Dear Xu,
I think this is a useful feature, but it would be best implemented as an
enhancement to an existing open source PDF viewer (such as xpdf or
Okular). LyX users are not the only ones who would sometimes like to
copy parts of a PDF (especially vector figures in a PDF). Maybe some
existing free PDF apps already have this feature? On Mac OS, "Preview"
has the "crop" feature, which extracts vector graphics correctly.
If implemented within LyX, the user interface for including images would
need some changes. Currently, image attributes are changed by clicking
on it and changing numeric values in the dialog box. Cropping a PDF
would require the ability to manipulate it directly, at least to a basic
degree. Such direct manipulation would then suggest also adding
WYSIWYG-like controls to the image itself, which would appear as arrows
upon selection. (The arrows would allow scaling and rotation.)
The problem with that is that the scale on screen does not reflect the
size in print. Lyx therefore uses the WYSIWYM model for writing
documents, which does not mesh so well with simple/direct manipulation
controls outlined above.
As a user, I think I would prefer to be able to crop a PDF from within
my PDF viewer of choice. Specifically, a good PDF viewer gives me better
ways to zoom/pan around the image, allowing a more precise selection of
the contents I want. If popular open source PDF viewers, such as Okular,
do not have that feature yet, then it would definitely be welcome there.
What do other developers think? Would it be worth to (re-)implement this
inside LyX?
The user could select a pdf, select a page, and then that page would be
visible in LyX. The user could then draw a rectangle on that pdf page
that would outline the part of that pdf page that he would like to
insert into his lyx document. I think the LaTeX code is not that
complicated. It would just use the bounding box or viewport option of
the includegraphics command. Also, I do not think this falls under the
category of "stop requesting that LyX includes a graphics editor"
because it would not even need to access or edit the image, except to
display the pdf page.
Why do I think this would be a good feature?
I see too often documents (both papers and especially beamer
presentations) that would like to put in a table from another pdf, but
they do so by taking a screen shot, which ends up looking quite ugly
because its a bitmap.
--
Regards,
Cyrille Artho - http://artho.com/
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones
slept
better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.
-- Woody Allen, "Side Effects"
--
Regards,
Cyrille Artho - http://artho.com/
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones
slept
better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.
-- Woody Allen, "Side Effects"
