[Gvsig_english] printing

[Chris Puttick]

----- "Wolfgang Qual" <Wolfgang.Qual at gmx.net> wrote:
> Hi Marcel and all the others!
> First, I would like to thank you for this great discussion. Very
> interesting.
> We have different options to go 
> 
> 1) gvSIG to become an "eierlegende Wollmilchsau": gvSIG will be able
> to make everything, even creation of sophisticated pdf-x...-files
> 2) only enhance the export-function of gvSIG and use another open
> source program (must be open source, I think) for creating the layout
> and printfiles. These could be
> 2.1) export to imagefile (tiff) and do the rest in GIMP, scribus, sk1
> or inkscape
> 2.2) export to eps (pdf, ps) and do the rest in GIMP, scribus, sk1 or
> inkscape
> 2.3) export to Vectorformat (svg) and do the rest in scribus, sk1 (?)
> and inkscape
> 3) do all layout work in gvSIG and export the final map into export
> format (like eps). Only use another program to create the final pdf or
> pdf/x-...-file.
> 
> José voted for a "single-piece" solution  (no. 1). I would also prefer
> this solution if possible.

My experience in IT suggests this is by far the worst option. The habit, built in the proprietary marketplace where users need to be "sold" new versions, of trying to build all possible functionality into a single piece of software all too often results in software that is not so very good at anything, and almost always results in software that is prone to crashing, inconsistencies between versions e.g. in data interchange, and extremely slow to fix bugs.

Ensuring there is a seamless flow between applications involved in different stages is a far more sustainable approach.

> But it would be also ok (to my opinion) to
> use another software (nr. 3) to create the final printfile. But the
> layout should be done within gvSIG. The layout function is already
> quite cool and it should be possible to created here at least
> good-looking maps for office usage (print maps with your colour
> printer, plotter in all formats). I think most users need to have to
> possibility to create such maps quick and in a reliable way. Normally,
> you will not be willing tho redo the layout again in another app., or?
> One very important thing about gvSIG's layout function: it allows the
> user to create templates which again speed up the creation of maps.
> Therefore, the layout capabilities of gvSIG should be tested more and
> possible enhancements should be written to the list.

This seems a reasonable approach for the majority of cartographic needs. For some of our needs however we would always need to finish the output in a graphics focussed application as we are producing maps as illustrations for client reports. The traditional (last 5 years ;) ) workflow in contract archaeology is from ArcGIS to Illustrator; gvSIG output to SVG would then neatly substitute gvSIG to Inkscape for that workflow, with the added potential benefit of rich web publishing of maps using the SVG output. 

> Of course, there are very nice layout and image manipulation programs
> out there in the Open Source universe. But do they solve our question
> *right now*?
> 
> * Inkscape is great when creating nice drawings in vector format. You
> can also impoort existing svg-files (for example, I read that it is
> possible to export a chart made in OOCalc to OODraw and export it as
> svg. Then import it in inkscape to create a really nice one). But I do
> not consider it as a program to create map-layouts. Scribus does not
> offer a possibility to create printfiles. I can save the drawing as
> svg or export it as png. SVG-export is (to my knowledge) already
> implemented in QGIS, but I think it is not finished yet. And Marcel
> said that you cannot use it for production useage? Why?
> 
> Hmmm. @Ben: what about that google-doc? Doable?
> 
Google Doc or a Wiki page, if the latter use OSGeo?

> Best,
> Wolfgang



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