[scribus] Using Scribus for a newsletter

[Joe Ward]

Hello. I'm Joe Ward, a retired newspaper reporter roped into serving as editor of a community newsletter for about 4,000 households. I've been putting this out by getting stories and ads together and sending them to a friendly neighborhood printer who has done most of the layout for me. Then she moved out of the neighborhood and on to better things.

I hope not to be editor of the newsletter forever. So I'm trying to get a system for putting it together established, so that each succeeding editor won't have to reinvent the wheel. Future editors will be students and retirees and similar folks, so Scribus seemed to me a good way to go.

So I'm learning Scribus, and Inkscape, and Gimp, and having a great time. I started too late, of course, and will soon face the deadline for my first issue of this new era. I have a printer willing to work with me, and I've been reading through the Scribus manual and trying different things.

I made myself a template for the front page with the masthead as I want it, guidelines set up to show me where to put text and picture frames and other elements that will go on the front page of every issue, and the margins I want set in place. I've made similar templates for the back page, which will have the mailing lable and bulk mail information, and for left and right inside pages. I made the front page a right page, and the back page a left page.

I'm reading more in the manual now, but I'm asking these questions just in case I don't find the answers in time.

How do I put these pages togehter? If I have Page 1 set up, for example, how do I add a second, a third, etc., up to the last page? I've tried making master pages without success -- it seems that each one I make wipes out the one I made before -- and it has occurred to me I wouldn't know how to use those, either.

Second, how can I paginate the newsletter so that it's ready for the printer? That is to say, so that the front and back pages are on the right and left sides of a sheet, and the second and second-from-last pages are on the other side. Then the third and third-from last on a sheet, fourth and fourth-from-last, and so fourth. The newsletter is to have 8.5 by 11-inch pages, and my plan is to output to .pdf for the printer.

I'm working in Windows Xp.

Thanks for any help. I'm sorry to ask so much in one email.

-Joe
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[Louis Desjardins]

2008/9/13 Joe Ward <bluegrass_joe at yahoo.com>

Post by Joe Ward
Hello. I'm Joe Ward, a retired newspaper reporter roped into serving as
editor of a community newsletter for about 4,000 households. I've been
putting this out by getting stories and ads together and sending them to a
friendly neighborhood printer who has done most of the layout for me. Then
she moved out of the neighborhood and on to better things.
I hope not to be editor of the newsletter forever. So I'm trying to get a
system for putting it together established, so that each succeeding editor
won't have to reinvent the wheel. Future editors will be students and
retirees and similar folks, so Scribus seemed to me a good way to go.
So I'm learning Scribus, and Inkscape, and Gimp, and having a great time. I
started too late, of course, and will soon face the deadline for my first
issue of this new era. I have a printer willing to work with me, and I've
been reading through the Scribus manual and trying different things.
I made myself a template for the front page with the masthead as I want it,
guidelines set up to show me where to put text and picture frames and other
elements that will go on the front page of every issue, and the margins I
want set in place. I've made similar templates for the back page, which will
have the mailing lable and bulk mail information, and for left and right
inside pages. I made the front page a right page, and the back page a left
page.
I'm reading more in the manual now, but I'm asking these questions just in
case I don't find the answers in time.
How do I put these pages togehter? If I have Page 1 set up, for example,
how do I add a second, a third, etc., up to the last page? I've tried
making master pages without success -- it seems that each one I make wipes
out the one I made before -- and it has occurred to me I wouldn't know how
to use those, either.

Hello Joe,

First, let's assume you are working with Scribus version 1.3.3.x (the most
up-to-date being 1.3.3.12). Other than that, it's advisable you consider
working with this version as it is the stable one. 1.3.4 is not supported
anymore and 1.3.5svn is the current development series, not meant for
production.

Quick answers (and you will find more on the wiki or ask for even more
specific questions, no problem!):

? Add pages through Page > Insert, Import or Copy (3 different options).

? Master Pages: if you have put one or 2 together, you should be able to
walk you way through. The GUI is not so clear but it is still a
straightforward operation. Go to Edit > Master Pages. You will find an icon
that does just that, create a new Master Page. You must give it a name. You
will see all your Master Pages listed in the Edit > Master Pages dialog.
When you click on a Master Page name, bang! you are on that Master Page. The
trick to know is you cannot put empty text or image frame and expect to be
able to fill it when on the regular page thereafter. Not in Scribus. But if
you have elements that will be repeated from page to page, then you can set
this up on the Master Page and be sure it will be repeated.

? Master Pages (bis): To apply a Master Page to a regular page, you must
first leave the Master Page dialog by closing the dialog window. This will
bring you back to your regular pages. Then, go to Page > Apply Master Page
and a dialog will pop-up giving you all the options you have to apply a
Master Page to a regular page.

? Master Pages (ter): You can place a text frame on the Master Page and fill
it with the Insert > Character > Page Number so once this Master Page is
applied to a page, it will correctly display the page number of your page.
Please also note that for pages 10-99 you will need 2 times this character,
3 for 100-999 and so on. You can put the Page Number character on each and
every Master Page you want that number to be displayed.

Second, how can I paginate the newsletter so that it's ready for the

Post by Joe Ward
printer? That is to say, so that the front and back pages are on the right
and left sides of a sheet, and the second and second-from-last pages are on
the other side. Then the third and third-from last on a sheet, fourth and
fourth-from-last, and so fourth. The newsletter is to have 8.5 by 11-inch
pages, and my plan is to output to .pdf for the printer.

What you want to achieve here is called imposition and you will find
valuable info on the wiki here:
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Imposition_tools
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/How_to_make_a_booklet

When you output to PDF, you have the option to select just the pages you
want.

I'm working in Windows Xp.


Yep. No problem.

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks for any help. I'm sorry to ask so much in one email.

You are most welcome and please don't hesitate to get back here whenever you
need any help. We are more than glad to try to help you going.

Louis

Post by Joe Ward
-Joe
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[Gregory Pittman]

Post by Joe Ward
Second, how can I paginate the newsletter so that it's ready for the

Post by Joe Ward
printer? That is to say, so that the front and back pages are on the right
and left sides of a sheet, and the second and second-from-last pages are on
the other side. Then the third and third-from last on a sheet, fourth and
fourth-from-last, and so fourth. The newsletter is to have 8.5 by 11-inch
pages, and my plan is to output to .pdf for the printer.

What you want to achieve here is called imposition and you will find
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Imposition_tools
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/How_to_make_a_booklet

It's also worth asking your printer if he can do the imposition for you.

Greg

[Joe Ward]

Thanks to all who have responded for the friendly welcome to Scribus.
There is nothing like a friendly group to help a person through the
inevitable snarls of learning a new program. I hope to progress to the point
of being helpful to others.

I still have this problem with master pages, even going through the new
tutorial (having spent some hours with the earlier version) and reading what
else I can find.

I have my four templates. I call one up, using "new from a template"
under the file menu.
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page," give it a
name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go to Master Pages,
and, sure enough, there it is, right in there with Normal. So I get the next
template, click on convert to master page, give it a name and click okay.
When I go to edit/master pages, I find the new master page in place, but the
previous one is gone.
Why is this happening? Is "convert to master page" not a legitimate way
to make a master page?

Thanks again for the welcome and the help. I've downloaded several of
the programs suggested and gone as far as I could go with them before they
stumped me. But I'll ask more about them later.

-Joe

[Gregory Pittman]

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks to all who have responded for the friendly welcome to
Scribus. There is nothing like a friendly group to help a person
through the inevitable snarls of learning a new program. I hope to
progress to the point of being helpful to others.
I still have this problem with master pages, even going through the
new tutorial (having spent some hours with the earlier version) and
reading what else I can find.
I have my four templates. I call one up, using "new from a
template" under the file menu.
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page,"
give it a name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go
to Master Pages, and, sure enough, there it is, right in there with
Normal. So I get the next template, click on convert to master page,
give it a name and click okay. When I go to edit/master pages, I find
the new master page in place, but the previous one is gone.
Why is this happening? Is "convert to master page" not a
legitimate way to make a master page?

