Jump to content
Storyist Forums

Opening PDF files in Storyist.


Steve E

Recommended Posts

I would like to be able to open PDF files in Storyist.

 

This isn't critical and I doubt a lot of other people have thought about this.

 

It's just that when I noted that Script Frenzy wanted finished scripts in PDF file format for page counting I thought it would be nicely symmetrical if we could go the other way as well. As it is I can't even import PDF files. We're stuck with Copy & Paste. This has not been a problem so far but PDF is a fairly standard file format; It seems a shame not to have convenient access to it via Storyist.

 

- Thoth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to be able to open PDF files in Storyist.

 

This isn't critical and I doubt a lot of other people have thought about this.

 

It's just that when I noted that Script Frenzy wanted finished scripts in PDF file format for page counting I thought it would be nicely symmetrical if we could go the other way as well. As it is I can't even import PDF files. We're stuck with Copy & Paste. This has not been a problem so far but PDF is a fairly standard file format; It seems a shame not to have convenient access to it via Storyist.

 

- Thoth

 

I've read some technical discussion about reading PDFs, and it sounds like a hard feature to support. In a PDF, words are placed on a page at X,Y coordinates, so the importer has to string sentences back together. This can make it very difficult to detect things like headers and footers, and those can wind up running into the rest of the text. It might be an easier problem if Storyist also generated the PDF, and could rely on the locations of the headers and footers, but people like to customize. I'm very curious if this is doable.

 

IF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've read that too, Isaac. I know it's hard. I suspect that's why so few programs manipulate PDFs.

I'm very curious if this is doable.

I have high confidence that Steve could do this. The question is whether he thinks it would be worth his time. We can already print a Storyist file as a PDF, thanks to Apple. Moving in the other direction satisfies a certain sense of symmetry, don't you think?

- Thoth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've read that too, Isaac. I know it's hard. I suspect that's why so few programs manipulate PDFs.

 

I have high confidence that Steve could do this. The question is whether he thinks it would be worth his time. We can already print a Storyist file as a PDF, thanks to Apple. Moving in the other direction satisfies a certain sense of symmetry, don't you think?

- Thoth

 

I like symmetry, but PDFs have always seemed like one-way serialization to me. It seems like solving the problem would be a feel-good triumph, but whether it would be a make-money triumph is another question.

 

That said, I can already see how I would start writing the code, and it is ugly.

 

IF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like symmetry, but PDFs have always seemed like one-way serialization to me. It seems like solving the problem would be a feel-good triumph, but whether it would be a make-money triumph is another question.

There is something to be said about being unique in your field: might be a reason to buy, might not. There is also something to be said about a "feel-good triumph". In any case, it's Steve's call.

 

That said, I can already see how I would start writing the code, and it is ugly.

Ooo. Scary code. :lol:

Or an irresistible challenge?

Who can say?

Are you really trying to talk Steve out of it?

- Thoth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is something to be said about being unique in your field: might be a reason to buy, might not. There is also something to be said about a "feel-good triumph". In any case, it's Steve's call.

 

 

Ooo. Scary code. :)

Or an irresistible challenge?

Who can say?

Are you really trying to talk Steve out of it?

- Thoth.

So you want to be able to turn the text in a PDF into something readable by Storyist, Thoth? If you've ever tried to open "converted" text from Acrobat, you'll see that it is every bit the mess Isaac describes. But why would you want to create a .story file from PDF text?

 

When I first read your post, I thought you meant the feature previously requested by Julia Grace: the ability to add a PDF as a PDF to a notebook entry. That seems to me much more useful, as PDF can be a good way to get research information from a website. (I usually take a screen shot if the page doesn't have a print window where I can snag the text for Word or TextEdit, but that gets awkward if the information fills more than one screen.) It would also be much easier for Steve to implement.

Best,

M

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So you want to be able to turn the text in a PDF into something readable by Storyist, Thoth? If you've ever tried to open "converted" text from Acrobat, you'll see that it is every bit the mess Isaac describes.

I think you're missing my point. Yes, I know "converted" text from Acrobat can look like a mess. This is why I move PDF text with a Copy & Paste. Yes, I know the code to get it right could be "ugly". That's why I'd want a professional to write it. I'm not thinking about how hard it would be to do correctly. I'm thinking about the end result I want.

 

But why would you want to create a .story file from PDF text?

For the same reason I'd want to import a file in any other format. Also, PDF has become the government standard format. It is also becoming a hot trading format (at least amongst those who can afford Adobe's overpriced software).

 

But you could be right. I might never need to edit a story sent to me in PDF format, in Storyist. This isn't exactly a high-priority request. But after Julia Grace made her "PDF in Notes" request I thought it was time to ask. After all, look how long Bookmarks took.

 

- Thoth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PDF support is my version of Bookmarks Thoth. While I don't really need importing a PDF as a manuscript so much, I desperately want it in notes. It's the one thing I reallllllllllly miss from Scrivener. *sigh*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PDF support is my version of Bookmarks Thoth.

