Add the voices to add a Multiple Pages Support in 0.47

Sorry for my Bad English.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/179085

clone post
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=453

This isn't a limitation of Inkscape--it's a limitation of SVG. Until the new version of SVG is finalised I don't believe there is anything the Inkscape developers can do.

It is very a pity. Very necessary function

You could use Scribus to create multi-page documents in the mean time.

For those rooting for multipage support, I found this discussion on the mailing list - http://www.nabble.com/Multipage-plan-tt ... #a16394431

Just in case someone lands here:

Inkscape has now pages support: https://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/

cosminadrianpopescu wrote:Just in case someone lands here:

Inkscape has now pages support: https://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/

It might be helpful (especially in a forum where many (if not most) users work on Windows), what external tools are required for the extension to export multi-page PDF documents "from within Inkscape" and on which platforms the extension has been tested on.

[Edit] (Sorry for repeating myself - and thanks for your other extension, too (inkscape-tables) ) [/Edit]

In the README file it is specified that it has been tested on Ubuntu 11.04, but being written in Python should work without problems also on Windows and on Mac.

Regarding the tools for needed to export into a single PDF, the application can be configured to use any command line tool (please see the README file). The problem is that so far I couldn't find any command line tool that accepts as input a series of files and outputs in a single file (like pdfjoin for Linux). However, I found this application: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/PDF/Advanced-Command-Line-PDF-Merger.shtml which is accepting as input a folder and parses all the pdf documents from this folder. I will try to modify the extension to work with this tool.

Regards,
Cosmin Popescu.

cosminadrianpopescu wrote:In the README file it is specified that (…)

It might be helpful to provide this information outside the tar file, so that users can inform themselves before downloading…

I can confirm that creating a single, multi-paged PDF file works on OS X too - tests have been done with 'pdftk': with the limitation that so far I only tested your extension with an unbundled Inkscape version (local builds of 0.48.1 and current trunk), but not with the bundled osxapp as distributed by the Inkscape project. On Mac OS X, Pdftk can be installed via MacPorts (but does require to install (build) GCC 4.2 or 4.5 as well, depending on the OS version). I haven't tested pdfjam because it depends on texlive - a large dependency which I don't have installed yet).

The location of the 'export-pages' directory needs to be reconsidered IMHO: on linux, '/usr/share/inkscape/extensions' requires admin privileges on a normal installation (AFAIK). On OS X, this folder is located inside the application bundle: user-created files should _never_ be stored inside an application bundle. Maybe you could consider using "$HOME/export-pages" instead for the individual SVG and PDF files? Extensions like 'Extensions > Images > Extract Image…' and 'Extensions > Export > Guillotine' (new in trunk) are examples which use $HOME (in a cross-platform way) as default path for exporting from an effect extension (as opposed to how it works as output extension). The externally hosted extension 'inkscape-slicer' is another example for defaulting to $HOME, if I remember correctly.

On the other hand the installation of the extension files could optionally be to the user extensions directory (which is the recommended location for user-installed custom extensions): on linux/osx on Windows The same applies to the shortcuts file: put a minimal 'default.xml' into the 'keys' sub-directory of the inkscape user profile (same level as user extensions), and it will load after the shared keymapping file (i.e. override but not edit the default shortcuts file).

I appreciate that this extension was written but the readme claims that this extension disables the use of layers. I haven't tested it yet but if that is true then I would say that this is a non-starter for me (and probably for many others). I use layers quite a bit for organization. Does the extension HAVE to be written in such a way?

@suv:

It might be helpful to provide this information outside the tar file, so that users can inform themselves before downloading…

I've just uploaded the README file in the help section of the project and I've modified the support page so now it points to the Help page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/forums/forum/1802502/topic/4547043.

The location of the 'export-pages' directory needs to be reconsidered

I've uploaded a new version of the extension which is saving everything in the user home folder in a folder called pages-export instead of the extensions folder:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/files/inkscape-pages-0.99-1.tar.gz/download.

On the other hand the installation of the extension files could optionally be to the user extensions directory

.

I don't specify the installation directory in the install script. I just do a `inkscape -x`. I prefer this method because on older Linux system the location of the inskape config folder could be for example ~/.inkscape instead of ~/.config/inkscape. Practically the folder is indicated by inkscape itself.

