[Gvsig_english] Again: high-quality printing: support of the development

Wed Oct 15 10:21:50 CEST 2008

How about we start a shared Google doc?
We could collect all current issues with the print layout there (and
then go through them once the 2.0 Alpha gets released) and
also start writing a wish list.

Ben

silvio grosso wrote:
> Hello everybody, 
> 
> In my opinion the printing is very important because Grass and QGis are not excellent in thies field.
> I only know these two softwares. Maybe, Udig or Kosmo, for example, are better...  
> With Grass and Qgis you can print good maps but they lack a lot of features (compared to ArcGis).
> At present, Grass is not so user-friendly as other softwares. On the other hand, Qgis is a bit "buggy" regarding the printing part (obviously it is only my opinion so don't get angry :-D).
> With Qgis 1, for instance, the printing should be better in the future. A developer worked a lot on that these past months. 
> 
> Regarding gvSIG, I think the printing features are good. 
> Nevertheless when you try them a lot, you discover they are quite buggy (obviously it is only my opinion!). Unfortunately, there is not an official list regarding the bugs. As a consequence, nobody can understand their number and severity.
> I know one can read this Mailing list and the Spanish one but it is not practical at all.
> For the future an official list regarding the bugs should be present (or at least I hope so).
> 
> I agree with Benjamin the first part should be get a list of the features wanted (a wish-list, in short).
> As far as I know, gvSIG 2 won't have  substantial improvements about the printing part. 
> It is quite possible most old bugs regarding the printing will be still there!
> 
> In short, in my modest opinion, it is necessary to wait for the upcoming release of gvSIG 2.
> Look at all the bugs still present in the printing section (probably most of the old ones!).
> Evaluate how much it could cost to correct them. Maybe not all but at leas the most important.
> After this, one could ask about a price for some new features.
> This summer, for example, one of the projects for the Summer code sponsored by Google regarded a new possible Gui (interface) for Grass regarding the printing part. In the end it was not accepted (other features were most important, e.g, the migrations to python of Nviz).
> Google gave 5000 dollars for every project. 500 dollars to the responsable of the project, that is, the tutor. 4500 dollars for the student (the real developer).
> I think the magnitude for the possible expaneses are something like that...
> 
> Best regards
> 
> Silvio
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Messaggio originale -----
> Da: Benjamin Ducke <benjamin.ducke at oxfordarch.co.uk>
> A: Users and Developers mailing list <gvsig_internacional at runas.cap.gva.es>
> Inviato: Martedì 14 ottobre 2008, 16:26:52
> Oggetto: Re: [Gvsig_english] Again: high-quality printing: support of the development
> 
> Well, let's maybe start with a detailed plan of what features would
> definitely have to go into the gvSIG map production facility.
> 
> Once that is done, maybe some gvSIG developer(s) on this list could give
> us an estimate on how much it would cost to implement them.
> 
> Once a figure has been established, it might be easier to plan
> the funding.
> 
> Ben
> 
> P.S.: Have you looked into inkscape? It has great alignment functions
> for quick map layouts and very fine-grained control over output quality.
> 
> Rory Hill wrote:
>> Wolfgang I am entirely in agreement with you - at the moment I also use 
>> an intermediary program to improve and print the maps I make with gvSIG 
>> - however I am only a student and don't really have very much to 
>> contribute except ideas and the ability to test beta versions!
>>
>> I'm sure if there are some individuals who are having positive results 
>> using gvSIG whilst working for a company, they might be able to persuade 
>> the company to contribute towards development costs? They could view the 
>> expense as something like a licence fee for proprietory software, I 
>> suppose.
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> Rory. :)
>>
>> Wolfgang Qual wrote:
>>> Dear list,
>>> some months ago, we had an interesting discussion about gvSIG and 
>>> high-quality printing [1]. For our office, creation of high-quality 
>>> prints or print files is important. One project of our Department is a 
>>> cycle map which is printed by an external printing office. Therefore, 
>>> a special pre-press file (pdf/x-3 or similar) is needed. Currently, 
>>> this job is done using ArcGIS --> eps-Export and Acrobat Distiller to 
>>> create such a file, but as we really would like to switch to FOSS, we 
>>> would like to be able to do that in gvSIG.
>>> However, at the moment, quality of ps/pdf output in gvSIG is limited 
>>> and/or buggy. For example,
>>> * not all symbology information is written to ps/pdf
>>> * gvSIG seems to have problems with large files (ok this might be 
>>> solve with lots of RAM)
>>> * additional options for export are missing (resolution etc.)
>>> * eps-file export is not possible
>>> * other export formats, such as tiff.
>>> Curently, exporting the layout to image files is limited (formats and 
>>> problems with large files [2]. Whereas a solution of-a-piece (create a 
>>> ready-to-print pdf/x-file) would be very cool, there is still a 
>>> possibility to do the pre-press in other applications like scribus or 
>>> (thanks for the hint, Marcel) sk1 which are both open source products. 
>>> However, both applications might still be unstable (scribus and large 
>>> files? sk1?). We will have to test this, and I would like to ask you 
>>> all to contribute!
>>>
>>>
>>> The list above surely is not exhausive I think. So, the first task 
>>> would be to accomplish the needs in order to specify the real needs.
>>>
>>> As this printing stuff is quite lots of development work, we then will 
>>> have to sponsor the development (or we will have to wait very, very 
>>> long, I fear). Therefore, I would like to ask the "community", if 
>>> there is someone out there, who would be willing to join in sponsoring 
>>> the development of printing functionalities of gvSIG. Our 
>>> organisation, the Department of Health and Environment is willing to 
>>> contribute, but I fear that we cannot bear all development costs.
>>>
>>>
>>> What is your opinion?
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Wolfgang
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [1] 
>>> http://www.nabble.com/Some-questions-regarding-printing-to18648153.html#a18648153 
>>>
>>> [2] http://www.nabble.com/forum/ViewPost.jtp?post=18731062&framed=y
>>>  
>>
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>>
>>
> 
> 

-- 
Benjamin Ducke
Senior Applications Support and Development Officer

Oxford Archaeology Ltd
Janus House
Osney Mead
OX2 0ES
Oxford, U.K.

Tel: +44 (0)1865 263 800 (switchboard)
Tel: +44 (0)1865 980 758 (direct)
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benjamin.ducke at oxfordarch.co.uk

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