[scribus] I'm trying to make a bilingual dictionary - [was: Making a catalog

[john Culleton]

On Fri, 17 May 2013 17:04:19 -0500
Dale Erwin <dale at casaerwin.org> wrote:

> I've been following this forum for some time expecting that one I
> have finished the text preparation in Apache Open Office Writer, I
> would be able to use Scribus for the page layout since I need some
> things not available in OO, primarily a header that changes with each
> page showing the first entry one left pages and the last entry on
> right pages.
> 
> Unfortunately, after reading the tutorial mentioned in this post, I
> see that Scribus can't handle documents of more than 100 pages. Mine
> is currently at over 500 and will probably end up somewhere around
> 550. The suggested workaround is making many sections of smaller
> pieces and then concatenating the PDF files into the complete
> document.  This makes me wonder how page numbering would be affected
> by such a process.

I have written an e-book on using Scribus for book covers and
am writing a p-book on using Inkscape for the same purpose. In
both cases I used IMO the best free book-writing tool, TeX. I used
pdftex for the e-book but am using Context MKIV for the p-book; both
of these are useful TeX variants. In large part this reflects my
familiarity with TeX, dating back to the 1990s. But the basic
approach of TEX, that of a file of text with tags interspersed,
is more convenient for book writing. Formatting and text 
composing  are better separated,and of course a file of 1,000
pages and more can be handled as a single entitiy and compiles in
seconds. Matters like running headers and multiple TOC, one with
just chapter names and another with both chapters and sections
listed, are easy to do. Indexing is also easy. I break up a book into
chapter segments for my convenience in rearranging or adding chapters.
They are all processed together and chapter numbering, section
numbering, page numbering and figure numbering are all automatic.
Optionally I can use hanging punctuation and/or microtypography to
improve formatting and appearance. My speed in composing a book is
limited by my keying speed and not speed of the program itself. 

Scribus of course was and will be used for cover creation. 

I do not deprecate the virtues of Scribus, including WYSIWYG, ICC
profiles, easier access to choice of fonts and the ability to create PDF
X/1-a:2001 output as well as the option for CMYK color model with auto
conversion of RGB entities. These are essential for cover design and
for book interiors heavy on color and complex "arty" design. But I will
not invest time in learning the "bookish" features of Scribus until they
are more in number and easier in application. 

In my latest p-book I emphasize the synergism of Inkscape and Scribus:
Inkscape for for document templating and fancy vector drawing, and
Scribus for converting the final pdf to a form suitable for printing
using the features mentioned above.  Gimp is of course a factor too
for easy use of fancy text objects. 

-- 
John Culleton
Wexford Press
Free list of books for self-publishers:
http://wexfordpress.net/shortlist.html
PDF e-book: "Create Book Covers with Scribus"
available at http://www.booklocker.com/books/4055.html