[Scribus] Setting a thesis in Scribus (ver. 1.3.3.2 dev)?

[Christoph Schäfer]

Hi Marek,

Welcome to Scribus!

Am Mittwoch, 12. Juli 2006 01:42 schrieb Marek Kaszycki:
[snip]
> My major qualms: 
> 1. Corel is completely incapable of advanced text formatting. It is
> completely oblivious to styles and thus ill-suited for body text. However,
> it is mostly adherent to typographical rules. It handles justification and
> spacing much better, for starters. But inability to add footnotes (and
> that's only the tip of the iceberg) disqualifies it.

Of course. CorelDraw is a vector drawing software. Wrong tool for the job.

> 2. Word processors, on the other hand, do not provide any support for
> color management,

They are not expected to provide these features. They are "Office" programs.

> are very inflexible when it comes to creating title 
> pages, adding images (which had to be prepared beforehand, resolution and
> all, and printed from a PDF reader to maintain any reasonable degree of
> control), working on text flow, etc.

See my notes before.

>
> I tried QuarkXPress, which would solve most of my problems, but one: it's
> very expensive in the Passport version, which is required for my work. Not
> to mention that it's very slow.

Hmm, I'm no big fan of Quark, but what I really like is the speed compared to 
almost all other DTP programs.

>
> So far, I'm getting acquainted with Scribus. It seems fit as far as I see
> it, but I have a few questions regarding workflow:
> 1. It supports aspell, doesn't it? (It's just that I'm not completely sure)

It doesn't. A spellchecker is on the roadmap for 1.4

> 2. It seems to support styles (defined from scratch). 

Yes.

> Does it support: 
> a) creating table of contents based on headings (as in word processors)

It supports TOCs but it works different than word processors.

> b) creating indices (regardless of what it is based on -- automatic,
> manual, assisted);

Not yet.

> c) anchoring images to paragraphs, keywords, etc.;

Probably not the way you expect it. Browse the bug tracker for "inline 
objects"

> d) styles definitions such as 'begin on next page' (couldn't find such
> setting, probably have to go with manual?)

No.

> e) footnotes and endnotes (I wasn't able to find them);

Not yet.

> f) live pagination (based on headings) and page numbering (within
> sections).

No.

> 3. It's very similar to Corel in regard to handling text frames. Working
> with Corel's text frames is mostly manual labor, though. What about widow
> and orphan control, for one?

Not yet.

> What about more advanced features (such as 
> controlling widows and orphans unless two lines of text are the only ones
> on the page, in which case resort to tightening text in that and/or
> preceding paragraph(s), for example)?

Not yet.

>
> Or would you rather advise me to prepare the body of the text in OOo,
> export it to PDF and open in Scribus to make final adjustments?

Scribus is not the right tool for your job (at least for now). What you need 
is either FrameMaker or CorelPublisher, but only if you need colour 
management. Otherwise, I'd recommend StarOffice/OpenOffice.org (SO has a 
better spellchecker and better hyphenation dictionaries) or LaTeX (the 
ultimate tool for scientific texts). In case you don't want to learn LaTeX, 
you can use LyX, a GUI for LaTeX. You can also have a look a RagTime, a 
hybrid of DTP and Office Software.

May I ask why you need colour management for a thesis?

>
> Sorry if I'm asking about basics, but I either couldn't find the functions
> or couldn't get them to work properly. Hopefully, I'm simply doing
> something wrong, and not forcing Scribus to do something it cannot. I
> received a code 11 error trying to apply a style (heading). Is it a known
> bug?

That's possible. Can you please check the bugtracker? bugs.scribus.net

>
> Otherwise, the program is excellent. It is already very impressive, and
> shows very much promise to become the best DTP software.

My general recommendation is to use the right tool for the right job. Know the 
purposes, the strengths and the weaknesses of given pieces of software. An 
all-in-one device suitable for every purpose doesn't exist. You don't buy a 
car and expect it to fly, to clean your laundry, to peel potatoes and take 
care of your children :)

>
> Cheers!
> Marek Kaszycki

Cheers,

Christoph