It may be that you need to rename this new master page to make sure the
next one doesn't overwrite it.

Greg

[Gregory Pittman]

Post by Gregory Pittman

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks to all who have responded for the friendly welcome to
Scribus. There is nothing like a friendly group to help a person
through the inevitable snarls of learning a new program. I hope to
progress to the point of being helpful to others.
I still have this problem with master pages, even going through
the new tutorial (having spent some hours with the earlier version)
and reading what else I can find.
I have my four templates. I call one up, using "new from a
template" under the file menu.
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page,"
give it a name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go
to Master Pages, and, sure enough, there it is, right in there with
Normal. So I get the next template, click on convert to master page,
give it a name and click okay. When I go to edit/master pages, I find
the new master page in place, but the previous one is gone.
Why is this happening? Is "convert to master page" not a
legitimate way to make a master page?

It may be that you need to rename this new master page to make sure
the next one doesn't overwrite it.

I think now I may understand where you're conceptualizing this incorrectly.
When you get the next template, you are starting a new document, so then
when you convert to a master page, it applies to that new document.

Master pages cannot exist outside of the context of a document, so if
you close the document, you have closed the master pages associated with it.
What you can do is to click Edit > Master Pages... and then import a
Master Page from another document, so you can easily make use of Master
Pages from elsewhere.

Just because you have created or imported Master Pages doesn't mean you
are necessarily using them. They must be applied to your Document page.
A new document by default will have the 'Normal' Master Page (blank),
which you can then switch to one of your choice (you cannot rename this
Normal page, and you cannot name one of your custom Master Pages as
'Normal'). A given document page can only have one kind of Master Page
associated with it.

Greg

[Joe Ward]

Post by Gregory Pittman
I think now I may understand where you're conceptualizing this
incorrectly.
When you get the next template, you are starting a new document, so then
when you convert to a master page, it applies to that new document.
Master pages cannot exist outside of the context of a document, so if you
close the document, you have closed the master pages associated with it.
What you can do is to click Edit > Master Pages... and then import a
Master Page from another document, so you can easily make use of Master
Pages from elsewhere.
Just because you have created or imported Master Pages doesn't mean you
are necessarily using them. They must be applied to your Document page. A
new document by default will have the 'Normal' Master Page (blank), which
you can then switch to one of your choice (you cannot rename this Normal
page, and you cannot name one of your custom Master Pages as 'Normal'). A
given document page can only have one kind of Master Page associated with
it.
Greg

"Conceptualizing incorrectly." That's a kind way to put. But it sure
is true.

So, are you telling me I have to start the newsletter with a normal
template, and then import the template I want, to replace it -- and keep
doing that with each of the pages? -Joe

[Gregory Pittman]

Post by Joe Ward

Post by Gregory Pittman
I think now I may understand where you're conceptualizing this incorrectly.
When you get the next template, you are starting a new document, so
then when you convert to a master page, it applies to that new document.
Master pages cannot exist outside of the context of a document, so if
you close the document, you have closed the master pages associated with it.
What you can do is to click Edit > Master Pages... and then import a
Master Page from another document, so you can easily make use of
Master Pages from elsewhere.
Just because you have created or imported Master Pages doesn't mean
you are necessarily using them. They must be applied to your Document
page. A new document by default will have the 'Normal' Master Page
(blank), which you can then switch to one of your choice (you cannot
rename this Normal page, and you cannot name one of your custom
Master Pages as 'Normal'). A given document page can only have one
kind of Master Page associated with it.
Greg

"Conceptualizing incorrectly." That's a kind way to put. But it
sure is true.
So, are you telling me I have to start the newsletter with a
normal template, and then import the template I want, to replace it --
and keep doing that with each of the pages?

In many, perhaps most cases, you will want to design your own template,
in other words, create a new document layout with all the fixed content,
like headers, maybe Styles, etc., then save it as a template you can use
later. The sample templates are available largely for ideas, and for
most people will require editing, removal of a lot of arbitrary content,
so is this worth all that effort?

You can import pages from other documents: Page > Import, which may be
some use to you. As stated above, you can import Master Pages as well.

Greg

[Mike Morris]

My words that follow are a response to Joe Ward's questions in his message
of earlier today that started with " I think I'm as confused as ever."

As I viewed the various responses to the question on the difference between
master pages and templates, I decided to add my own thoughts. Hopefully,
those thoughts will provide some additional clarity, and will not add to the
confusion.

I publish a 12 page newsletter on a monthly basis (not, at present, using
Scribus, but the concepts apply). In that newsletter, I have several master
pages. One of those master pages, which I call Title master page, contains
a logo, the name of the newsletter, and some text (volume no., etc.). I
have other master pages that I use for the newsletter that contain only the
name of the publication, the date, and the page number--think of this info
as a "footer." Another way to think of the master page is as a background
that is always part of the newsletter. A background may appear on one page,
multiple pages, or all pages. You can also think of a master page as a
partial pattern for a page (or multiple pages).

A template, however, is more than just a master page (or more than master
pages). A template contains (or can contain) many other elements; e.g.,
formatting commands (including Styles) and master pages. In other words, a
template is (or can be) a pattern for a complete document. A master page is
a pattern for a page (or pages) within a document.

I could save a version of my newsletter without the articles, but with the
master pages, as a template. That way, for each new newsletter, the common
elements will always be in the correct place: on the pages(s) and in the
document. I then need only add the articles appropriate for the new month's
issue.

Could you create a newsletter template without any master pages? Yes, you
could. But then you are not making use of a very important feature of any
true DTP application: keeping common elements precisely positioned with
every new issue. I suggest to you, that once you learn how to use master
pages, you will realize just how effective this feature is. Perhaps the use
of a well-known advertising phrase will drive home the message: "Don't
leave home (your document) without it (master pages)." Oh, well, a feeble
attempt at humor.

Could you create a newsletter with master pages, but not create a template?
Yes, you could. Provided, when you start a new issue, and you open last
month's newsletter to create this month's newsletter, that you remember to
save the newly opened document immediately, with a NEW FILE NAME before you
make ANY changes. That is assuming, of course, that you want to keep copies
of previous issues.

That is the concept (or my understanding of it), and my version of the
explanation provided by Christoph Schafer on September 15th. I hope my
added words provide some insight beyond the simple definitions of template
and master page. I must leave the explanation of the mechanics of creating
and using master pages to those who are more familiar with Scribus than I
am.

Regarding your question on how to prepare the newsletter for a printer: am
I correct in concluding that you want a "booklet" format? By this I
mean--using a 4 page newsletter as an example--pages 1 and 4 on the
"outside," and pages 2 and 3 on the "inside," with the newsletter folded to
8.5 x 11 (and therefore the actual printed sheet size is 11 x 17)?

If you want a booklet format, Scribus, at present, needs an additional
utility to accomplish this process, called imposition. You can find
information on several alternative imposition utilities (and how to use
them) at those links provided by Louis Desjardins in his response of
September 13, repeated here for convenience:

http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Imposition_tools
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/How_to_make_a_booklet

Post by Joe Ward

Post by Gregory Pittman
I think now I may understand where you're conceptualizing this incorrectly.
When you get the next template, you are starting a new document, so then
when you convert to a master page, it applies to that new document.
Master pages cannot exist outside of the context of a document, so if you
close the document, you have closed the master pages associated with it.
What you can do is to click Edit > Master Pages... and then import a
Master Page from another document, so you can easily make use of Master
Pages from elsewhere.
Just because you have created or imported Master Pages doesn't mean you
are necessarily using them. They must be applied to your Document page. A
new document by default will have the 'Normal' Master Page (blank), which
you can then switch to one of your choice (you cannot rename this Normal
page, and you cannot name one of your custom Master Pages as 'Normal'). A
given document page can only have one kind of Master Page associated with
it.
Greg

"Conceptualizing incorrectly." That's a kind way to put. But it sure
is true.
So, are you telling me I have to start the newsletter with a normal
template, and then import the template I want, to replace it -- and keep
doing that with each of the pages?

