GSoC 2009 Better Masterpages by dhan0

ABSTRACT

Scribus is the only professional-grade Open Source Desktop Publishing Software which supports many professional publishing features. Master pages are an important part of DTP. Presently, editing of master pages is not very flexible and it's not possible to edit the master page features on a normal page if and when required, which is a major drawback. This project aims to incorporate options into Scribus to enhance the efficiency of master pages.

MOTIVATION

Scribus makes desktop publishing with free and open software possible. Master pages are an important professional requirement. Users may want to change only some features of the master page in the current page without changing the actual master page or creating a new one, which is not only an unattractive prospect but also time consuming. Completion of this project will enable users to handle master pages and the related operations more efficiently with ease and flexibility, which will be widely appreciated in the desktop publishing world.

PROJECT

The project aims at incorporating the following features into Scribus

1. Quick Access to Master pages

• A quick access option 'Master Page' to be provided in the status bar which would provide access to the master page of the currently selected page. All the master page related operations may be made available here.

2. Master page Listing

• Listing the available master pages under the Page list in the status bar, so that users can select the master page of their choice easily.

3. Preview of Master page

• Adding a "preview" option to the "Apply Master Page" dialog box, which appears on bringing up Page -> Apply Master Page, which would provode a thumbnail preview of the selected master page or of the master page that one tries to apply on it.

4. Options for editing Master pages efficiently

• This task includes adding an option to edit the objects in the master page applied to the current page if and when required and also an option to revert back to the original master page whenever needed. To achieve this, there should be a dialog box, which would appear on clicking on the current-applied master page one wishes to edit, which will be containing the objects on the master page with options to edit/remove them temporarily and apply it to the current page without modifying the actual master page. An alternative might be direct access to master page items via modifier keys.

DELIVERABLES

1. Options for efficient editing of items on the master page of the current page.
2. Master page Listing and Preview for better master page selection.
3. Quick access option 'Master Page' to list all master page related operations under the same.
4. Documentation

TIME LINE

Up to May 23, 2009 - Familiarize completely with Scribus source code and get clarifications if any and refining the ideas proposed.

May 23 - June 10, 2009 - Implementing first part of the project.

June 10 - June 13, 2009 - Discussing with mentor about the same and fix bugs, if any.

June 13 - July 1, 2009 - Implementing second and third part of project.

July 1 - July 3, 2009 - Discussing with mentor about the same and fix bugs, if any.

July 3 - Aug 1, 2009 - Last part of project.

Aug 1 - Aug 3, 2009 - Discussing with mentor and fix bugs, if any.

Aug 4 - Aug 14, 2009 - Final review of code and documentation.

ABOUT ME

First Name  : Dhanashree

Name  : Nellayi Prasad Dhanashree

Email Id  : dhan0110@gmail.com

IRC nick  : dhan0

Location  : Kerala, India

Timezone  : GMT + 5:30

blog URL  : csianthoughts.wordpress.com

I am Dhanashree N P , a second year (fourth semester) student of B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering at the Government Engineering College, Thrissur. I have been coding in C++ for the last 4 years and C for the 2 years. I know basics of Python and SQL, and I have started learning Qt. I have also started reading the source code of Scribus.

I have done coding in C++ as a part of academic projects for my school. I am a member of Free Software Users Group, Thrissur, and have already used Scribus for designing a 3-fold brochure for a seminar conducted by the group.I haven't been involved in any Open Source development projects so far, but I am looking forward to do that as a student of GSoC 2009 with Scribus.