Or DocBook? There are a few tools with GUI support out there or you can always mark it up yourself and process it with open source tools...
On Fri, 2006-12-15 at 13:53, Nicholas Vettese wrote: > What about using Latex? > > Nick > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: scribus-bounces at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > > [mailto:scribus-bounces at nashi.altmuehlnet.de] On Behalf Of wtb41 > > Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 8:26 AM > > To: scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > > Subject: [Scribus] Open Source Software and Book Authors > > > > > > I have written a book containing no graphics (no pictures or > > charts); it has straight type, bulleted lists, numbered > > lists, and tables. I need the ability to automate the > > building of a table of contents and an index. In addition to > > the standard font for type, I need a font (expert set) > > providing small caps, ligatures, and oldstyle figures. I need > > to be able to produce a PDF with embedded fonts. I also need > > an option regarding subsetting of the embedded fonts (some > > book manufacturers want subsetting; others don't). > > > > As far as I know, the open-source community offers 2 > > applications that might be used to meet my needs. They are > > (1) Scribus and (2) OpenOffice.org's Writer. Neither of these > > applications is feasible today. Here are the > > reasons: > > > > 1. Scribus cannot (a) automate the building of a table of > > contents and an index or (b) import tables. The procedures > > that have been sketched to me for getting tables (from > > another document) into a Scribus document are too onerous to > > be considered seriously (my book has many tables). So scratch > > Scribus off the list of feasible solutions. > > > > 2. OpenOffice.org's Writer. I have encountered 2 major > > problems that almost surely are bugs within Writer. These > > problems are as follows: > > > > a. Writer's font menu. I bought 4 Windows Postscript > > fonts: (1) Adobe Garamond Regular, (2) Adobe Garamond, > > Italic, (3) Adobe Garamond, Bold, and > > (4) Adobe Garamond Regular Expert. I got all 4 of these fonts > > working in Scribus simply by entering the path to the folder > > containing the font files (really simple). I installed the > > fonts into Microsoft Word (using the free ATM light), and all > > 4 fonts worked perfectly. The 4 fonts appeared on 3 lines in > > Word's font menu. One line serves the regular and italic > > styles, with italic (true italic) produced with the I (I for > > Italic) botton. A second font-menu line says, "AGaramond, > > Bold." It appears on a separate line because the family of > > fonts contains a semibold (which the B button produces). The > > third font-menu line says, "AGaramondExp." I have tried > > valiently to install the fonts in Writer, and each attempt > > has failed. I installed them first using the program called > > spadmin. When that did not work, I used KDE's Font Installer. > > I installed the fonts in the order listed above. Each of the > > first 3 fonts installed and worked fine until the expert set > > was installed. After its installation, the font menu still > > had only one line for the fonts, and now it produced only > > glyphs from the expert set. The first 3 fonts became > > inaccessible. I got that same result using both installers. > > It's clearly not a font problem (because they work perfectly > > in Scribus and Microsoft Word). Logic suggests an application > > problem, the application being Writer. > > > > b. Writer's PDF generator. I added small caps and > > oldstyle figures to my book's first chapter. I then used > > Writer's Export as PDF menu option to produce a PDF of the > > chapter. The PDF has multiple defects, all of which concern > > small caps. Each defect appears at first sight as tho a > > letter did not print (a missing-letter look). But upon close > > inspection, one sees that the letter is there (in the PDF), > > but it's misplaced. Example: Three letters should have > > appeared (in small caps) as IMO. Instead of that clean > > 3-letter appearance, the O prints over the M (the M and the O > > are superimposed). The PDF generator put the I; then it moved > > one space to the right, and put the M. It should have moved > > one more space to the right and put the O, but it didn't. It > > put the O in the same spot at the M (the M and the O are > > superimposed on one another). This error occurs 17 times in 6 > > pages of text, but not every instance of small caps has this > > error. Example: page 2 has (in small caps) BTW, and each of > > the 3 letters is in its proper place. Then page > > 6 has SST in small caps. Those 3 letters also are in their > > proper places. > > Sometimes the misplaced letter is at the end of a string > > (such as IMO); other times it is in the interior of a string > > (as in GUIDE, where the I is misplaced to give the > > missing-letter look, as in GU DE, with the I printed over > > the U and a blank space where the I should be.). > > > > My work on Chapter 1 produced a series of 7 PDFs of that > > chapter. Each of the 7 contained the aforementioned defects; > > so it was not a one-time fluke. > > The aforementioned defects--all involving small caps--could > > be due to (1) the font, (2) the PDF generator, or (3) the PDF > > viewer. The problem is not the font because it displays and > > prints perfectly in the OpenOffice Writer application. The > > problems first surfaced in the PDF. The problem is not the > > PDF viewer because I viewed it with 2 viewers [the one within > > Linux (KPDF) and Adobe Acrobat's Reader within Windows]. Both > > viewers showed these defects. I then printed a hard copy of > > page 6 from the PDF, and page 6's defects (those listed > > above) appeared on the hard copy. Ergo, the problem > > apparently lies with Writer's PDF generator. > > > > I also should mention that Writer offers no option regarding > > the subsetting of fonts during the PDF-generating process. > > The PDF viewer (KPDF) that came with my Mepis 6.0 > > distribution tells me that fonts are embedded in the PDF, but > > it does not tell me whether it subset them. > > > > The bottom line: It appears as tho the open source community > > does not now offer an application that will meet my current > > needs regarding my book's publication. Your thoughts on the > > matter will be appreciated. > > > > Bill Bailey > > -- > > View this message in context: > > http://www.nabble.com/Open-Source-Software-and-Book-Authors-tf > 2827027.html#a7891370 > > Sent from the Scribus mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Scribus mailing list > > Scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > > http://nashi.altmuehlnet.de/mailman/listinfo/scribus > > > > _______________________________________________ > Scribus mailing list > Scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > http://nashi.altmuehlnet.de/mailman/listinfo/scribus -- Andrew S. Townley <ast at atownley.org> http://atownley.org
