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Naaman
Vice Admiral
Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3190
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 Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:42 pm Post subject: How to make a Fan Sourcebook |
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I've been thinking about compiling all my ideas into a nice, well-presented format. Kind of a project to play around with in my spare time. Just curious: what are people using to make the Fan sourcebooks? Adobe Acrobat? If so, what is the learning curve with that program (I've only ever used Adobe Reader).
Anyway, I'd like to be able to compile my artwork, my house rules and my interpretation of the movie characters into a nice, high quality package.
Tips? Advice? |
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Azai
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
Posts: 248
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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I use openoffice.org to set up the file, and then have pdf 995 covert it to a pdf file.
It works well for me. Though sometimes images don't come as good as I would like |
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Naaman
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Joined: 29 Jul 2011
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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| I shall try this out. |
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atgxtg
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Joined: 22 Mar 2009
Posts: 2460
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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I7d reccomed Scribus. It is a free, Desktop Publishing program.
it's major advantage over acrobat is that it is free. it major advantage over Open Office is that sometimes when you convert a document to a PDF, tey layout can be changed during the process. With a desktop publishing program, at least you know what it will look like in the end. |
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Naaman
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Does a desktop publishing program generate a complete product, then? Or does it, too need to be converted into PDF? Is it a case of being more compatible with the other program, or is it a stand alone deal? |
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Fallon Kell
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Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1846
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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Great question! I found myself wondering about the same thing recently for a write up on blaster technology I was thinking about doing. Let us know what works for you!
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cheshire
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Joined: 04 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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The conversion to PDF is pretty much just a matter of printing. Most PDF writing software just adds printer drivers and a small bit of software to do the conversion. There are few programs that include the PDF software in the package.
I've worked with Scribus a bit when I was trying to publish some high-quality PDF notes for my philosophy students. It has a learning curve on it, and I never really got over that hump and I switched to Word.
Doing PDFs in a word processor is going to have some serious drawbacks. You're going to be limited in what you can do. You'll be fighting with the program to really let you do something that looks like a book. In the end, those that use word processors wind up with their books looking like they were done in word processors.
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atgxtg
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Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:42 am Post subject: |
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| Naaman wrote: | | Does a desktop publishing program generate a complete product, then? Or does it, too need to be converted into PDF? Is it a case of being more compatible with the other program, or is it a stand alone deal? |
Yes, it generates a complwete product. Scibes creates one file similar to a document, andt hat file can be saved as a PDF. But Scibus is designed to produce PDFs and the working file is just a tool for the designer so he can control how the PDf comes out and give him much better control over the layout. One nice thing about a DTP program is that they tend to give you more options for the PDF, letting you get a beter compression (and smaller file) than with something like Word or OpenOffice. You can do more with a DTP program than with a word processing program, and you can get an end product that can look better than a DOC.
Another plus is that when you are adding images and other object to the file, the images are anchored to a location on the page, rather than to a paragraph. This means that if you change he text, you don't have to worry about some or all of the images getting moved around.
Cheshire is quite right that there is a bit of a learning curve, but that is true with all software to some extent. You should be able to get it working right away, but it might take a little time to learn all the features, or to determine the best way to do something (for instance, the best way to add a table in Scibus is usually to make the table in a spreadhseet and then save it as an image). |
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Naaman
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Joined: 29 Jul 2011
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| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Awesome. Can we get this stickied? Or maybe compile the info and tips that develop into a sticky? |
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atgxtg
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| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Naaman wrote: | | Awesome. Can we get this stickied? Or maybe compile the info and tips that develop into a sticky? |
Why don't you consider it your first project and make it into a PDF?  |
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Azai
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Posts: 248
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| Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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We'll just continue to have great conversation in the thread to keep it near the top  |
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