Hi Friends,
I've been working on a tutorial to add to the FAQ topic. I had formatted my text in OpenOffice Writer, so as to import to Scribus. (And finally export finished product to PDF) But that method is proving problematic. It sounds like SVG to PDF issues have recently improved, so I'm going to try the direct export. But I can't find any way to get my formatted text into Inkscape. The only thing that I've been able to do, is copy/paste, but I lose the formatting. Things could be worse though, at least I'm learning new things

Anyway, I've been copying a paragraph at a time, and pasting into a text frame in Inkscape. But I don't want it to remain flowed text, so after I paste, I click Text menu > Unflow. But then that bit of text jumps so far away, it's actually outside the page border.

At one point, when I first started, the text would jump up above the page border. Then I changed something, I don't remember exactly what it was, but then it started jumping below the page border. I wouldn't even mind the jumping thing, if it at least stayed in the screen, so that I don't have to scroll around to find it.

Any idea what's happening here, and if there's a solution? I have done a quick search at Launchpad, and find nothing related.
Thanks for your help

PS - No transforms have been done at all, other than changing page orientation. Could this be related to that bug? (I'll get the bug # and link as soon as I post this, and edit in, for those unfamiliar.)

Edit - Well, I couldn't find the bug I mentioned, but I did find these, possibly related to my problem?
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/345594
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/489912

brynn wrote:Anyway, I've been copying a paragraph at a time, and pasting into a text frame in Inkscape. But I don't want it to remain flowed text, so after I paste, I click Text menu > Unflow. But then that bit of text jumps so far away, it's actually outside the page border.

Why do you use 'Unflow'? If I understand correctly what you want is 'Text > Convert to text':

Quoting the manual:

« Flowed text can be converted back to a regular text object with the Text → Unflow (Shift+Alt+W). The resulting text will be on a single line.

The Text → Convert to Text command converts link-flowed text to a regular text object while preserving the appearance of the text. The text is still editable but will no longer reflow inside the shape or path frame. This is necessary for display of the drawing in another SVG renderer. »

brynn wrote:No transforms have been done at all, other than changing page orientation. Could this be related to that bug?

What bug exactly? Using 'Text > Convert to Text' does not make the text jump, it keeps the formatting (line breaks) as seen in the flowed text. But yes, unflowing a flowed text (puts all text content onto a single line of regular text) does "jump" if the page has been resized (because then the layers themselves are transformed i.e. moved).

Why do you use 'Unflow'?

Ah, well the reason I didn't want flowed text, is because of the warning on this page:

What bug exactly?

I couldn't find it. But it was a bug where if any transformations, OR Fit page to selection, or changing page orientation had been used, that various different kinds of objects would become displaced on the canvas. I remember one where trying to apply a radially tiled clone caused the clones to be just sprayed out all over the page; and one where ungrouping objects caused the objects to move elsewhere on the canvas. The bug only happens if a transformation or Fit page to selection, or I think also a transformation matrix (although I'm not sure about the latter) had been applied previously. The problems never occur on a brand new doc. I reported my experiences in a couple of bug reports, but it was my first experience reporting a bug, and I did a very bad job of it. I thought someone else had reported it, and that THAT bug was done properly, but I couldn't find it. This is the one I reported: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/299362

I might mention that the further down the page I was when I clicked Unflow, the further down below the page border moved the text. When I was at the bottom of the page and clicked Unflow, the text jumped 40 INCHES below that (this particular doc I used inches, rather than px). The doc itself was 50 inches long.

brynn wrote:(…)

Did you get the expected result with 'Text > Convert to text'?

I had asked about "what bug" because the one that happens when unflowing text if the page had been resized (I confirmed in my previous comment) IMHO is not relevant for your issue -- Converting flowed text to regular text

'Unflow' does not keep the appearance of the flowed text, nor the precise insertion point of the text object (yes, the displacement if used inside a transformed group is unexpected and should be handled better by Inkscape).

Also, you don't have to bother with this conversion at all as long as you don't publish or share the SVG file itself on the web: If you use the SVG file as base to create a PDF file, you can keep the text as flowed text without negative consequences. 'Flowed text' is only an issue if the SVG file itself is viewed with other SVG renderer (like a web browser).

brynn wrote:You know I always am happy to learn new things. But if you don't know what you're doing, you can't always find the appropriate instructions. From my point of view, an item in the Text menu that says Convert to text, doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm thinking 'circle or square or star to text'???? and it didn't seem like what I needed. But Unflow sounded exactly like what I needed. You may or may not remember that I started learning Inkscape as completely a computer graphics novice. Despite all the excellent instructional material, sometimes it still comes down to trial and error.

Sorry if my earlier comments were offending - I didn't mean to imply you made a mistake, but answer the «(…) and if there's a solution?» part of your question (i.e. use a different command to achieve a better result, keeping the appearance of the flowed text). I'll try harder next time… ;)

Did you get the expected result with 'Text > Convert to text'?

I never did try Convert to text, because as I said, I thought I already had text, and converting text to text didn't make sense. By now I've finished the work. But next time, I surely will try it. Thanks for taking the time to help me with this.

Also, you don't have to bother with this conversion at all as long as you don't publish or share the SVG file itself on the web: If you use the SVG file as base to create a PDF file, you can keep the text as flowed text without negative consequences.

I AM using as a base for PDF. But I could not find a way to keep the margins straight, because I couldn't snap the left side of the text frames to a guide.

Ok, when I copy/pasted the text from OO, it pasted as one long string of text, inside a giant text frame -- no formatting. I couldn't use it like that. There are many small paragraphs, numbered lists, with images in between several of them. So then I selected each paragraph or list, out of that giant text frame, pasted into a smaller text frame, Unflow (which I thought was the proper step to take), snap to left guide (margin), and then broke the single long line of text accoring to the right side guide using Enter.

'Flowed text' is only an issue if the SVG file itself is viewed with other SVG renderer (like a web browser).

The wording in the warning I saw is "The text is not likely to be viewable by other renderers." I don't know what manner of "renderers" might exist, or who uses which one. I didn't know "renderer" meant web browser. I didn't know "renderer" didn't meant PDF. Actually I thought PDF might be a "renderer" (probably I confused PDF file with Adobe (pdf) Reader ). I just thought I wanted to be sure most people can see it. Like I say, despite the best instructional material available, sometimes even reasonably intelligent people can't find what they need.

'Unflow' does not keep the appearance of the flowed text, nor the precise insertion point of the text object (yes, the displacement if used inside a transformed group is unexpected and should be handled better by Inkscape).

As I said, the displacement itself doesn't bother me, as long as it's in the same screen and I don't have to scroll around to find it. It's just 40 inches is a LONG way away! I don't know what you mean by "transformed group". Should I make up a sample file and report it?