Need feedback for the new PDF plugin

[LightningIsMyName]

Hello,

As requested in http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=382688 I
have created a PDF export plugin for GIMP. I need some feedback on it
(mainly on it's GUI) so I'm asking for it here. The plugin can be
accessed through File->Create->PDF (Both multipage and singlepage
options) or through the normal save dialog (single page, simply add
the .pdf suffix).
The plugin uses cairo to output the PDF so only features that are
available in cairo can be used by the plugin.

It builds on my GIMP 2.6.4 so it should work on later versions, The
source can be found on the bug report.
To get the compiler flags, use 'pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-2.0
cairo-pdf gimp-2.0 gimpui-2.0 gimpthumb-2.0'. The plugin is only one
file, so it should be easy to compile.

Known Issues:
1. Grayscale layers are inverted (although layer masks which are not
grayscale,are not inverted)
2. Exporting some fonts doesn't work since gimp_text_layer_get_font
Returns a font which is sometimes incompatible with
pango_font_description_from_string (gimp_text_layer_get_font sometimes
returns suffixes such as "semi-expanded" to the font's name although
the GIMP's font selection dialog shows the name normally - This should
be checked again in GIMP 2.7)
3. Indexed layers can't be optimized yet (Since gimp_histogram won't
work on indexed layers)

Thanks,
~ LightningIsMyName
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[Martin Nordholts-2]

On 08/20/2009 06:09 PM, LightningIsMyName wrote:
> Hello,
>
> As requested in http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=382688 I
> have created a PDF export plugin for GIMP. I need some feedback on it
> (mainly on it's GUI) so I'm asking for it here. The plugin can be
> accessed through File->Create->PDF (Both multipage and singlepage
> options) or through the normal save dialog (single page, simply add
> the .pdf suffix).

The first thing to do would be to port it to File -> Export... in git
master using gimp_export_dialog_new() and
gimp_export_dialog_get_content_area(). Look at how the other file
plug-ins does it.

BR,
Martin

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello martin,

Where should I register the procedure for creating multiple paged
PDFs? I switched the plugin to use the gimp_export_dialog as part of
the new export api, but I don't know what is the correct place to
register a file saver from the menu The problem is that I doubt it's
right to have the user choose one of two procedures when saving with a
".pdf" suffix. The multiple paged PDF is some sort of a wizard since
the user can configure which images to save and how - and it doesn't
relate to just one specific image...

Thank,
~ LightningIsMyName

On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 10:47 PM, Martin Nordholts<enselic@...> wrote:

> On 08/20/2009 06:09 PM, LightningIsMyName wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> As requested in http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=382688 I
>> have created a PDF export plugin for GIMP. I need some feedback on it
>> (mainly on it's GUI) so I'm asking for it here. The plugin can be
>> accessed through File->Create->PDF (Both multipage and singlepage
>> options) or through the normal save dialog (single page, simply add
>> the .pdf suffix).
>
> The first thing to do would be to port it to File -> Export... in git master
> using gimp_export_dialog_new() and gimp_export_dialog_get_content_area().
> Look at how the other file plug-ins does it.
>
> BR,
> Martin
>
> --
>
> My GIMP Blog:
> http://www.chromecode.com/
>

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[Martin Nordholts-2]

On 08/21/2009 11:23 AM, LightningIsMyName wrote:
> Where should I register the procedure for creating multiple paged
> PDFs? I switched the plugin to use the gimp_export_dialog as part of
> the new export api, but I don't know what is the correct place to
> register a file saver from the menu

Hi Barat,

Can't the multi-page variant simply be an option in the File ->
Export... dialog somehow? Like, you would specify what additional images
to put in the multi-page PDF

BR,
Martin

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello Martin,

The problem is that if I add the multiple paged PDF as an option to
the normal sace procedure we will have a problem when running the
plugin using GIMP_RUN_WITH_LAST_VALS.
Imagine the following Scenario:
* User has images 1 2 3 open
* While image 1 is active, the user now uses the procedure for
creating multipage PDFs on images 2 and 3
* The user modifies image 1 again, and wants to export it as a single
paged PDF. However he will now have image 2 and 3 and he will have to
remove them in order to add image 1.
* The user modified image 2 and now we wants to export image 2 and 3
again as a PDF. He will have to add them again.