As soon as I will have access to a Windows box, I will implement a .bat file to create an install for Windows also and there I will use the %APPDATA%.

However, if somebody wants to install everything in the home folder, I described the way to do this in the README file, which is now also online.

The same applies to the shortcuts file: put a minimal 'default.xml' into the 'keys' sub-directory of the inkscape user profile

This I didn't understood. Could you please be more specific? Right now, I am editing the default.xml file from the keys folder from the same level as the extension's folder. I suppose that this isn't what you meant, since this I am doing already.

@heathenx:

Unfortunately yes, I had to write it in this way. The SVG standard does not include layers. The layers are created by the inkscape team using a group with a custom attribute. I am also using the groups to organize the pages. I use the current layer to display the current page number and to display all the elements of the current page and I use another hidden layer to organize the other pages. If you use layers for organization, you could very easy use the pages for organization. If you put things on a layer and then hide them to use elements from another layer and so on, this is exactly what this extension is doing.

To leave the possibility to use the layers, it would mean that the extension shouldn't use them. It would be very difficult to implement this extension without using some layers. This being said, this remains one of the TO DO things (re-enabling the layers) if the demanding of the feature will justify the time necessary to implement it. It would be much more complicated to implement something like this without the use of the layers. And even so, there are some issues that needs to be solved. For example, when you create a layer on a page, would it be visible on another page? If so, what about it's elements? Normally the elements should be visible only on the page in which they are created. Wouldn't this generate confusion?



PS: Sunday I will leave on holiday for three weeks and I don't know if I have Internet or time to answer or to implement anything. So, if I don't react for this period, please be patient with me. I have to allocate some time for my wife and my children

UPDATE:

@~suv:

Thank you for pointing out pdftk.

I just uploaded a new version (http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/files/inkscape-pages-0.99-2.tar.gz/download) which uses by default pdftk (http://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/files/inkscape-pages-0.99-2.tar.gz/download). I had the chance to test it on a Windows box and it works without problems. I also updated the help page from sourceforge site.

For Windows users: You can download pdftk from http://www.pdflabs.com/docs/install-pdftk/. Follow the instructions to install it and save the exe file in a PATH folder. Otherwise, modify the tool text box to indicate the folder where pdftk is saved. Then just modify the output path and you're done. See more instructions on the help page:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/inkscape-pages/forums/forum/1802502/topic/4547043.

Now you can also use the layers. The only restriction that still remains is that you have to add a new layer through extensions -> pages -> add new layer menu. And of course, do not put the new layers on top of the current page layer. Other then this, you can use the layers. You can also add a layer through the normal menu, just add it as a sub layer of the current page layer.

cosminadrianpopescu wrote:Now you can also use the layers. The only restriction that still remains is that you have to add a new layer through extensions -> pages -> add new layer menu. And of course, do not put the new layers on top of the current page layer. Other then this, you can use the layers. You can also add a layer through the normal menu, just add it as a sub layer of the current page layer.

Thank you very much for your work and support, cosminadrianpopescu. The topic of layers is a few years old in this forum. I'm sure heathenx will be pleased to see both pages and layers. The lack of layers was a deal-breaker for me too. But now that both are together, I will install your plug-in.

You may wish to inform the Inkscape team about your effort. Once enough code is written for them they may wish to add this to the base installation themselves. It may become part of Inkscape 0.49

@ cosminadrianpopescu

I am going to install your plug-in (version 1.2 for Linux). My hope is that I'll be able to export a multi-page document to PDF format.

I realize Scribus is the OpenSource standard for typesetting and multiple pages. However, my familiarity with Inkscape is far greater.

Here's hoping your plug-in makes multiple pages for PDF output.

Thanks again!

I am unable to export to pdf using the pages extension and PDFTK.
PDFTK is in the PATH, and I can access exe in cmd window.
When I run the create PDF, it opens a few CMD windows, but no PDF is created.
The command line is "pdftk %i cat c:\temp\output.pdf"
I am on win7 platform.
Thanks

Finally worked it out.
command should have been
"pdftk %i cat output c:\temp\output.pdf"

Export works great.

@Tiger800:

Glad it worked out. Sorry for not answering until now. I didn't noticed the reply.

@BobSongs:

It should work without problems. Please try to use pdftk.

Cosmin Popescu.