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| Latest Release: Version **0.3.4** | ||
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| Author: Florian Albrecht | ||
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| Downloads can be found [here](https://github.com/albrechtf/mcf2pdf/releases). Please read the **installation instructions** below carefully, **otherwise the software will definitely not work for you.** You have been warned. | ||
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| ## What is mcf2pdf? What not? | ||
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| This program enables you to convert photobooks created with the Mein CEWE | ||
| Fotobuch or My CEWE Photobook software (in short, MCF software) to PDF files. | ||
| These files then can be used to have a quick and rough impression on how the | ||
| photobook is going to look after printing. | ||
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| **Calendars and anything else than BOOKS are NOT (yet) supported by this software!** | ||
| **(Do not ask me WHEN they will be supported - you will be ignored)** | ||
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| The generated PDFs are NOT, and will never be, a 100% representation of the | ||
| designed photobook. Also, they do NOT include bleed margins (especially not for | ||
| the cover pages) and such things, and they use the RGB color model, not the CMYK | ||
| model used for professional printings. Therefore, you should not use the | ||
| generated PDFs for any "real" print jobs - you will be really disappointed about | ||
| the results. | ||
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| I just developed this program for personal use. So, there will be many features | ||
| of MCF files not yet supported by this software. This can result in empty or | ||
| strange looking PDFs, or even in program crashes. Notice that this program is | ||
| in BETA stage and is not guaranteed to work for ANY of your MCF files. However, | ||
| if you notice any strange output, feel free to issue a ticket in the GitHub | ||
| bugtracker. If possible, include a screenshot of the MCF software which shows how | ||
| the page should look, and then a screenshot of the PDF how it looks after | ||
| conversion. Also, including the whole .mcf file would help (don't panic, the .mcf | ||
| files do not include any pictures by theirselves, but TEXT inserted into the | ||
| photobook can be seen in the .mcf file). | ||
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| If you are interested in extending the software, feel free to fork the project | ||
| and start developing! Most important classes are commented. If you create Pull | ||
| Requests in the main project, I can review them and include them in the software. | ||
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| ## Installation and configuration | ||
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| Installation is quite easy. Just download and extract the archive | ||
| (mcf2pdf-x.y.z-bin-windows.zip or mcf2pdf-x.y.z-bin-linux.tar.gz). | ||
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| To run mcf2pdf, you will have to **adjust the startup script by hand**, as the | ||
| program cannot yet automatically determine where the MCF software is installed. | ||
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| Some notes about the structure of the MCF software first: The installation | ||
| locations of the software consist of two components. One component is the | ||
| "real" installation directory, like `C:\Program Files\Mein CEWE Fotobuch` under | ||
| Windows, or perhaps `/home/myuser/cewe-fotobuch` under Linux. Here the binaries | ||
| of the software are located as well as the shipped background images, fonts, | ||
| cliparts etc. | ||
| The other component is the "temporary" directory of the MCF software which can | ||
| be set from within the software. Here everything you download from within the | ||
| program (e.g. new background images, cliparts, themes...) will be stored. | ||
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| As files from both locations could be used in your photobook (.mcf) files, you | ||
| have to "tell" mcf2pdf about both. This is done by editing the startup script | ||
| (mcf2pdf.bat under Windows, mcf2pdf under Linux) with any text editor you like | ||
| (Windows: right-click the file and select "Edit"). | ||
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| Look for the line starting with <SET> MCF_INSTALL_DIR= (SET only in the .bat | ||
| version). After the =, insert the complete path to the "real" MCF software | ||
| installation location, e.g. "C:\Program Files\Mein CEWE Fotobuch". Notice that | ||
| you MUST include the path in double quotes if it contains spaces!! | ||
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| Next, look for the line starting with <SET> MCF_TEMP_DIR= (SET only in the | ||
| .bat version). The same, insert now the TEMPORARY location of the software. If | ||
| unsure, startup the MCF software, open any file, select "Options", "Directories" | ||
| (second item in the Options dialog), and copy the temporary directory listed | ||
| there. | ||
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| When finished, save the startup script. | ||
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| ## Converting files | ||
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| After correct configuration (see above), conversion of MCF files now is rather | ||
| simple. Just open a command line (Windows: Win+R, then enter "cmd"), change to | ||
| the directory where you extracted the mcf2pdf program (if you do not know what | ||
| this means, google for "cd change directory"), and type "mcf2pdf <my MCF file> | ||
| <my new PDF file>". For example: | ||
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| mcf2pdf "C:\Documents and Settings\myuser\My Documents\USA 2011.mcf" output.pdf | ||
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| Notice the double quotes due to the spaces in the path to the MCF file! | ||
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| If this seems to complicated, you can COPY the .mcf file AND the images folder | ||
| of it (e.g. "USA 2011.mcf Files") to the directory where mcf2pdf is located, | ||
| and then just enter | ||
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| mcf2pdf "USA 2011.mcf" output.pdf | ||
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| The program will start converting the file and inform you when this is finished. | ||
| Notice that the program is NOT optimized for speed in any way... It can take | ||
| a long time. | ||
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| For advanced settings, enter "mcf2pdf -h". This will give you information on | ||
| how to adjust the output DPI setting and much more. | ||
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| ## Troubleshooting | ||
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| As stated above, mcf2pdf is BETA and does not yet implement very much of the | ||
| MCF software features. Please refer to chapter 1 on how to file a "bug". | ||
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| If you get any error like "Unrecognized command: java", please make sure that | ||
| a Java Runtime (1.6.0 or newer) is installed and the Java Executable is on your | ||
| PATH. Ask Google if you do not know what this means. | ||
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| If you get an error like "Java Heap Space" or OutOfMemoryException, | ||
| there is not enough memory for the page rendering. Adjust the startup | ||
| script (see chapter 2) to set higher memory levels for Java. You can find memory | ||
| settings in the line containing `MCF2PDF_JAVA_OPTS=...`. | ||
| Increase the option `-Xmx128M` e.g. to 512M. | ||
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| ## Legal Stuff (Disclaimer) | ||
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| THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND | ||
| ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED | ||
| WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE | ||
| DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR | ||
| ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES | ||
| (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; | ||
| LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON | ||
| ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT | ||
| (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS | ||
| SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. |