The directory

Each document sample is a directory that must contain:

• A manifest.yml file with:
  • a short description of the document,
  • the author's name
  • the license name
  • a list of tags
  • the (minimal) Scribus version
  • a flag if the sample contains assets that are less free than the document.
  • a flag if the sample contains assets that are not free.
• A LICENCE.md file.
• A README.md file
  • Describing the characteristics of the document.
  • Describing how to use the document and how to adapt to the specific needs of the user.

Each document sample directory should provide

• Screenshots (named preview.png, preview-01.png, ...)
• Non free assets should we watermarked (if possible).

Each document sample directory can provide

• Font files in the fonts/ directory.
• Images in the images/ directory containing:
  • the images used in the .sla files,
  • the images used in the readme file.
• One or more .sla filles collected for output

It's not clear yet if a directory must / should / could:

• Provide a PDF version of the document.

The .sla file

The .sla file must:

• Avoid spaces and special characters in the file name.

The .sla file should:

• Only contain images that do not exceed the 150 dpi at their size in the document. (You can provide sources to original images in the README file.)
• Have a watermark on the images that have a resolution below 100 dpi ("Sample"; we want to avoid that the users send to the printer files that have low resolution).

The .sla file can:

• Have an "Instruction layer" with "on screen" instructions that are for using the document (for more complex documents, one could add "numbers" that are referenced in the README)

Create a document that briefly explains what each license means in the context of the sample documents for Scribus.

If someone submits a sample document containing images, should they also say - somewhere, but I don't know where - what the maximum resolution of the images used is?

My thinking behind the question comes from the following scenario:

• Person downloads a sample document.
• It looks fine on screen.
• They change it to their purposes.
• They take it to their print shop to get printed.
• They get the printed material home.
• They find out that it's very blocky and looks horrible.
• They get angry.

I realise that people should check this sort of thing before taking things to the print shop and there's a way of making sure that the resolution of images is sufficient using the PFV but it might be useful to some people if they know up-front that the document is only - for example - meant to be used for on-screen viewing and not for printing.

Maybe all it needs is a line in the "readme.md" saying something like:

"This document uses low resolution images that will look okay viewing on-screen but are not suitable for commercial printing."

Or something like that. Just so that people are aware of the limitations of the document before they use it.

Create a documentation/ file explaining why most people should look for sample documents and not templates:

• create your own templates
• get inspiration from good documents

When someone creates a sample document that uses external resources - such as images, vector art, fonts - how should they attribute the original authors? Also, should a separate license file be supplied with the document?

My suggestion would be to include a file - called something like "attributions.md" or "licenses.md" - which contains something like the following:

The author has dedicated this sample document to the public domain by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighbouring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Attributions for resources:

Images

• Lions - CC0 Public Domain - https://pixabay.com/en/lions-zoo-animal-1660044/
• Ribbons - CC0 Public Domain - Author's own work

Fonts

• Overdose Sunrise - Donationware - http://www.dafont.com/overdose-sunrise.font
• The Outbox St - Free for personal use - http://www.dafont.com/the-outbox-st.font

Clipart

• Filing Cabinet - https://openclipart.org/detail/262600/filing-cabinet
• Point Of Interest - Public Domain - http://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/POI/49571.html

This way, the author has made a reasonable attempt to make sure that the resources are usable by people in their project within the law while also giving the necessary attributions. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing.

I think it's fairly obvious to say that if a resource needs a commercial license to use/distribute it then it shouldn't be included in the sample document to begin with.

P.S. I don't really care about format/wording/structure, as long as the necessary information has been supplied. Is there a "standard" way to do this sort of thing?

Some OSes come with fonts installed as standard that are not installed as standard on other OSes. One example is "Minion Pro" that's in OSX but not Windows. (And I think I'm right that "Helvetica" isn't a Linux font, and Helvetica is used quite a lot.)

These fonts are usually copyrighted and can't be exchanged - legally at least - with other people using other OSes.

Most fonts can of course be obtained if people want to pay for them but that's not usually an option for someone who just wants to make a one-off document.

How should users treat these fonts? Should they not use them, or should they still use them but mark the document as OS-specific? Or should people be told not to use OS-specific fonts?

Also, on a related point, how can a user know if the font was part of a standard installation? They may be using a machine that used to be someone else's or they may simply not know where the font came from.

This might sound like I'm being a bit picky at this early stage but if someone uploads a copyrighted font - by mistake of course - then there could be some nasty legal issues to deal with later on.

All I'm trying to do is think of what can go wrong before it does go wrong. It's nice to have a backup plan but it's better to make sure you don't need it!

• A PHP based platform
• That can list all samples and search by tags
• Getting the content from the Github repository
• Eventually updating on each push.

The following licenses are accepted in the manifest file:

• cc-by-sa: Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike
• cc-by: Creative Commons - Attribution
• cc-pd: CC0 Public Domain
• pd: Public Domain

The following licenses are not accepted in manifest file

• cc-by-sa-nd: Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike - No Derivative (for obvious reasons)
• cc-by-sa-nc: Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike - No Commercial (it's not clear what use is commercial and what not)

The assets provided with the sample document can have other licenses, as long as further distribution is allowed.
Each (group of) asset(s) that does not have the same license as the sample document has to be listed in the LICENSE.md file and its license clearly specified.

Please suggest further licenses that should be accepted.

The final list will be added to the documentation/licenses.md file.

We could provide a zip with a few good free fonts that the document creators are invited to use.

Please suggest fonts that should be included.