The problem is that the multipage procedure should be non-related to
the single-page save procedure since these are different tasks.

I have only one solution which can solve our problem but I want to
hear your opinion about it:
1. Merge the gui both procedures, and make the view of the multipage
procedure hidden inside a GtkExpander.
2. Behaviour will be configure like this:
a. When the expander is not expanded, only the options for the single
page export will be visible, and it will behave as a single page
export.
b.When the expander is expanded, it will behave as the multipage
export and will export the all the images in the GtkIconView.
3. In case of GIMP_RUN_WITH_LAST_VALS it will be assumed that the
expander is hidden and it's a single page export.
4. We should make sure that if the multipage procedure was used the
image will still be marked as unsaved somehow (Does the new export api
causes images to still be marked as unsaved when using the Export
function? If so, this solves our problem :D)

~Barak

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:29 PM, Martin Nordholts<enselic@...> wrote:
>
> Can't the multi-page variant simply be an option in the File -> Export...
> dialog somehow? Like, you would specify what additional images to put in the
> multi-page PDF
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[Martin Nordholts-2]

Hi Barak,

Sorry for getting your name wrong in the previous mail!

On 08/21/2009 09:32 PM, LightningIsMyName wrote:

> The problem is that if I add the multiple paged PDF as an option to
> the normal sace procedure we will have a problem when running the
> plugin using GIMP_RUN_WITH_LAST_VALS.
> Imagine the following Scenario:
> * User has images 1 2 3 open
> * While image 1 is active, the user now uses the procedure for
> creating multipage PDFs on images 2 and 3
> * The user modifies image 1 again, and wants to export it as a single
> paged PDF. However he will now have image 2 and 3 and he will have to
> remove them in order to add image 1.

In git master, there is 'File -> Export to <last file>' and 'File ->
Export...'. The former runs _WITH_LAST_VALS while the latter always
shows the export options. I don't see any problem yet.

> * The user modified image 2 and now we wants to export image 2 and 3
> again as a PDF. He will have to add them again.

We can't predict what a user wants to do. We can only give sane
defaults, such as the previous export options, and allow the user to
change them if they are not right.

A more sophisticated solution would be to have per-image export options.
Not sure if that is a good idea or not.

> The problem is that the multipage procedure should be non-related to
> the single-page save procedure since these are different tasks.

I don't see these two as conceptually different tasks. In both cases the
user wants to export a PDF.

> I have only one solution which can solve our problem but I want to
> hear your opinion about it:
> 1. Merge the gui both procedures, and make the view of the multipage
> procedure hidden inside a GtkExpander.
> 2. Behaviour will be configure like this:
> a. When the expander is not expanded, only the options for the single
> page export will be visible, and it will behave as a single page
> export.
> b.When the expander is expanded, it will behave as the multipage
> export and will export the all the images in the GtkIconView.

What d you mean w ith all images in the GtkIconView? Can't we simply let
the user pick the images for the multi-page PDF?

> 3. In case of GIMP_RUN_WITH_LAST_VALS it will be assumed that the
> expander is hidden and it's a single page export.

Wouldn't it make more sense to simply run with last vals? That is, if
the user previously exported image 1 2 and 3, invoking 'File->Export to
file.pdf' would re-export this multi-page PDF.

> 4. We should make sure that if the multipage procedure was used the
> image will still be marked as unsaved somehow (Does the new export api
> causes images to still be marked as unsaved when using the Export
> function? If so, this solves our problem :D)

In git master, exported dirtiness is separate from saved dirtiness. You
should try it out :)

BR,
Martin

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello Martin

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Martin Nordholts<enselic@...> wrote:
> A more sophisticated solution would be to have per-image export options. Not
> sure if that is a good idea or not.