In many, perhaps most cases, you will want to design your own template, in
other words, create a new document layout with all the fixed content, like
headers, maybe Styles, etc., then save it as a template you can use later.
The sample templates are available largely for ideas, and for most people
will require editing, removal of a lot of arbitrary content, so is this
worth all that effort?
You can import pages from other documents: Page > Import, which may be some
use to you. As stated above, you can import Master Pages as well.
Greg
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http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus

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[Joe Ward]

Thanks, Mike. That's nicely explained in measured tones, and I
appreciate the effort you put into it.

Here's my problem. I bring up the template for my first page, and put
text and a photo on it. Then I want to add a second page, but I want it to
be a copy of another template, the one I have set up with header and page
number to be a left-side inside page.

I click on "page," and "insert." That lets me get a copy of the
"normal" template, which does not contain my formating, or of something
called Page 1, which appears identical to the "normal" one.

So I try "Apply Master Page," having previously converted a copy of my
inside left template to a master page. But again, the only options I am
given are for "normal" and "Page 1" pages, which are just blank pages.

I look at the insert menu beside the page menu, and there is no help
there.

The only way I can get a copy of the page I want for my page two is to
bring up the template for it, convert it to a master, then click on page and
apply master. THEN I can choose my page two, but all I have then is a
two-page document that consists of two copies of my page 2.

I know there is an easy answer to this, but we don't seem to be
communicating, and I can't figure it out from the help file. If I have the
first page of a document, how do I add pages of my own choosing to the
document?

There has got to be a reasonable way.

-Joe
Ward

[Joe Ward]

This, apparently, is what I needed to know: You click on "page" and "insert"
to get a new page in the file you're working in. Then you click on "page"
and "import" and navigate to the template you want as the source document.
Then you put a 1 in the page number block, and click "import." And there is
your template, in the document, with formatting intact, ready to have text
and images applied to it.

So how do master pages work into this?


-Joe

[Mike Morris]

I want to suggest thinking about this newsletter creation process in a
different way. I am going to try to describe a process that does not
include, for the moment, the specific details of any application.

Let's say I want a 4 page newsletter. I open my DTP application (it could
be Scribus, it could be InDesign, it could be a number of other
possibilities). Let's say also that this is the first time I attempt to
create this newsletter--that is, I have no previous documents, no templates
with which to start.

When I open the application for the first time, I will be looking at a
single page (there are exceptions, but for the moment, I am not going to
consider them).

It is at this point--not later--that I add pages to my document. Each
application has a different set of keystrokes/mouseclicks to do this, but
the point is, add 3 pages (for a 4 page newsletter) before you take any
other steps. This is also probably a good time to save my document--which
is completely blank--with an appropriate file name; e.g., Oct08Nsltr. My
"document" is now synonymous with "file," even though it contains no
content.

OK. I want my newsletter to have a logo and name on page 1, and I want that
logo and name to be always in the same place on page 1. Therefore, I do NOT
put those items on page 1. I put them on a master page. When I first
create that master page with any graphics and text, it exists independently
of the other 4 pages in my document (which are still blank). Think of that
master page as a 5th page. When I am satisfied with the look of the master
page--and remember, I include only unchanging items (again, with some
exceptions, for the moment ignored) on that master page--I then apply that
master page to page 1.

When I then look at page 1, I see all the items on page 1 that I entered
into the master page. I cannot change those master page items while I am on
page 1 (If I need to make changes to any master page item, I must go back to
the master page to do so).

But I can add more content to page 1, either text or graphics, by adding a
text or graphics frame to page 1 and then filling that frame with
appropriate content. I can do that with any page that has a master page
applied to it. That way, the unchanging content is protected from
inadvertent changes, and will remain precisely positioned for every
subsequent issue.

Note that at this point I have made no mention of a template.

I will try to walk through your process and see if I can explain the
differences between your description and mine.

"Here's my problem. I bring up the template for my first page, and put text
and a photo on it. Then I want to add a second page, but I want it to be a
copy of another template, the one I have set up with header and page number
to be a left-side inside page."

I think you are, at the moment, tangled up in definitions.

Don't think of a template as something you use for a single page--at least
for a multipage newsletter, or any multipage document.

If you start with 4 blank pages (for a 4 page newsletter), then there is no
need (although it is possible) to add pages later. OK. Let's say you have
a master page for the front page (or title page). Lets say also that you
want a "header" on the following pages, but you want the "left side" page
header to look different than the "right side" page header (or they can be
the same).

The way to accomplish this is to create another master page; call it "Body
Text," or 2 new master pages, "Body Text Left" and "Body Text Right." You
place the header and the command that creates page numbers automatically
into that (or those) master page(s). At this point, other than page 1 with
the Title Master page info, all the pages are still blank. Now apply the
Body Text master page(s) to pages 2 to 4. Pages 2 to 4 will have the header
information--and nothing else. And I have still not mentioned the word
template.

At this point, you can save the document--with all 4 pages, mostly
blank--with another name, such as Nsltr_template (Scribus has "Save as
template" option). But before you go any further, close the template--which
is a document containing, at the very least, master pages--and make sure you
are working on Oct08Nsltr.

To add more content to any of the pages (e.g, "text and a photo"), place
text and/or graphics frames where you want them on pages 1 to 4 (not on the
master pages), and then place the appropriate content into those frames.
Remember that at this point all 4 pages have some content in them that came
from a master page, PLUS the additional content you just added.

"The only way I can get a copy of the page I want for my page two is to
bring up the template for it, convert it to a master, then click on page and
apply master. THEN I can choose my page two, but all I have then is a
two-page document that consists of two copies of my page 2."

If you start with 4 pages, create how ever many master pages you want, and
then apply those master pages to blank existing pages, THEN add more
content, I think you will avoid the confusion created by the process you
describe. I repeat: don't think of a template as something you use for a
single page--at least for a multipage newsletter, or any multipage
document. Think of a template as a collection of formatting, text and
graphics for a complete document.

I can offer a few comments on some details, although I am not an experienced
Scribus user. Other contributors to this list may have better suggestions.
When you open Scribus (I am using v.1.3.3.11 for Windows), the New Document
dialog box is displayed. In the Document Layout panel on the left side of
the box, select single page. In the Options section at the upper right of
the box, enter 4 pages. Then click OK.

To create a master page, Click on Edit/Master Pages. The small box that is
displayed has several icons just below the title bar. Click on the first
one, which is "Add a new master page." Give it a name (e.g., Title) and
click OK. At this point, my inexperience shows up. I have not yet learned
to move between master pages and body text pages. Hopefully, one of the
other messages in this thread, together with the tutorial, will provide the
necessary information.

I hope my view of the DTP process helps.

You may find it helpful to see another newsletter that uses master pages
(created with InDesign CS3). If you connect to
http://frpcug.org/k-byte/current.pdf, you will see the 12 page newsletter I
described in an earlier message. The logo at the top left, the name at top
center, the photo at top right, the logo near the bottom left, and a few
other items on page 1 are all on a master page. Most everything else was
added directly to page 1. On subsequent pages, you will see the page
number, publication name and date at the bottom of each page. I used master
pages for those items, with all other content added directly to the page. I
don't claim that this method is the only method to create a newsletter--only
that it works for me. Note, however, that this newsletter is published only
to the web site--that is, no hard copies--so you don't see a page
arrangement suitable for printing (you don't see the imposition required for
printing).