Aim for the stars, Gracie. (Worst case, you hit the moon. Maybe a weather satellite. A low flying dragon...)

 

While I don't really need importing a PDF as a manuscript so much, I desperately want it in notes. It's the one thing I reallllllllllly miss from Scrivener. *sigh*

Know what? I think Scrivener is the program Storyist needs to beat. I'm not saying Storyist should become Scrivener. Not at all. But I do think Steve should make it clear that anything Scrivener can do Storyist can do better. And there are already plenty of things Storyist can do that Scrivener cannot.

 

I hear the rain.

- Thoth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the feature previously requested by Julia Grace: the ability to add a PDF as a PDF to a notebook entry. That seems to me much more useful, as PDF can be a good way to get research information from a website...It would also be much easier for Steve to implement.

 

That would be my choice as well. While researching my last story, I found a wonderful PhD dissertation in PDF from the student who wrote it, and I would have loved to be able to have added that document to my project, to keep everything in one place!

 

Orren

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You guys do understand that this is a completely separate request?

It's not either/or.

I'm not asking Steve to do my request instead of Julia's.

And yes, I do understand that my request will be far more difficult to implement.

I even pointed out, at the beginning of the thread, that this isn't critical.

So why all the comparison?

This is a different request.

Clear?

 

- Thoth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Know what? I think Scrivener is the program Storyist needs to beat. I'm not saying Storyist should become Scrivener. Not at all. But I do think Steve should make it clear that anything Scrivener can do Storyist can do better. And there are already plenty of things Storyist can do that Scrivener cannot.

 

I agree. Storyist has a lot over Scrivener, but the ability to pull in research to the actually file and not just link out of it isn't one of them. I think if that was added, it would add a great non-fiction element to the program as well. I'd love to make a template for non-fiction work, like a research paper.

 

- J

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... I'd love to make a template for non-fiction work, like a research paper.

I might have mention, back in my young and foolish posts, how Storyist could use a Table Of Contents function, an Index function, a Bibliography function, and a Glossary function. I must confess, I was thinking about using Storyist for a research paper at the time (although that wasn't my argument). It was gently pointed out to me that such functions would make Storyist too much like the evil Darth Processor (i.e., MS Word) and less like a novel-writing tool. (This was before script templates were added, I think.) Still....***wistful sigh***

- Thoth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I can see the reasoning behind keeping it a novel writing program.... though with scripts and stuff added I guess it's more along the lines of keeping it a fiction writing program. Still, I could make the argument for wanting to do everything in one program, but there are those who will make the argument against it being bloatware etc. etc.

 

Maybe what Steve should do is higher a bunch more developers and put out a Non-Fiction-ist too! :lol:

 

Though, TOC, index, and Glossary features have their place in fiction as well. It would be very handy for a Chapter Lists and having an index/glossary of magical objects or words in your fictional language.

- Joolsy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... but there are those who will make the argument against it being bloatware etc. etc.

Yeah. Pretty much.

 

Though, TOC, index, and Glossary features have their place in fiction as well. It would be very handy for a Chapter Lists and having an index/glossary of magical objects or words in your fictional language.

- Joolsy

I think I first suggested a Glossary here, in Feature Requests, back in 2007. Steve seemed to like the idea but nothing became of it. :lol:

 

Perhaps it's time to revisit these old Feature Requests.

- Thoth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are a greedy bunch of feature requesters aren't we? :lol:

Indeed. But Stave has said, on more than one occasion, that he likes us that way.

It has also been said that all developers are at least a little bit the masochist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does that make us Sadists? And since I want to develop things, does that make me both or do they cancel each other out?

-Slooj

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does that make us Sadists? And since I want to develop things, does that make me both or do they cancel each other out?

 

They don't cancel out, they build on each other. The term is sado-masochist. And I'm afraid that it doesn't fit you at all. :lol:

 

Orren

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does that make us Sadists?

I think we only become sadists when we start to enjoy inflicting pain on Steve.

(I'm almost there.)

 

And since I want to develop things, does that make me both or do they cancel each other out?

I think you'll be one and then the other: a masochist, as you torture yourself for your labor of love; a sadist, as you gleefully rip apart the competition. Now that's sadomasochism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
I would like to be able to open PDF files in Storyist.

 

Until Storyist allows you to do that, here is a piece of software I just discovered that gives you a two-step process from PDF to Storyist-importable document: http://www.mac-pdf-converter.com/ (you may have already known about this program, but a friend just pointed it out to me today, and said it worked well).

 

Not the same as having the import feature directly in Storyist, of course. But it will allow you to import PDF material to other word processors if you need to (and are willing to buy the program).

 

Orren

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So PDF to (shudder) Word and then import from Darth Processor into Storyist.

 

One problem stands in the way of this working for me. The program requires Mac OS X v10.5 or later. I'm still riding the Tiger.

 

Thanks anyway.

- Thoth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...