[scribus] Scribus 1.5.5 (Debian/Testing) doesn't export link text to PDFs

[Gary Dale]

On 2020-06-15 13:14, JLuc wrote:
> Le 15/06/2020 à 17:02, Gary Dale a écrit :
>> The Scribus method of using PDF annotations is already clumsy - first 
>> you have to make it a type of annotation then you have to right-click 
>> it again to add the destination. Then there's the fact that the text 
>> has to be in a separate text box... Why can't I just select a piece 
>> of text inside a box then right-click on it and make it a link (or a 
>> note or whatever)?
>>
>> It's not a deal breaker for me, but I'm working on a directory where 
>> literally half the text should be clickable links - web sites, e-mail 
>> addresses and telephone numbers.
>
> A script could probably automate this in a nice and friendly way that 
> fits your workflow.

I'm using Scribus Generator to create the pages. However the template 
itself is a lot of work, as is modifying it. With a couple of web links 
and perhaps 5 e-mails and and a dozen telephone numbers, that's a lot of 
extra boxes that I need to create and keep lined up.

To make matters worse, while Generator will leave text substitutions 
blank when a variable is empty, when it's a separate text box and a 
separate link box, it's impossible to have the subsequent text move up 
during the generation. I have to manually clean this up after the fact.


>
>> We don't make it a function of web browsers to figure out which text 
>> should be links. We instead ask that web browsers properly display 
>> the link text or graphic while also making them clickable. I think it 
>> is the function of Scribus to export the web links I created in a way 
>> that works.
>
> That's when you use the browser.
> When you create the HTML page that is being displayed, you type the 
> link text (anchor) AND you type the destination url.
> A result can be seen here : 
> view-source:https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link
> As you see it can be felt a bit clumsy, but the resulting page is nice 
> and easy to use
> as is some scribus created PDF.
>
> PS : the PDFs scribus screates are very heavy documents, fit for 
> professional printers, but not handy for mail.
>
> JLuc
>
However the way most editors handle creating those links is you select 
the text, make it a link and put in the link target. This latter bit 
usually defaults to the selected text so you just have to click OK. This 
is a lot simpler than how Scribus handles it. And because the links need 
to be created as separate text boxes, this also interferes with the text 
flow.

While the document I'm creating is intended for print, this year it's 
primary distribution is going to be electronic. I suspect that this is 
far from a rare instance of how desktop publishing is used. Indeed, over 
the last few years I've seen a lot of magazines go to pdf-only distribution.