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks, Mike. That's nicely explained in measured tones, and I
appreciate the effort you put into it.
Here's my problem. I bring up the template for my first page, and put
text and a photo on it. Then I want to add a second page, but I want it to
be a copy of another template, the one I have set up with header and page
number to be a left-side inside page.
I click on "page," and "insert." That lets me get a copy of the "normal"
template, which does not contain my formating, or of something called Page
1, which appears identical to the "normal" one.
So I try "Apply Master Page," having previously converted a copy of my
inside left template to a master page. But again, the only options I am
given are for "normal" and "Page 1" pages, which are just blank pages.
I look at the insert menu beside the page menu, and there is no help
there.
The only way I can get a copy of the page I want for my page two is to
bring up the template for it, convert it to a master, then click on page and
apply master. THEN I can choose my page two, but all I have then is a
two-page document that consists of two copies of my page 2.
I know there is an easy answer to this, but we don't seem to be
communicating, and I can't figure it out from the help file. If I have the
first page of a document, how do I add pages of my own choosing to the
document?
There has got to be a reasonable way.
-Joe
Ward
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[Nigel Ridley]

Post by Joe Ward
Hello. I'm Joe Ward, a retired newspaper reporter roped into serving as editor of a community newsletter for about 4,000 households. I've been putting this out by getting stories and ads together and sending them to a friendly neighborhood printer who has done most of the layout for me. Then she moved out of the neighborhood and on to better things.
I hope not to be editor of the newsletter forever. So I'm trying to get a system for putting it together established, so that each succeeding editor won't have to reinvent the wheel. Future editors will be students and retirees and similar folks, so Scribus seemed to me a good way to go.
So I'm learning Scribus, and Inkscape, and Gimp, and having a great time. I started too late, of course, and will soon face the deadline for my first issue of this new era. I have a printer willing to work with me, and I've been reading through the Scribus manual and trying different things.
I made myself a template for the front page with the masthead as I want it, guidelines set up to show me where to put text and picture frames and other elements that will go on the front page of every issue, and the margins I want set in place. I've made similar templates for the back page, which will have the mailing lable and bulk mail information, and for left and right inside pages. I made the front page a right page, and the back page a left page.
I'm reading more in the manual now, but I'm asking these questions just in case I don't find the answers in time.
How do I put these pages togehter? If I have Page 1 set up, for example, how do I add a second, a third, etc., up to the last page? I've tried making master pages without success -- it seems that each one I make wipes out the one I made before -- and it has occurred to me I wouldn't know how to use those, either.
Second, how can I paginate the newsletter so that it's ready for the printer? That is to say, so that the front and back pages are on the right and left sides of a sheet, and the second and second-from-last pages are on the other side. Then the third and third-from last on a sheet, fourth and fourth-from-last, and so fourth. The newsletter is to have 8.5 by 11-inch pages, and my plan is to output to .pdf for the printer.
I'm working in Windows Xp.
Thanks for any help. I'm sorry to ask so much in one email.
-Joe
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_______________________________________________
scribus mailing list
scribus at lists.scribus.info
http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus

Hi Joe,

Have you seen the updated tutorial:

"Murray Strome and I have put the finishing touches to the new tutorial.
It is based on the 'Get Started With Scribus' by Niyam Bhushan and subsequent 2006 version on the
Scribus wiki.

I have uploaded a zip file for those that would like to download it - the zip file contains 2
OpenOffice files - one 'A4', the other 'Letter'. It also contains a PDF of the .sla; the .sla
itself and folders containing all the graphics used in the actual tutorial and in the making of
the tutorial; and the text.

Murray Strome and I hereby offer our humble project to the Scribus team (and others) to do with
it as they deem fit. Our hope is that it will be of use to those that want to get up to speed
with the basics (and more) of Scribus.

It is available (12.5 MB) from:
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip

Blessings,

Murray and Hananel (AKA Nigel)"

It walks you through an eight page booklet with all sorts of elements within Scribus so that you
get up to speed quite quickly.

As for imposition - there are informative articles on the Scribus wiki.

Blessings,

Nigel

--

[dwain]

Post by Nigel Ridley
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip

i get a 404 error.
dwain

[Nigel Ridley]

Post by dwain

Post by Nigel Ridley
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip

i get a 404 error.
dwain

Sorry about that. There were some problems a while back and I had to fix things quickly before I
went on a weeks vacation (actually helping at a summer camp - so it wasn't really a vacation at
all). Anyway after my 'vacation' I was tired and had loads of things to catch up on and forgot
that I had redone things in the Scribus download area.

So now you can all use this link (which does work - I just checked it):
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008/
and choose which files you want/need (listed below).

# Getting_Started_A4.odt
# Getting_Started_Letter.odt
# Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip
# README.txt
# md5sums.txt

Blessings,

Nigel

--

[dwain]

Post by Nigel Ridley
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008/
and choose which files you want/need (listed below).
# Getting_Started_A4.odt
# Getting_Started_Letter.odt
# Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip
# README.txt
# md5sums.txt

nigel,
thanks. that did the trick.
cheers,
dwain

[Nigel Ridley]

Post by dwain

Post by Nigel Ridley
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip

i get a 404 error.
dwain

Sorry about that. There were some problems a while back and I had to fix things quickly before I
went on a weeks vacation (actually helping at a summer camp - so it wasn't really a vacation at
all). Anyway after my 'vacation' I was tired and had loads of things to catch up on and forgot
that I had redone things in the Scribus download area.

So now you can all use this link (which does work - I just checked it):
http://www.oliveroot.net/Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008/
and choose which files you want/need (listed below).

# Getting_Started_A4.odt
# Getting_Started_Letter.odt
# Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip
# README.txt
# md5sums.txt

Blessings,

Nigel

--

[Joe Ward]

Thank you, Nigel. That sounds very useful. But when I went to the URL, I got
this message:

404 Not Found
The requested URL /Scribus/Getting_Started_With_Scribus_2008.zip does not
exist or has been moved.

The OliveRoot Ministries website has been completely redesigned.
Click here to go to the home page where you can navigate to the page you are
looking for.



I hope it does still exist somewhere.

-Joe

[Joe Ward]

Never mind. I used part of the URL and got to it. Thank you. I'm unzipping
it for a look. -Joe

[Peter Nermander]

Post by Joe Ward
I have my four templates. I call one up, using "new from a template"
under the file menu.

A template is a template document. You would get the same function if you
saved a scribus document and then made a new copy of it.

Post by Joe Ward
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page," give it
a
name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go to Master

Let me first ask you why do you want to convert the page to a Master Page?
Master Pages are like a page background. Appying a Master Page to a page
is like changing the background for that page.

If you want pages with frames etc to use as templates for new pages,
Scribus does not currently support that in a good way. The best way is
probably to make a document with template pages and then import a page
from that document when you want to use a specific template.

Also note that the Master Page is save in the document. If you open or
start a new document, it will have it's own Master Pages.

/Peter

[Joe Ward]

Thanks for all the kind answers to my fumbling attempts to use the features
of Scribus. I'm sorry I've been slow to respond. I live in Louisville KY,
where the north edge of Hurricane Ike came through last Sunday and put about
300,000 of us out of power for a few days. It also dumped some big limbs in
our yards, for us to clean up. Got me off task there for a few days.

I think I'm as confused as ever. Please see responses below to suggestions
made.

From: "Peter Nermander" <peter at nermander.se>

Post by Peter Nermander
A template is a template document. You would get the same function if you
saved a scribus document and then made a new copy of it.

So why does anybody make templates? What are they for?

Post by Peter Nermander

Post by Joe Ward
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page," give it
a
name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go to Master

Let me first ask you why do you want to convert the page to a Master Page?
Master Pages are like a page background. Appying a Master Page to a page
is like changing the background for that page.

I thought I needed to make master pages in order to put the document
together so it would automatically number the pages in a correct sequence. I
was hoping master pages would help me with imposition. So I'm left with the
question: How do I set up pages so that the front page of my newsletter will
be on the right side of a double page, and the last page will be on the left
side -- with page 2 and the second-from-last page on the other side of the
same sheet?

Post by Peter Nermander
If you want pages with frames etc to use as templates for new pages,
Scribus does not currently support that in a good way. The best way is
probably to make a document with template pages and then import a page
from that document when you want to use a specific template.
Also note that the Master Page is save in the document. If you open or
start a new document, it will have it's own Master Pages.

This sounds like useful information, but I don't know what it means.
What ARE master pages, and how do they work?

Thanks again. I'm sorry to be/seem obtuse.


