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From: Owain on 1 Dec 2008 19:31
I want to create a DTP layout (actually a personalised year planner).
Until now (for the last 10+) I've done it in MS Publisher. It's done as
two tables, layered over each other. The bottom table is the days/months
grid, and the top table is my own notes etc.

I tried doing this in Scribus, but the first hurdle is that Scribus
tables appear to be individual text frames. Each one has to be opened,
the text written into it, and then closed and returned to the document.
What I want and am used to being able to do is to tab/cursor from one
cell to the next, very quickly. I am also used to being able to copy a
column of cells (with the nos 1-30 in for the days) and then paste it in
the next month, starting the paste in the appropriate row for the day of
the week. I can't see any way of selecting/copying multiple cells in
Scribus. I will also want to select complete rows/columns and apply
borders and shading appropriately.

Alternative idea was OOoWriter. First problem was that I can't resize a
table by dragging its bottom margin and have all the rows resize in
height proportionally. Secondly I can't find a way of overlaying two
tables. I suppose Calc would have the ability to do the rows/columns and
in fact would be easier to populate with dates than a text document, but
I don't see being able to overlay very easily.

I want to have the underlying structure in a separate table/layer as it
makes it easier to print blank planners without my notes, and to format
my daily notes without bggring up the underlying structure. I can also
do different planners for different purposes. It also needs to be spread
across 3 sheets for printing (4 month cols to a sheet).

All suggestions (apart from "use tex") welcome. I imagine the final
result would be a fairly generically useful template to be released.

Owain




From: Mark Pearson on 2 Dec 2008 09:34
On Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:31:20 +0000, Owain wrote:

>
> I tried doing this in Scribus, but the first hurdle is that Scribus
> across 3 sheets for printing (4 month cols to a sheet).
>
Ummm, I've had problems with Scribus too unfortunately with blank text
boxes. Can paste text in but can't seem to type it directly in the text
editor?


> All suggestions (apart from "use tex") welcome. I imagine the final
> result would be a fairly generically useful template to be released.
>
> Owain

I also use Inkscape & quite like it actually (having used Publisher a l o
n g time ago).

HTH,

--
Mark Pearson mark at spltd dot f9 dot co dot u k
From: Jim Price on 2 Dec 2008 10:18
Owain wrote:
> I want to create a DTP layout (actually a personalised year planner).
> Until now (for the last 10+) I've done it in MS Publisher. It's done as
> two tables, layered over each other. The bottom table is the days/months
> grid, and the top table is my own notes etc.
>
> I tried doing this in Scribus, but the first hurdle is that Scribus
> tables appear to be individual text frames. Each one has to be opened,
> the text written into it, and then closed and returned to the document.
> What I want and am used to being able to do is to tab/cursor from one
> cell to the next, very quickly. I am also used to being able to copy a
> column of cells (with the nos 1-30 in for the days) and then paste it in
> the next month, starting the paste in the appropriate row for the day of
> the week. I can't see any way of selecting/copying multiple cells in
> Scribus. I will also want to select complete rows/columns and apply
> borders and shading appropriately.
>
> Alternative idea was OOoWriter. First problem was that I can't resize a
> table by dragging its bottom margin and have all the rows resize in
> height proportionally. Secondly I can't find a way of overlaying two
> tables. I suppose Calc would have the ability to do the rows/columns and
> in fact would be easier to populate with dates than a text document, but
> I don't see being able to overlay very easily.
>
> I want to have the underlying structure in a separate table/layer as it
> makes it easier to print blank planners without my notes, and to format
> my daily notes without bggring up the underlying structure. I can also
> do different planners for different purposes. It also needs to be spread
> across 3 sheets for printing (4 month cols to a sheet).
>
> All suggestions (apart from "use tex") welcome. I imagine the final
> result would be a fairly generically useful template to be released.

If I've understood you correctly, go with calc. Make use of tabbed
sheets for your layers, one for the final 3 page printout, and other(s)
for the data entry. Make 12 links from the first of the month cells at
the top of the data entry columns, and link them to the output page top
cells, where you want them, and then use a fill down (or across if
that's the orientation) to get the remaining 30 odd populated. You can
create the links either by copying and pasting, or using the formula
=Sheet2.A1 where 2 is the second sheet and A1 is the top left cell on
that second sheet. Do all the formatting on the output page, and just
arrange the input pages so you can move around them as needed. That way,
the "merge" is just a differently laid out view of the linked data from
the other tab.
When the year changes, I'd have it arranged so I only needed to move the
day names (Mon-Sun) column around. For extra points, you could use
formulae to allow for leap years and conditional formatting to tidy up
the output.
To get a blank planner, you just clear the contents of the notes tab and
print the output tab.

--
JimP
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