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   翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Monday, 15-Jul-2024 00:45:02 JST 翠星石

   • Johnny Peligro
   @mischievoustomato Meds now.
   
   GIMP is unparalleled for preparing paperwork for "actual work" as it does not care what image format each layer is in - it doesn't matter if the page is a pdf, the signature is in HEIC and part is in the SVG format - gimp will import them all and allow you to produce the required document - I know this from personal experience.
   
   Sometimes a output pdf is a bit big, but good thing GNU ghostscript can compress pdf's well without a noticeable quality degradation, or split a multi page pdf into single pages, or unite pdf's, always generating *valid* pdf's with correct headers.
   
   I cannot think of any proprietary software that can compare in ease of use and efficiency of such 100% freedom setup.
   
   
   "adobe reader" is a pile of shit when it comes to filling out pdf forms with text as it refuses to operate at random even if you have paid the monthly rent, while evince doesn't have that problem and is a breeze to use.
   
   "adobe reader" sometimes even produces invalid pdf's that say they need to be opened in adobe reader, but as it turns out, GNU ghostcript can un-corrupt such corrupted pdfs for viewing.
   • Embed this notice
     翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jul-2024 00:29:11 JST 翠星石

     in reply to

     • Hyolobrika
     @Hyolobrika >I'd love to find a good FOSS image editing software for my artist brother.
     For image manipulation, GIMP is functionally the best software there is.
     
     For drawing, Krita is best.
     
     For vector art, inkscape is best.
     
     >Why would you use GIMP to prepare paperwork?
     Since it just works, doesn't screw up the text rendering (albeit it turns the text into an image, but I'm sure that'll eventually be improved), puts the new text in the output pdf in can be copy/pasted and it doesn't bloat up the file size.
     
     Inkscape works too, but it bloats up the file size and screws up the text rendering unless you use image import.
     
     I cannot think of any proprietary malware that is functionally better at such tasks.
     
     
     If it's actually a pdf with forms (these are rare), then you can use evince or okular (it even supports pdf stamps for signatures), which are functionally much better than every single proprietary editor including adobe's.
   • Embed this notice
     Hyolobrika (hyolobrika@social.fbxl.net)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jul-2024 00:29:12 JST Hyolobrika

     in reply to

     • Johnny Peligro
     @Suiseiseki @mischievoustomato Why would you use GIMP to prepare paperwork?
   • Embed this notice
     翠星石 (suiseiseki@freesoftwareextremist.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jul-2024 02:15:43 JST 翠星石

     in reply to

     • Hyolobrika
     @Hyolobrika >He's tried it and doesn't like it.
     Yes, the default tool groups and the tool colour scheme now suck, but everything can be fixed in the settings.
   • Embed this notice
     Hyolobrika (hyolobrika@social.fbxl.net)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jul-2024 02:15:44 JST Hyolobrika

     in reply to

     • Hyolobrika
     @Suiseiseki Never mind, the spacing made me miss that you recommended GIMP.
     
     He's tried it and doesn't like it.
   • Embed this notice
     Hyolobrika (hyolobrika@social.fbxl.net)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jul-2024 02:15:45 JST Hyolobrika

     in reply to
     @Suiseiseki My brother is a photographer who does digital manipulation of his photographs. Do you have anything that can do that?