[Scribus] Some queries

[Kevin Donnelly]

I've translated Scribus into Welsh, and as part of that I have also translated 
and updated the tutorial by Yann Cecco.  While doing that, some useability 
things came up, and I just want to check that I have them correct, in case I 
mislead new users.  I am using an rpm of version 1.0, based on a build of 14 
July 2003, made by Lenz Grimmer for SuSE 8.2, so if some of these points have 
been picked up in the most recent version, my apologies.

1.  Changes to Preferences do not seem to "take" over program restarts.  For 
instance, the default fill for a polygon frame is black, and the default 
measurement unit is picas, but if I change these to white and mm 
respectively, close the app, and reopen it, they are back to the original 
black and picas.  Is this a "feature", or more likely to be something to do 
with the rpm or something I have failed to spot?

2.  I cannot see any way of editing the default "Normal" style - is this 
possible?

3.  Does Scribus support UTF-8?  I am assuming not, because some of the Welsh 
words in the translations that used utf8 characters (eg a w or y with a 
circumflex) are shown as a ?, and text import containing such characters also 
fails to show them.  If it does support UTF-8, what might I be doing wrong?

4.  Some of the interface seems not to be caught in the .po file - eg I can 
remember off-hand kerning, intervall (sic), and the colour names (although 
the last may be a KDE thing).  Is there any way to trap these?

5.  The Measurements panel is now much more versatile than it used to be, but 
by the same token hasn't it outgrown its name?  Would it not be better to 
refer to this now as a Properties panel?

6.  It would be nice to migrate some stray items into that panel.  For 
example, the only way to uncheck text flow around a line, or to enter a 0 
degree angle for it to ensure a horizontal, is to right-click on it and 
choose Modify.  From the point of view of consistent user interface, both 
options should be in the panel.

7.  A keyboard accelerator to show/hide frames (eg Ctrl+F) would be really 
handy.

8.  The Save As PDF option is terrific, but it doesn't alert the user to an 
existing file of the same name.

9.  I take it that it is not possible to put a border around text frames.  
(The workaround I have used, though, is simple - create a polygon frame of 
the same shade, but 1mm bigger all around, and move it behind the text 
frame.)

10.  Is it possible to set a gutter around image frames?  I think not, but 
what I have done as a workaround is set the image to fit in the frame, 
adjusted the frame to the desired size, set the image to scale freely, 
slightly enlarged the frame, and moved the image within the frame to give a 
border between its edge and the text.

11.  I take it that it is impossible to do certain things like rotate to a 
grouped frame?

12.  Clicking on the magnifying glass allows a mouse-click to zoom in on the 
document.  Would it be possible to have left button zoom in and right button 
zoom out?  At the moment, shift+button zooms out.  I also noticed that 
zooming too far leaves Scribus twirling its wheels for a long time, so it 
might be sensible to place a limit on the levels of zoom possible.

I hadn't used Scribus for some months, and I have to say it is both more 
stable and more useable than the previous versions I tried - I think it is 
shaping up to be a must-have Linux app, and I applaud the development team.

-- 

Best wishes

Kevin Donnelly

www.kyfieithu.co.uk - Meddalwedd Rydd yn Gymraeg