-Joe

[Jan Schrewe]

Hi,

Post by Joe Ward

Post by Peter Nermander

Post by Joe Ward
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page," give it
a
name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go to Master

Let me first ask you why do you want to convert the page to a Master
Page? Master Pages are like a page background. Appying a Master Page to a
page is like changing the background for that page.

I thought I needed to make master pages in order to put the document
together so it would automatically number the pages in a correct sequence.
I was hoping master pages would help me with imposition. So I'm left with
the question: How do I set up pages so that the front page of my newsletter
will be on the right side of a double page, and the last page will be on
the left side -- with page 2 and the second-from-last page on the other
side of the same sheet?

The easiest and fastest way is to use the Acrobat Reader. That's how I usually
do it fpr newsletters that get printed. Just set the pagesize in Scribus to
half the size you want to print in (here in Europe that is usually A5) and
include the margin for Areas that the printer can't print on.

Design your stuff and export a PDF. Then open it in Acrobat Reader (has to be
8 I think) and set it to brochure printing. Then print that to a file and
convert the resulting Postscript-FIle to PDF and your are done. There might
be simpler ways, but I found that Acrobat is the best software when it comes
to getting the colors right.

Post by Joe Ward

Post by Peter Nermander
If you want pages with frames etc to use as templates for new pages,
Scribus does not currently support that in a good way. The best way is
probably to make a document with template pages and then import a page
from that document when you want to use a specific template.
Also note that the Master Page is save in the document. If you open or
start a new document, it will have it's own Master Pages.

This sounds like useful information, but I don't know what it means.
What ARE master pages, and how do they work?

It worls like an Image that gets placed in the background of your document.
There is a little automatic stuff, like pagenumbering, but mainly thnk of it
as an image.

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks again. I'm sorry to be/seem obtuse.
-Joe

Jan

Post by Joe Ward
_______________________________________________
scribus mailing list
scribus at lists.scribus.info
http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus

[Joe Ward]

Thanks to several of you, I did get my first newsletter out using
Scribus, my printer is happy with it, and apparently it will reach
neighborhood mailboxes as advertised. Thank you all very much.

Jan, only after I had sent the issue off to the printer did I feel I
had time to experiment with your suggestion about using Acrobat Reader. I
found that if I exported the pages from Scribus to PDF in the order they
need to be in the newsletter, and then opened the PDF in Acrobat Reader, and
clicked on "page display" and "2up" or "2up continuous," the reader would
display all the correct pages side by side just as I had hoped.
Trouble is, I couldn't figure out what to do with it then. If I tried to
save it or print it to file, it would revert to the single page
configuration. How does one set reader to brochure printing?


-Joe Ward

[Alex Mandel]

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks to several of you, I did get my first newsletter out using
Scribus, my printer is happy with it, and apparently it will reach
neighborhood mailboxes as advertised. Thank you all very much.
Jan, only after I had sent the issue off to the printer did I feel I
had time to experiment with your suggestion about using Acrobat Reader.
I found that if I exported the pages from Scribus to PDF in the order
they need to be in the newsletter, and then opened the PDF in Acrobat
Reader, and clicked on "page display" and "2up" or "2up continuous," the
reader would display all the correct pages side by side just as I had
hoped.
Trouble is, I couldn't figure out what to do with it then. If I tried
to save it or print it to file, it would revert to the single page
configuration. How does one set reader to brochure printing?
-Joe Ward

That gets specified in the print settings, when you go to print you'll
have a little preview window and some drop downs to choose multi-page 2up.

Alex

[Gregory Pittman]

Post by Alex Mandel

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks to several of you, I did get my first newsletter out using
Scribus, my printer is happy with it, and apparently it will reach
neighborhood mailboxes as advertised. Thank you all very much.
Jan, only after I had sent the issue off to the printer did I feel I
had time to experiment with your suggestion about using Acrobat Reader.
I found that if I exported the pages from Scribus to PDF in the order
they need to be in the newsletter, and then opened the PDF in Acrobat
Reader, and clicked on "page display" and "2up" or "2up continuous," the
reader would display all the correct pages side by side just as I had
hoped.
Trouble is, I couldn't figure out what to do with it then. If I tried
to save it or print it to file, it would revert to the single page
configuration. How does one set reader to brochure printing?
-Joe Ward

That gets specified in the print settings, when you go to print you'll
have a little preview window and some drop downs to choose multi-page 2up.

you have another layer of trickiness in figuring out what will print on
the front and back of each sheet of paper and keeping that straight, but
it's certainly doable.

Greg

[Jan Schrewe]

Post by Gregory Pittman

Post by Alex Mandel

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks to several of you, I did get my first newsletter out using
Scribus, my printer is happy with it, and apparently it will reach
neighborhood mailboxes as advertised. Thank you all very much.
Jan, only after I had sent the issue off to the printer did I feel I
had time to experiment with your suggestion about using Acrobat Reader.
I found that if I exported the pages from Scribus to PDF in the order
they need to be in the newsletter, and then opened the PDF in Acrobat
Reader, and clicked on "page display" and "2up" or "2up continuous," the
reader would display all the correct pages side by side just as I had
hoped.
Trouble is, I couldn't figure out what to do with it then. If I tried
to save it or print it to file, it would revert to the single page
configuration. How does one set reader to brochure printing?
-Joe Ward

That gets specified in the print settings, when you go to print you'll
have a little preview window and some drop downs to choose multi-page 2up.

you have another layer of trickiness in figuring out what will print on
the front and back of each sheet of paper and keeping that straight, but
it's certainly doable.
Greg

Nope. You can do your layout in Scribus using single pages and in the order
1,2,3,... and receive booklet for printing.

My experience is that this way is much simpler and faster then using other
imposition utilitys under linux or do it by hand in scribus.

That's the way I usually make newsletters for print with scribus. Most work
for me ist to get a valid PDF-X3 document using ghostscript from the
resulting PS file.

Jan

[Joe Ward]

Post by Jan Schrewe
Nope. You can do your layout in Scribus using single pages and in the order
1,2,3,... and receive booklet for printing.
My experience is that this way is much simpler and faster then using other
imposition utilitys under linux or do it by hand in scribus.
That's the way I usually make newsletters for print with scribus. Most work
for me ist to get a valid PDF-X3 document using ghostscript from the
resulting PS file.
Jan

Would you mind giving me step-by-step instructions for doing that? Say
I've made up all of the pages and saved them to PDF in the order 1,2,3, etc.
What are the steps between there and printing?
Thanks in advance.
-Joe

[Jan Schrewe]

Post by Joe Ward

Post by Jan Schrewe
Nope. You can do your layout in Scribus using single pages and in the order
1,2,3,... and receive booklet for printing.
My experience is that this way is much simpler and faster then using
other imposition utilitys under linux or do it by hand in scribus.
That's the way I usually make newsletters for print with scribus. Most work
for me ist to get a valid PDF-X3 document using ghostscript from the
resulting PS file.
Jan

Would you mind giving me step-by-step instructions for doing that? Say
I've made up all of the pages and saved them to PDF in the order 1,2,3,
etc. What are the steps between there and printing?
Thanks in advance.
-Joe

Hej,

Sorry for taking so long but I was quite busy in the last days.

Okay, first create your document setting the page size to half the size you
want to print in. If you want to print in A4 (I don't know what is used in
the US) set the pagesize to A5. Set the "documentlayout" to "double page".

Create your document. Export it as PDF/X3.

Open the created document in the AcrobatReader. Tell Acrobat to print it.
In the print pane tell Acrobat to use "Booklet Printing" as "Page Scaling" and
print to a file. A screenshot of my settings is here:
Loading Image...

This will give you a postscript file that has the page ordering you want. I
have written a small script that does the conversion from postscript to PDF.
Although it is for linux I'm sure it can be adopted for Windows. You can get
it here: http://intern.die-buehne.net/scribus/pstopdf-x3.sh

Add some commandline parameters and you will have a nice PDF that has the
correct color correction embedded. Although I have not validated this, I use
this on a regular basis.