I also don't think it's smart - If we do say that the PDF export is a
global task ("In both cases the user wants to export a PDF") then it
shouldn't be associated with any image.

> What d you mean w ith all images in the GtkIconView? Can't we simply let the
> user pick the images for the multi-page PDF?

The only point is that if we have both procedures merged to one
procedure, then the user will have some trouble when handling 2
different PDFs. If the user works on 2 PDFs at the same time, one of
images 1 and 2, and another of images 3 and 4 he will be annoyed to
set the pages again for every PDF. It shouldn't be a problem with 2
pages but if a user wants to export 50 pages as PDF, it starts to
become a problem...

However, now that I think of it, GIMP's product vision doesn't say
that it's a page layout program, so maybe we shouldn't really worry
about this :-)

> In git master, exported dirtiness is separate from saved dirtiness. You
> should try it out :)

I wish I could try the new branch, however I don't have a computer to
test it on with administrator rights... I need someone to package GIMP
2.7 as a zip so I can extract and run it (The windows installer
requires administrator rights, and installing a package on linux also
requires this).
If anyone can package a windows (32 bit)/linux (64 bit) build as a
single archive and not as an installer, I'll be very thankful =)
Then I'll also be able to test my plugin on GIMP 2.7 (right now, most
of my coding for feature releases of GIMP is done "blind" - I test
everything I can on the stable version, and when I want to use the new
api I read it, write some code and hope for good :D)

~Barak
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[Martin Nordholts-2]

On 08/22/2009 11:03 AM, LightningIsMyName wrote:
> I wish I could try the new branch, however I don't have a computer to
> test it on with administrator rights... I need someone to package GIMP
> 2.7 as a zip so I can extract and run it (The windows installer
> requires administrator rights, and installing a package on linux also
> requires this).

You don't need administrator rights to try GIMP git master, just install
into a prefix in your home dir

git clone git://git.gnome.org/gimp
cd gimp
./autogen.sh --prefix=/home/barak/gimp-2-7
make
make install

  / Martin

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello martin,

> You don't need administrator rights to try GIMP git master, just install
> into a prefix in your home dir
>
> git clone git://git.gnome.org/gimp
> cd gimp
> ./autogen.sh --prefix=/home/barak/gimp-2-7
> make
> make install

the problem is that the linux system I use on the computer labs at
doesn't have autogen (and some other tools required for the
compilation) installed, and in order to install it to the main
directory I need administrator rights. Is there any way to specify
other directories for tools such as autogen? I tried extracting it to
/vol/scratch (The scratch disk, since the home-folders are very
limited in disk space) and then to add it to the PATH but it didn't
work. (I'll try it again next time). If the compilation can be done on
/vol/scratch I have enough space to install all the missing scripts
(such as autogen) on my homefolder. The problem is that I don't know
how to do that.
Any tips/help?

~Barak
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[Martin Nordholts-2]

On 08/22/2009 12:27 PM, LightningIsMyName wrote:
> the problem is that the linux system I use on the computer labs at
> doesn't have autogen (and some other tools required for the
> compilation) installed

Ok but you should be able to build the GIMP 2.7.0 tarball at least,
right? It has the API you need

  / Martin

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello,

I forgot that there is a tarball (2.7 means a tarball - Yey!) - I'll
try it as soon as I can.

Back on topic, I'll submit the modified plugin today (I'll merge both
procedures and use 2.8 api) so you can see it.

~Barak
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[Sven Neumann]

> the problem is that the linux system I use on the computer labs at
> doesn't have autogen (and some other tools required for the
> compilation) installed, and in order to install it to the main
> directory I need administrator rights. Is there any way to specify
> other directories for tools such as autogen?

There is no such tool called autogen. GIMP comes with a script called
autogen.sh and this script will call some tools such as automake and
autoconf (details are explained in the file HACKING).

You could theoretically install all these tools into your home
directory. But this is rather tricky and you would have to have good
knowledge of these tools to get this done successfully. I suggest that
you use the 2.7.0 tarball instead.


