodon.art
(DIR) Post #AJFKM964uWGlkTDP96 by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:01:17Z
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I've written a lot of text for this zine we're about to release, and now I'm at a crossroads. We have to decide what software to use for laying the thing out. I have historically used: Adobe InDesign Microsoft Word Microsoft Publisher LibreOffice Writer Abiword Google Docs and probably a few other things over the last ten years. I basically hate all of them? I need the following features: - Easy support for digest 8.5x5.5 pages - Page numbering with an obvious way to do section breaks- custom section headers that are easy to override on a per page basis - image handling tools that don't make me want to claw out my own eyes - PDF output I'd also like to be able to set an "Inner" margin and an "Outer" margin, rather than a "left" and "right" margin, so that it's easier to trim the books after we've imposed and printed them. But I'll skip that for now if it gets me the rest. What is, in your opinion, the least bad software option that will enable all of the above?
(DIR) Post #AJFKM9XNH26V77zCgy by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:02:20Z
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I should add: I'm a linux user. I won't be using Windows or Mac for this. I won't be using anything made by microsoft, adobe, or google. That means I'm almost certainly stuck with LibreOffice, Abiword, or some combination of command line utilities.
(DIR) Post #AJFKMA0RWxM8ZHaQ08 by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:05:52Z
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Are there any pieces of libre software that implement page numbers as specified in CSS? I could do everything I want in a print stylesheet for CSS (and in fact have done that in the past) were it not for the fact that the only software that I ever found that actually implemented all the features of the print CSS spec was a piece of somewhat expensive commercial software, and now I can't even find that.
(DIR) Post #AJFKMANU9HmtikMouu by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:07:28Z
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I haven't done an issue of this particular zine in this particular style since '16, and I don't have a lot of my notes on *how* we did it, if I ever took those notes, because I don't have any of the computers I was using at that time, and the backups are in storage.
(DIR) Post #AJFKMAiOtWWAlc9WW8 by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:10:42Z
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It looks like I'll be trying Scribus again to start with. That's fine. It's probably fine. I was avoiding it because I've fought with it in the past, but unless I want to lay out every page as it's own image, and handle all the text flows myself, I think Scribus is probably my best answer.
(DIR) Post #AJFKMB8HLJDa3sGBqy by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:11:17Z
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That's a shame, because I've bounced off this software so many times. We'll see how it goes this time.
(DIR) Post #AJFKMBXnoPdPL2CZdY by Archivist@social.linux.pizza
2022-05-08T15:21:26Z
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@ajroach42 it is a shame because I couldn't use Scribus even if my life depended on it, so I use LaTeX and suffer through the hell of no GUI when writing things
(DIR) Post #AJFKRIHoAmCFhE9mDY by ajroach42@retro.social
2022-05-08T15:22:21Z
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@Archivist If Scribus doesn't work out, I'm going to fall back on weasyprint so that I can at least use a syntax I know, rather than trying to learn latex on the fly.
(DIR) Post #AJGhN3T7oXAYgbMEj2 by TerryHancock@mastodon.art
2022-05-08T15:55:22Z
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@ajroach42I've used Scribus for book layout before, and given your requirements, it is probably your best option.But you should be aware that Inkscape 1.2 now has multi-page support, thanks to @doctormo which makes it an option for graphics-heavy layout.I'm considering using Inkscape, pandoc, and the pdftk CLI utilities for simple streamlined book production. I did my 2021 annual report" which was mostly my Wordpress articles, using pandoc.
(DIR) Post #AJGhN3u4CMii29xkie by doctormo@mastodon.social
2022-05-08T17:43:04Z
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@TerryHancock @ajroach42 I would say inkscape's scribus features could best be described as a horse pretending to be a bullet train. If you were making a flyer, it would probably work well, but as soon as you need layouts on many pages, inkscape will hurt you bad as everything will be manual.(no CMYK, no layouts, no margin controls, pdf 1.5 max)I say that as the guy making the features to move it in that direction. More work is needed to do this workflow in inkscape.
(DIR) Post #AJGhN4Cr4VkUyQkl0K by julieninthesky@mastodon.art
2022-05-08T17:53:34Z
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@doctormo @TerryHancock @ajroach42What about merging with sK1 ?#wishfulthinking
(DIR) Post #AJGhN4Whshd1y02bwm by doctormo@mastodon.social
2022-05-08T17:57:56Z
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@julieninthesky @TerryHancock @ajroach42 It wouldn't be much of a merge, more of an eating. Since sk1 tragically lost it's developer to Covid, the process would be up picking through the code, trying to understand it and rewriting it in C++ for Inkscape.
(DIR) Post #AJGhN4pUkqeouGpcES by julieninthesky@mastodon.art
2022-05-08T19:16:29Z
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@doctormo@TerryHancock @ajroach42I can't say much about the developement but from a user's point of view, the colour management and multipage features would be welcomed...And by the way, does anyone know why there is no proper imposition software available ? It's it too niche to interest a developer ?
(DIR) Post #AJGhN5EfFGn4AKbiSm by TerryHancock@mastodon.art
2022-05-08T19:28:24Z
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@julienintheskyI had to look up "imposition"/"imposing". Is it just laying out multiple pages for printing booklets, folios, etc?Because, there IS a CLI utility for that in the pdftk utilities. I think it's "pdfnup" (from N-up printing, which is what I know this feature as). Something like that, anyway.I used to print PDF documenation pages as 5.5x8.5" booklets all the time.@doctormo @ajroach42
(DIR) Post #AJGhN5vCh6omIGVglk by julieninthesky@mastodon.art
2022-05-08T19:41:23Z
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@TerryHancockYes, there are a few options for basic imposition but I haven't found one yet that handles bleed... I'll just keep on wishing until a miracle happens 😉@doctormo @ajroach42
(DIR) Post #AJGhN6PgrlCjoom2Hw by doctormo@mastodon.social
2022-05-08T19:49:17Z
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@julieninthesky @TerryHancock @ajroach42 Alas! hungry user. There is only one magic that turns free speech need to Free Software mead and that is work. Available to you at the low cost of some money, or some time whichever is available in your area. :blobwizard: One thing known not to work: wishing. Unfortunately.
(DIR) Post #AJGhN6lfY2mkuz3aXw by colinsmatt11@gleasonator.com
2022-05-09T07:09:45.710415Z
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Wishing doesn't work because we can tell that proprietary software still exists in this world.
(DIR) Post #AJGhN7IdZT9mZETuvw by icedquinn@blob.cat
2022-05-09T07:14:00.212266Z
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@colinsmatt11 @doctormo @julieninthesky @TerryHancock @ajroach42 that's a blob with a pondering orb :blobcatcamera: