[Scribus] Windows booklet printing

[Peter Nermander]

> My view (right or wrong) is that scribus should be able to produce a
> print ready pdf file that I can walk into a cheap print shop and say
> print that double sided and have to think no more.

Yes, but the goal for Scribus is to support that. The goal is to include advanced imposition features. That is why I think there is no need to include _simple_ booklet printing.

I make a difference between imposition and simple booklet printing. Simple booklet priting is where you say "take these pages and try to put them 2-up so when I fold I get a booklet". Imposition is where you tell "take these pages and place them like this on the sheet".

> If I have to say to them that it needs to be bookleted, or imposed or
> whatever then that's OK if its me - I can do that - but my colleagues
> seem to struggle - they want the chance to print the PDF at
> home/work/wherever and check it as it will really look.  

They will never be able to unless they have the same printer. Margins etc will differ. To make a correct imposition you might need to adjust margins on at least one side of the sheet to make things line up. That's why it doesn't make sense to use simple booklet printing for a task like that.

Take a page from a book and hold it up against a lamp, you will see that text lines on both sides of the paper  align. That's what you want. Not print a booklet on your own printer. Do the text lines on both sides of the paper align? Most likely not.

> I completely accept that I haven't paid for Scribus.  But even if my
> printer can print double sided, booklet etc I can't gauruntee that every
> printer can.

And that is a weakness of Scribus? Or could it maybe be that it is a weakness of the printer/printer driver?

> > I've just had a conversation with someone (windows user) who is using
> > PowerPoint (yes you did read that right!) as a DTP program.  I suggested

He should have a look at text frames in MS Word I think... With text frames and floating images in MS Word you can do a lot of the same stuff you can do with Scribus.

> I still think there would be an expectation that Scribus does it
> internally though?

Have a look at 
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Imposition
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Imposition_proposal

The proposed solutions will (hopefully) be able to impose both native Scribus documents and PDF files.

Again, it seems you have missed that I am talking about _simple_ booklet printing versus imposition possibilities.

With the proposed solutions it would be possible to provide a template for simple booklet printing for those who really want it, and by providing the advanced features they might learn how and why to use them. If simple booklet printing is provided people will use it and never learn the advanced parts of doing an imposition.

> a. Amatuer Newsletter Producers - by this I mean club, association
> newsletters.  Small print runs (under 500 usually), Often A4 folded to
> A5 [cheaper postage now in UK] or A3 folded to A4.  They could use word
> processor but some of the fine tweaking takes longer.  Many will be
> working on narrow budgets for printing so choosing a printer who is
> happy to print straight from the pdf (for less money) and not have to
> faf about with impossition may be necessary.

And to save that money, it is to much to ask to learn to use Multivalents impose tool?

> b. The other common variation of booklet is A4 folded to A5 as a leaflet
> (no staple) Again you could use a word pro - but why? Why is scribus not
> the tool?  The only reason to use the word pro is that it can print
> it... Word Pro's don't (usually) let you work on layout on screen - a
> common need is a front cover (a5) inside text around an image (image
> crossing the fold) and a back cover (a5) -- Scribus lets you do that -
> word pro's don't (objects need to be on one page - not both)

If you are taling about a single sheet folded, there is really no need for imposition. It can be done as an A4 page.

And MS Office can have text run around images , I bet OO can do it to.

If you want an image across the fold, booklet printing is no good because it will ba hard do avoid jagged edges.

> c. Other impossition needs - business cards etc.  When I start a small
> project I'll often knock up a business card to give to key contacts - if
> you are knocking up 100's you go external but often I'll only give out
> 20 or so -- the ability to print that on a low end printer seems logical
> (don't refer me back to the printer software -- there are lots of
> printer manufacturers - so you'd need lots of fixes...)

But that is not booklet printing... And people are already doing that with Scribus.
http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/How_to_make_business_cards