Sven


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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello,

I have succesfully compiled GIMP 2.7 (from tarball) on linux, using a
terminal access =)
I'll be able to test GIMP itself and the new PDF plugin on Sunday,
when I get to the labs to run GIMP with a GUI.

~ Barak
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2009/8/25 LightningIsMyName <lightningismyname@...>

Hello,

I have succesfully compiled GIMP 2.7 (from tarball) on linux, using a
terminal access =)
I'll be able to test GIMP itself and the new PDF plugin on Sunday,
when I get to the labs to run GIMP with a GUI.

~ Barak

_______________________________________________

Notice that if your terminal access is made through ssh, and your ssh-server allows redirecting X, you can launch gui softwares through ssh :
ssh -Y -C login@server
then launch your app.

If it can help...

Etienne Lepercq

--
Sincerily

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello Etienne,

Thanks - I haven't known that. I tried it, but I got an error saying
that it's not allowed... =(
Thanks anyway, I learned something new =)

~ Barak

On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 4:30 PM, Etienne lepercq<e.guepe@...> wrote:

>
> Notice that if your terminal access is made through ssh, and your ssh-server
> allows redirecting X, you can launch gui softwares through ssh :
> ssh -Y -C login@server
> then launch your app.
>
> If it can help...
>
> Etienne Lepercq
> --
> Sincerily
>

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[LightningIsMyName]

Hello,

I tried the new GIMP 2.7 and now I saw what the export feature behaves
like. After some thought I reached the conclusion that we should
probably merge both procedures (single and multi page) into one
procedure for exporting everything.
However I also have 2 new additions:
1. The export parameters (aka the pages and optimization) should be
saved for each image individually. If the export is automatically
suggested for the same file as last time, we should save the
parameters for each file - which means saving the parameters for each
image.
2. We should warn the user when he wants to re-export the PDF if one
of the images that was a part of the PDF was closed, so he won't
overwrite his PDF and loose pages.

For feature 1, we need to make sure the parameters are saved per image
but are only relevant for the current session (since the pages are the
open images, not images from files). I need some help here on how to
do this...
Should I save the parameters to some file instead of adding the to the
image? Then I can probabbly use the quit() procedure of the plugin to
delete this file. This is the only solution I could think off, and
then, should I use the .gimpX.X/tmp/ dir for saving the file?

Waiting for feedback =)
~ Barak

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Martin Nordholts<enselic@...> wrote:

> We can't predict what a user wants to do. We can only give sane defaults,
> such as the previous export options, and allow the user to change them if
> they are not right.
>
> A more sophisticated solution would be to have per-image export options. Not
> sure if that is a good idea or not.
>
>> The problem is that the multipage procedure should be non-related to
>> the single-page save procedure since these are different tasks.
>
> I don't see these two as conceptually different tasks. In both cases the
> user wants to export a PDF.
>
>> I have only one solution which can solve our problem but I want to
>> hear your opinion about it:
>> 1. Merge the gui both procedures, and make the view of the multipage
>> procedure hidden inside a GtkExpander.
>> 2. Behaviour will be configure like this:
>> a. When the expander is not expanded, only the options for the single
>> page export will be visible, and it will behave as a single page
>> export.
>> b.When the expander is expanded, it will behave as the multipage
>> export and will export the all the images in the GtkIconView.
>
> What d you mean w ith all images in the GtkIconView? Can't we simply let the
> user pick the images for the multi-page PDF?
>
>> 3. In case of GIMP_RUN_WITH_LAST_VALS it will be assumed that the
>> expander is hidden and it's a single page export.
>
> Wouldn't it make more sense to simply run with last vals? That is, if the
> user previously exported image 1 2 and 3, invoking 'File->Export to
> file.pdf' would re-export this multi-page PDF.
>
>> 4. We should make sure that if the multipage procedure was used the
>> image will still be marked as unsaved somehow (Does the new export api
>> causes images to still be marked as unsaved when using the Export
>> function? If so, this solves our problem :D)
>
> In git master, exported dirtiness is separate from saved dirtiness. You
> should try it out :)
>
> BR,
> Martin

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