Hope this helps,

Jan

[Joe Ward]

Thanks very much. I will give this a try. I got the first newsletter out
imposing by hand, but I'll be doing many more, so I'll try to evolve. -Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jan Schrewe" <jschrewe at googlemail.com>

Post by Jan Schrewe
Hej,
Sorry for taking so long but I was quite busy in the last days.
Okay, first create your document setting the page size to half the size you
want to print in. If you want to print in A4 (I don't know what is used in
the US) set the pagesize to A5. Set the "documentlayout" to "double page".
Create your document. Export it as PDF/X3.
Open the created document in the AcrobatReader. Tell Acrobat to print it.
In the print pane tell Acrobat to use "Booklet Printing" as "Page Scaling" and
http://intern.die-buehne.net/scribus/acro.png
This will give you a postscript file that has the page ordering you want. I
have written a small script that does the conversion from postscript to PDF.
Although it is for linux I'm sure it can be adopted for Windows. You can get
it here: http://intern.die-buehne.net/scribus/pstopdf-x3.sh
Add some commandline parameters and you will have a nice PDF that has the
correct color correction embedded. Although I have not validated this, I use
this on a regular basis.
Hope this helps,
Jan
_______________________________________________
scribus mailing list
scribus at lists.scribus.info
http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus

[John Culleton]

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks to several of you, I did get my first newsletter out
using Scribus, my printer is happy with it, and apparently it will
reach neighborhood mailboxes as advertised. Thank you all very
much.
Jan, only after I had sent the issue off to the printer did I
feel I had time to experiment with your suggestion about using
Acrobat Reader. I found that if I exported the pages from Scribus
to PDF in the order they need to be in the newsletter, and then
opened the PDF in Acrobat Reader, and clicked on "page display" and
"2up" or "2up continuous," the reader would display all the correct
pages side by side just as I had hoped. Trouble is, I couldn't
figure out what to do with it then. If I tried to save it or print
it to file, it would revert to the single page configuration. How
does one set reader to brochure printing?
-Joe Ward
_______________________________________________
scribus mailing list
scribus at lists.scribus.info
http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus

I would save the file from Scribus in postscript format, then use the
psutil tools to set up pagination for booklet printing. Then convert
to pdf.

Here is my (linux) routine for making booklets for church. For each
$1 you can substitute the root name of your file. Linux does this
automatically. My home printer takes ps files. But ps2pdf is a simple
extra step:


psbook $1.ps $1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter $1b.ps $1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o $1p.ps $1o.ps
psselect -e -r $1p.ps $1e.ps
lpr $1o.ps
echo 'switch paper'
read x
lpr $1e.ps
rm $1p.ps $1e.ps $1o.ps $1b.ps

[Joe Ward]

Post by John Culleton
I would save the file from Scribus in postscript format, then use the
psutil tools to set up pagination for booklet printing. Then convert
to pdf.
Here is my (linux) routine for making booklets for church. For each
$1 you can substitute the root name of your file. Linux does this
automatically. My home printer takes ps files. But ps2pdf is a simple
psbook $1.ps $1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter $1b.ps $1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o $1p.ps $1o.ps
psselect -e -r $1p.ps $1e.ps
lpr $1o.ps
echo 'switch paper'
read x
lpr $1e.ps
rm $1p.ps $1e.ps $1o.ps $1b.ps
John Culleton

That sounds very interesting. I assume you run the script from the Script
tool in Scribus. How do you save it into a file to run it? Do you just save
it in something like notepad and give it a particular suffix?
-Joe

[John Culleton]

Post by Joe Ward

Post by John Culleton
I would save the file from Scribus in postscript format, then use
the psutil tools to set up pagination for booklet printing. Then
convert to pdf.
Here is my (linux) routine for making booklets for church. For
each $1 you can substitute the root name of your file. Linux
does this automatically. My home printer takes ps files. But
psbook $1.ps $1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter $1b.ps $1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o $1p.ps $1o.ps
psselect -e -r $1p.ps $1e.ps
lpr $1o.ps
echo 'switch paper'
read x
lpr $1e.ps
rm $1p.ps $1e.ps $1o.ps $1b.ps
John Culleton

That sounds very interesting. I assume you run the script from the
Script tool in Scribus. How do you save it into a file to run it?
Do you just save it in something like notepad and give it a
particular suffix? -Joe

I use the Vim editor for scripts, which is a very powerful editor that
works on plain text files like Notepad does. I run the script
separately against a PostScript file from any source, such as Scribus
or TeX.

Remember this is a Linux script , and Linux careth not about suffixes.
I saved it as a file called script1a. Then I did this command to make
it executable:
chmod 777 script1a
I call it with the name of the PostScript file but without the suffix.
For file named foo.ps I type

script1a foo

The word foo will substitute for every occurrence of $1 in the script.
I don?t know if MSDOS bat files can have a similar substitution
facility.

AFAIK MSWindows at the command line still has the facilities and
limitations of early MSDOS for the most part. MSDOS in turn had a
very restricted interface loosely based on early Unix.

Linux however has the full facilities of the Unix interface, and many
of the later Unix utilities from Berkeley Source Distribution (BSD)
etc. were just transferred over and recompiled. From the graphic
windowed interface Linux and MSWindows have roughly comparable
capabilities, with Linux copying the Windows way of doing things, but
from the command line Linux has many more facilities. The Linux
command line has evolved, the MSDOS command line has not.

The *nix way of doing things tends to break tasks down into individual
components, and use a special purpose program for each.

These differences in capabilities leads to different work habits.
Windows users work from the gui and seldom or never use the command
line whereas Linux users have command line windows open all over the
place, and will often use a command line to call graphical programs
like Scribus. Scripting is also far more powerful in Linux than in
MSDOS, constituting a kind of programming language.

My script is best used as just an example of how the individual
command line programs can be sequenced and the parameters available
to each.

[Joe Ward]

Thanks. With any luck, you all will keep me out of trouble. -Joe

From: "John Culleton" <john at wexfordpress.com>
My script is best used as just an example of how the individual
command line programs can be sequenced and the parameters available
to each.

[John Beardmore]

Post by John Culleton
AFAIK MSWindows at the command line still has the facilities and
limitations of early MSDOS for the most part. MSDOS in turn had a
very restricted interface loosely based on early Unix.

Or VMS or CP/M...

Post by John Culleton
Linux however has the full facilities of the Unix interface, and many
of the later Unix utilities from Berkeley Source Distribution (BSD)
etc. were just transferred over and recompiled. From the graphic
windowed interface Linux and MSWindows have roughly comparable
capabilities, with Linux copying the Windows way of doing things, but
from the command line Linux has many more facilities. The Linux
command line has evolved, the MSDOS command line has not.

Not entirely true, but it is still a backwater. You can now write things
like

FOR %%f IN (*.wav) DO lame --abr 256 -h "%%~nf.wav" "%%~nf.mp3"

though (which I don't recall in DOS 2.0), for 'convert all the wav files
into mp3 files using lame', but it's even more cryptic than #!/bin/bash.

But the windows command line is still improving. The tab file name
auto-complete is new in XP and saves a lot of time.

Post by John Culleton
The *nix way of doing things tends to break tasks down into individual
components, and use a special purpose program for each.
These differences in capabilities leads to different work habits.
Windows users work from the gui and seldom or never use the command
line

Those we disparage don't, but this sort of thing is a dangerous
generalisation.

Post by John Culleton
whereas Linux users have command line windows open all over the
place, and will often use a command line to call graphical programs
like Scribus. Scripting is also far more powerful in Linux than in
MSDOS, constituting a kind of programming language.

Having written batch files to collect data for the UK national pop
charts as .BAT files using the native syntax and hand crafted command
line utilities I would suggest that it's more programmable than you
might assume.


Cheers, J/.

[Frank Swygert]

Joe, I'm not using Scribus yet, but I think I can help with Master Pages.
The elements on a MP can only be those that will be used for the entire publication, not just a few pages. For example, I put the magazine title and page number on the bottom of every page, so my DTP program (I'm using PageMaker 6) will automatically put that on every page. If I don't want the front and back covers to be counted as pages, I have to make a separate file for the covers.

