When I began contributing to the project some 10 years ago, I had no knowledge about it at all, and consequently spent some time reading and interacting with the mail list to develop an understanding of how to use it.
The project I have been involved with is Scribus, a desktop publishing (DTP) application used to create PDFs for publishing in print or web pages. I'd like to use my own personal journey with open source documentation to illustrate how it's possible to begin with little to nothing and create-and then build on-your work and that of others. Running Kubernetes on your Raspberry Pi.A practical guide to home automation using open source tools.6 open source tools for staying organized.An introduction to programming with Bash.A guide to building a video game with Python.I'm sure there will be arguments against what I've said above but I don't think I've said anything that is particularly unreasonable. Greyed-out PS functions with an obvious note (on the splash screen) telling the user they don't have GS installed would be more than enough to tell the user that more functionality could be available if they need it without being annoying. The various PS functions can then be greyed-out until GS has been installed. The code to find GS is already there, so why only ever use it once? A strange situation.Īt the same time, I think that the pop-up message about GS not being installed should be removed and replaced with a message on the splash screen saying that Scribus is running "without Postscript support" (or some better message which properly portrays the situation). That would alleviate the need for the user to have to manually add the path once GS has been installed. Why Scribus doesn't check for GS every time it runs - until a path has been set - is a mystery to me. If it finds GS it adds the path automatically and everything is fine. When you first run Scribus it does a check to see if GS is installed.
For instance, GIMP doesn't keep telling you that G'MIC is not installed, so why should Scribus keep telling you that GS is not installed? If GS was a requisite then it should come packaged with Scribus, otherwise Scribus should not be so fussy about it not being there. However, Scribus will keep telling you that GS is not installed every time it runs even if you don't need these functions. It is also needed if you want to use the "Print Plate" Preview functions." If you don't need to do any of these things then you don't need GS.
#SCRIBUS WIKI PDF#
It also allows you to export your document as PS or EPS (rather than the normal PDF export). As per the Mac installation instructions: " allows you to import PostScript (PS) images, Extended PostScript (EPS) images, and PDF files (as images).
#SCRIBUS WIKI INSTALL#
I would suggest un-installing whatever GS you've installed and install a "proper" version instead and see what happens.Īs a.l.e has said above, Scribus doesn't need GS installed to run. (These other versions might also work but they're not needed and you could end up complicating things.) Make sure it's the "Postscript and PDF interpreter/renderer" and not the PCL, PXL, XPS or PDL versions. If you install an official/approved copy of GS then you shouldn't have to hunt around for extra files, however you need to make sure that you get the right flavour of GS. * For Linux, is one source but it really depends on which flavour/version of Linux is being used (too many options to go into here). * For Mac, you can get GS from here: (full Mac installation instructions are here: ) * For Windows, one good place to get GS from is here:
#SCRIBUS WIKI FULL#
A full and consistent installation is best. You could end up in a right old mess with different applications using different versions of the same software, or worse. I realise that you probably did what you said above just to see if you could get things running but picking individual files off the internet and scattering them around your hard drive is not good practice. If you get Ghostscript from an official/approved source then you should automatically get the files needed by Scribus.