View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0015793ScribusUsabilitypublic2019-08-30 06:31
Reporterserve_chilled Assigned To 
PrioritynormalSeverityfeatureReproducibilityN/A
Status newResolutionopen 
PlatformLinuxOSArch Linux 
Product Version1.5.5 
Summary0015793: Function to convert paths to images
DescriptionScribus needs a option to convert paths to images with a given resolution.
Additional InformationI often publish PDFs on websites or via E-Mail, e. g. flyer, posters, timetables and so on. When there are logos in said document, I'dont want them to be extractable as paths.

Inkscape has an option to create a bitmap copy of every given object. A similar option for Scribus would be tremendously helpful.

In the 'Save as PDF'-Dialog there is an option to 'Compress Text and Vector Graphics' which can be set to JPEG but it does'nt actually convert any paths to images.
TagsNo tags attached.
PatchNo

Activities

jghali

2019-08-29 12:21

administrator   ~0046572

Last edited: 2019-08-29 12:22

>> In the 'Save as PDF'-Dialog there is an option to 'Compress Text and Vector Graphics' which can be set to JPEG

'Compress Text and Vector Graphics' option is unrelated to image compression options displayed below. JPEG only applies to images. 'Compress Text and Vector Graphics' will enable text and vector data to be ZIP compressed.

jghali

2019-08-29 12:30

administrator   ~0046573

Last edited: 2019-08-29 12:30

I do not think that such feature would be really useful for your purpose. You can indeed already prevent PDF elements to be copied by enabling PDF security:
- go to PDF export dialog
- go to security tab
- Check "Use encryption"
- Enter an owner password, but no user password (otherwise user will need that password to open PDF)
- Uncheck the "Allow Copying Text and Graphics" checkbox

serve_chilled

2019-08-29 12:43

reporter   ~0046575

@jghali Thanks for your suggestion but when I create a PDF in the way you described it, I can still open that file with inkscape an extract every element.

And even if it would work, I still would'nt trust it to work for the forseeable future.

jghali

2019-08-29 12:49

administrator   ~0046576

Last edited: 2019-08-29 12:49

Well in this case the issue is Inkscape which does not respect the PDF permissions. Even if we would transform paths to images, there are softwares which can convert those images back to paths...

jghali

2019-08-29 12:58

administrator   ~0046577

>> there are softwares which can convert those images back to paths...

Amongst those softwares, there is Adobe Illustrator to begin with.

ale

2019-08-29 13:00

manager   ~0046578

i don't think that it should be a goal of free software to avoid/limit further use of the created documents.

serve_chilled

2019-08-29 13:06

reporter   ~0046579

@jghaili And I'm very happy, that Inkscape has this 'issue'. I get your point, but you cannot really convert a low-res bitmap to a printable path. Try converting a 300px-image of a detailed logo to a clean vector – impossible.

@ale I would'nt be concerned if it were *my* logos that could be extractated from my PDFs but I frequently use other parties logos and they come with restictions, e. g. I'm legally not allowed to redistribute them as paths.

jghali

2019-08-29 13:10

administrator   ~0046580

Last edited: 2019-08-29 13:23

>> I get your point, but you cannot really convert a low-res bitmap to a printable path. Try converting a 300px-image of a detailed logo to a clean vector – impossible.

False, there are software which can do a decent job here and at the end, the guy will have just to do some small corrections.

ale

2019-08-29 15:01

manager   ~0046584

if you are anyway using a bitmap logo in the pdf, just convert it to png before loading it in scribus.

that seems to be simple enough to me.
and it will be faster to process : - )

serve_chilled

2019-08-29 20:08

reporter   ~0046588

@ale I don't. Sorry, I probably didn't made that clear.

My workflow goes like this:
- create a printable PDF using as much vector graphics as possible (for convenience, editability and best print results)
- create a version of that file for online and mail use with non-vector objects.

Of course, I could start with using high-resolution bitmaps in the first place. But that creates other problems, for instance if I want to edit a logo/object on the fly or change colors. Furthermore, I would have to convert all of them to cmyk in another program beforehand and lose control over color management (which is very convienient in Scribus for vector objects).

serve_chilled

2019-08-29 20:13

reporter   ~0046589

@ale By 'bitmap' I mean a pixel-orientated / raster graphic file format like JPG, PNG, or actually BMP.

ale

2019-08-30 06:31

manager   ~0046592

... well, charge more to your clients if they don't want their logos as vectors in the pdf... because this means more work to you.

i really don't think that the goal of free software is to help people that are over-protective with their assets.
(this does not mean that everything must be free for everybody. but i've been hurt several times in my own work, because companies think that putting their svg/pdf/eps logo online is a bad thing. i really don't feel sorry for you and see no valid reason for allowing a logo to be embedded / published as bitmap but not as vectors... i see many "invalid" reason for such rules, of course!)

in my opinion, scribus should not add features that are only there to make information less free
(it can of course have features that can be used to decrease the people's freedom... i'm not that extremist... but it should not be the only goal of the feature...)

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2019-08-29 12:18 serve_chilled New Issue
2019-08-29 12:21 jghali Note Added: 0046572
2019-08-29 12:21 jghali Note Edited: 0046572
2019-08-29 12:22 jghali Note Edited: 0046572
2019-08-29 12:30 jghali Note Added: 0046573
2019-08-29 12:30 jghali Note Edited: 0046573
2019-08-29 12:43 serve_chilled Note Added: 0046575
2019-08-29 12:49 jghali Note Added: 0046576
2019-08-29 12:49 jghali Note Edited: 0046576
2019-08-29 12:58 jghali Note Added: 0046577
2019-08-29 13:00 ale Note Added: 0046578
2019-08-29 13:06 serve_chilled Note Added: 0046579
2019-08-29 13:10 jghali Note Added: 0046580
2019-08-29 13:23 jghali Note Edited: 0046580
2019-08-29 15:01 ale Note Added: 0046584
2019-08-29 20:08 serve_chilled Note Added: 0046588
2019-08-29 20:13 serve_chilled Note Added: 0046589
2019-08-30 06:31 ale Note Added: 0046592