What I do is create the first magazine from scratch with the average number of pages. I create the masthead and things that won't be changing, and create master pages (PM has a left and right MP... haven't had time to play with Scribus enough to know if it does that -- if not try putting the page number centered in the page instead of near the edge). I then save it with the edition number in the title (such as AMC8.pm6). I will then fill out that magazine and of course print it. When I start working on the next issue, I open the last one first. Then I change the edition info, delete anything that won't be repeated (I usually leave headlines and photo captions in place so I can simply move and edit them, keeps the text properties that way!), and save it with the next edition name. Then I work on that one and repeat. This lets me do a quick review of the last issue as well as serves as a template. Just remember to save the last issue as a new file before you do much! I have hit the "save" button before changing the file, but only 2-3 times over the last 10 years of publishing. Since I save as a PDF file as well as a PM native file, losing the native file just means I can't easily edit or change anything -- not a big loss since the issue has already been published and shouldn't be changed anyway.

-------------
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:07:53 -0400
From: "Joe Ward" <bluegrass_joe at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [scribus] Using Scribus for a newsletter

I still have this problem with master pages, even going through the new
tutorial (having spent some hours with the earlier version) and reading what
else I can find.

[Joe Ward]

Thanks, Frank. This is the way I was thinking of proceeding. But I don't
understand how I link the pages together to make one publication. I do have
the four possible page types saved as templates and as regular pages. The
front page, the back page (which has mailing formation on it), and an inside
left, and an inside right. each has appropriate guides for the content it
will have, and the newsletter name and a place for the issue information
across the top. At the moment, I'm just putting content on the pages, and
saving each page as a file. This will work. It will be easy to number the
pages. A lot of the content is ads that won't change from issue to issue, so
my plan is to save each issue as a template, and they open it for the new
newsletter and change those few ads that need changing, or move them around
to create better text space.

Incidentally, your magazine looks good. My dad used to drive Hudsons
when I was a kid. He had a 49, a 51, and a 52. Later, he had a little red
Rambler American. When I was in the Air Force in the '60s, I bought a 1955
Hudson Hornet Hollywood in San Antonio. It had translucent green visors, so
it looked like it had on sun glasses. Later I owned a '70 Hornet. That
experience was different.
-Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Swygert" <farna at att.net>
To: <scribus at lists.scribus.info>
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 11:01 AM
Subject: Re: [scribus] Using Scribus for a newsletter

Post by Frank Swygert
Joe, I'm not using Scribus yet, but I think I can help with Master Pages.
The elements on a MP can only be those that will be used for the entire
publication, not just a few pages. For example, I put the magazine title
and page number on the bottom of every page, so my DTP program (I'm using
PageMaker 6) will automatically put that on every page. If I don't want
the front and back covers to be counted as pages, I have to make a
separate file for the covers.
What I do is create the first magazine from scratch with the average
number of pages. I create the masthead and things that won't be changing,
and create master pages (PM has a left and right MP... haven't had time to
play with Scribus enough to know if it does that -- if not try putting the
page number centered in the page instead of near the edge). I then save it
with the edition number in the title (such as AMC8.pm6). I will then fill
out that magazine and of course print it. When I start working on the next
issue, I open the last one first. Then I change the edition info, delete
anything that won't be repeated (I usually leave headlines and photo
captions in place so I can simply move and edit them, keeps the text
properties that way!), and save it with the next edition name. Then I work
on that one and repeat. This lets me do a quick review of the last issue
as well as serves as a template. Just remember to save the last issue as a
new file before you do much! I have hit the "save" button before changing
the file, but only 2-3 times over the last 10 years of publishing. Since I
save as a PDF file as well as a PM native file, losing the native file
just means I can't easily edit or change anything -- not a big loss since
the issue has already been published and shouldn't be changed anyway.
-------------
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:07:53 -0400
From: "Joe Ward" <bluegrass_joe at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [scribus] Using Scribus for a newsletter
I still have this problem with master pages, even going through the new
tutorial (having spent some hours with the earlier version) and reading
what else I can find.
--
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)
_______________________________________________
scribus mailing list
scribus at lists.scribus.info
http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus

[Jan Schrewe]

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks, Frank. This is the way I was thinking of proceeding. But I
don't understand how I link the pages together to make one publication. I
do have the four possible page types saved as templates and as regular
pages. The front page, the back page (which has mailing formation on it),
and an inside left, and an inside right. each has appropriate guides for
the content it will have, and the newsletter name and a place for the issue
information across the top. At the moment, I'm just putting content on the
pages, and saving each page as a file. This will work. It will be easy to
number the pages. A lot of the content is ads that won't change from issue
to issue, so my plan is to save each issue as a template, and they open it
for the new newsletter and change those few ads that need changing, or move
them around to create better text space.

Don't save each page as a seperate file. You will get serious problems if you
try to make the final publication.

If your document is not too long (10 Pages should be okay) just create one
document and insert all the pages you need. For ads that are always there you
can use a masterpage. In scribus you can choose for each page which
masterpage gets applied to it. Layout the rest as needed by inserting frames
for text and images.

Jan

[&quot;Christoph Schäfer&quot;]

Hi Joe,

Post by Joe Ward
I have my four templates. I call one up, using "new from a template"
under the file menu.

This step isn't necessary, as templates are used for complete documents, not single pages. Just use "Edit > Master Pages" "Page > Convert to Master Page" to create a master page.

Post by Joe Ward
Then I go to the Page menu, and click on "convert to master page," give it
a name, and click okay. Then I click on the edit menu and go to Master
Pages, and, sure enough, there it is, right in there with Normal. So I get
the next template, click on convert to master page, give it a name and
click okay. When I go to edit/master pages, I find the new master page in
place, but the previous one is gone.

It's not gone. As said above, when you create a template, this will be used as a template for a whole document, so each time you use "File > New from Template" you create a new document. This new document doesn't know anything about the master page(s) you created in another document.

Post by Joe Ward
Why is this happening? Is "convert to master page" not a legitimate
way to make a master page?

It is, but obviously you have been confused by the word "template".

template = document

master page = page (background)

Since this isn't the first time someone confused templates and master pages, I suggest we add an article to the wiki.

HTH

Christoph

[Asif Lodhi]

Hi,

Post by &quot;Christoph Schäfer&quot;
Since this isn't the first time someone confused templates and master pages,
I suggest we add an article to the wiki.

Thank you Christoph, Greg and Peter. This is the first time I have
really understood templates and master pages without reading any
documentation - just browsing through and reading this thread. I've
marked this thread conversation with a star in my Gmail.

-
Thanks & regards,

Asif

[Frank Swygert]

I think you're still having an issue with "master pages" and "templates". As Jan stated -- don't save each page, but one document with all the pages you need. My little magazine (more of a "fanzine" or fancy newsletter) is 24-26 pages.

Don't create a template. Create your newsletter instead, then use the last issue as a template for the next. Or delete the text (except the ads and other elements that will remain the same) then save that as a template. This is what works best/easiest for me, but by all means find what works for you and do that! Forget about the terminology though and how you think things "should" be done. Once you start using Scribus you'll learn your way around and may change the way you do things as you learn -- nothing's set in type. ;>

Ads don't change much, but they do on occasion. I always use the last issue as the next issue's template. Just remember to save the "last" as the "next" before making changes or you could overwrite the "last" one. When you do this it's easy to select and cut and ad, then paste it on another page, or move it about a page -- whatever is necessary.

Don't get caught up in the terminology! I've never found a real use for "templates" as the above works much better. I have on rare occasion used a "ready made" template for some project, but for the most part I ignore that "feature". The only good thing about a template is that it can be locked so that items can't be changed. Once you open a template as a document, things can be changed, and then you save as a document, leaving the original template unchanged. This keeps you from overwriting your template, but that's all.

Remember, a "master page" only has items that will be on every single page of the document. A "template" is a skeleton of the entire document, so you need to make it all first. Then open a new document using the template. The master page you created for the template is saved with the template.




Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:59:25 +0200
From: Jan Schrewe <jschrewe at googlemail.com>
Subject: Re: [scribus] Using Scribus for a newsletter

Post by Joe Ward
Thanks, Frank. This is the way I was thinking of proceeding. But I
don't understand how I link the pages together to make one publication. I
do have the four possible page types saved as templates and as regular
pages. The front page, the back page (which has mailing formation on it),
and an inside left, and an inside right. each has appropriate guides for
the content it will have, and the newsletter name and a place for the issue
information across the top. At the moment, I'm just putting content on the
pages, and saving each page as a file. This will work. It will be easy to
number the pages. A lot of the content is ads that won't change from issue
to issue, so my plan is to save each issue as a template, and they open it
for the new newsletter and change those few ads that need changing, or move
them around to create better text space.

Don't save each page as a seperate file. You will get serious problems if you
try to make the final publication.

If your document is not too long (10 Pages should be okay) just create one
document and insert all the pages you need. For ads that are always there you
can use a masterpage. In scribus you can choose for each page which
masterpage gets applied to it. Layout the rest as needed by inserting frames
for text and images.

Jan

[Gregory Pittman]

Post by Frank Swygert
I think you're still having an issue with "master pages" and
"templates". As Jan stated -- don't save each page, but one document
with all the pages you need. My little magazine (more of a "fanzine"
or fancy newsletter) is 24-26 pages.
Don't create a template. Create your newsletter instead, then use the
last issue as a template for the next. Or delete the text (except the
ads and other elements that will remain the same) then save that as a
template. This is what works best/easiest for me, but by all means
find what works for you and do that! Forget about the terminology
though and how you think things "should" be done. Once you start using
Scribus you'll learn your way around and may change the way you do
things as you learn -- nothing's set in type. ;>
Ads don't change much, but they do on occasion. I always use the last
issue as the next issue's template. Just remember to save the "last"
as the "next" before making changes or you could overwrite the "last"
one. When you do this it's easy to select and cut and ad, then paste
it on another page, or move it about a page -- whatever is necessary.
Don't get caught up in the terminology! I've never found a real use
for "templates" as the above works much better. I have on rare
occasion used a "ready made" template for some project, but for the
most part I ignore that "feature". The only good thing about a
template is that it can be locked so that items can't be changed. Once
you open a template as a document, things can be changed, and then you
save as a document, leaving the original template unchanged. This
keeps you from overwriting your template, but that's all.
Remember, a "master page" only has items that will be on every single
page of the document. A "template" is a skeleton of the entire
document, so you need to make it all first. Then open a new document
using the template. The master page you created for the template is
saved with the template.

Frank is spot on here, Joe.
You can easily totally forget about templates and Master Pages, and just
create your first newsletter. If later you want to create a template
from your newsletter, or create one or more Master Pages from your
newsletter, fine, but it seems you need to know much more about how to
use all the other elements of Scribus than worry about templates and
master pages.

Greg

[Joe Ward]

Post by Gregory Pittman
Frank is spot on here, Joe.
You can easily totally forget about templates and Master Pages, and just
create your first newsletter. If later you want to create a template from
your newsletter, or create one or more Master Pages from your newsletter,
fine, but it seems you need to know much more about how to use all the
other elements of Scribus than worry about templates and master pages.
Greg

Louis, Peter, Jan, Greg, Frank and Mike,

It's really heartening to have help from patient people. I am
slowly finding that I can put this thing together. My problem has not been
conceptual, but little things. I wasn't able to import pages, for example,
because I wasn't inserting a page number in the page import dialog box. Now
I'm able to add pages to my newsletter document at will, AND to use the
templates I'd previously made to take advantage of their formatting for
inside pages. I still haven't figured out how to make more than one master
page, but I'm confident that I will, and that by then I'll understand why I
want to.
Anyway, I think I'm on my way with this copy of the newsletter,
and will learn enough to be at least dangerous as I put it together.
I've looked at the impostion software you have put me onto, and
am mystified by it, as well. It appears to require command line
instructions, which I'm going to have to figure out. I've been messing with
computers for 25 years or so, and I once wrote a basic program to fill out
my expense reimbursement form at work on my old CPM Osborne I.
I think I'm going to want to use multivalent.
Thanks. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again.


-Joe

[Peter Nermander]

Post by Joe Ward

Post by John Culleton
psbook $1.ps $1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter $1b.ps $1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o $1p.ps $1o.ps
psselect -e -r $1p.ps $1e.ps
lpr $1o.ps
echo 'switch paper'
read x
lpr $1e.ps
rm $1p.ps $1e.ps $1o.ps $1b.ps

That sounds very interesting. I assume you run the script from the Script
tool in Scribus. How do you save it into a file to run it? Do you just
save
it in something like notepad and give it a particular suffix?

The above is a linux shell script, running it under MS Windows won't work.
You will have to create a corresponding BAT-file. Something like:

psbook %1.ps %1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter %1b.ps %1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o %1p.ps %1o.ps
psselect -e -r %1p.ps %1e.ps
copy %1o.ps LPT:
echo 'switch paper'
pause
copy %1e.ps LPT:
del %1p.ps %1e.ps %1o.ps %1b.ps

(I'm not sure all that works, I just "translated" the parts I know are
wrong, but more things might need to be changed.)


Under Windows I prefer to use Multivalent, it works directly on PDF.

I have BAT files like the following:

@echo off
set javarun="c:\program files\java\jre1.5.0_02\bin\java.exe"
set multivalent="c:\path to\multivalent.jar"

%javarun% -cp %multivalent% tool.pdf.Impose -dim 2x1 -layout 2,3,4,1
-paper "297x210 mm" -verbose %*

(Not sure what this one does, you will have to read the documentation for
Multivalent to know what options to use for your task. I think it will
make 4-page signatures (not a saddle stiched booklet))

Genereally for things like this you should never ever just copy someones
script straight off, you must understand what each step does or else you
might damage your system (by deleting important files by mistake).

/Peter

[Joe Ward]

Thanks, Peter. That's all good to know. I'm sorting more of this out as I
go along. I did manage to get the newsletter imposed using Acrobat Reader,
and that will work for now. But I do want to know more about how this all
works. -Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Nermander" <peter at nermander.se>
To: <scribus at lists.scribus.info>
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 12:49 AM
Subject: Re: [scribus] Using Scribus for a newsletter

Post by Peter Nermander

Post by Joe Ward

Post by John Culleton
psbook $1.ps $1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter $1b.ps $1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o $1p.ps $1o.ps
psselect -e -r $1p.ps $1e.ps
lpr $1o.ps
echo 'switch paper'
read x
lpr $1e.ps
rm $1p.ps $1e.ps $1o.ps $1b.ps

That sounds very interesting. I assume you run the script from the Script
tool in Scribus. How do you save it into a file to run it? Do you just
save
it in something like notepad and give it a particular suffix?

The above is a linux shell script, running it under MS Windows won't work.
psbook %1.ps %1b.ps
echo 'psnup'
psnup -2 -ptabloid -Pletter %1b.ps %1p.ps
echo 'psselect'
psselect -o %1p.ps %1o.ps
psselect -e -r %1p.ps %1e.ps
echo 'switch paper'
pause
del %1p.ps %1e.ps %1o.ps %1b.ps
(I'm not sure all that works, I just "translated" the parts I know are
wrong, but more things might need to be changed.)
Under Windows I prefer to use Multivalent, it works directly on PDF.
@echo off
set javarun="c:\program files\java\jre1.5.0_02\bin\java.exe"
set multivalent="c:\path to\multivalent.jar"
%javarun% -cp %multivalent% tool.pdf.Impose -dim 2x1 -layout 2,3,4,1
-paper "297x210 mm" -verbose %*
(Not sure what this one does, you will have to read the documentation for
Multivalent to know what options to use for your task. I think it will
make 4-page signatures (not a saddle stiched booklet))
Genereally for things like this you should never ever just copy someones
script straight off, you must understand what each step does or else you
might damage your system (by deleting important files by mistake).
/Peter
_______________________________________________
scribus mailing list
scribus at lists.scribus.info
http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus