making standalone DTP editor

Maybe too ambitious, but I was thinking of making a tiny DTP editor with only a few traditional possibilities. InDesign etcetera have far too many possibilities but also lack some. Is it feasible? When I open my application it should have boxes for paper size, margins, font, font size, spreads or not and a few more. Too ambitious? Are there examples?

Answer 1

[dpb]

Automated code generators are potentially useful these days...you can try the attached as starters...it's generated purely programmatically. Or, you could use its controls layout as pattern in your own AppDesigner app

function tinyDTPApp()
    % 1. Create Main Figure Window
    fig = uifigure('Name', 'Tiny DTP Setup', 'Position', [100, 100, 750, 450]);
    
    % 2. Control Panel (Left Side)
    controlPanel = uipanel(fig, 'Title', 'Document Settings', ...
                           'Position', [20, 20, 280, 410]);

    % Paper Size Dropdown
    uilabel(controlPanel, 'Text', 'Paper Size:', 'Position', [15, 340, 80, 22]);
    paperDrop = uidropdown(controlPanel, 'Items', {'A4', 'Letter', 'A5', 'Custom'}, ...
                           'Position', [100, 340, 150, 22]);

    % Spreads Toggle
    uilabel(controlPanel, 'Text', 'Facing Pages:', 'Position', [15, 290, 80, 22]);
    spreadSwitch = uiswitch(controlPanel, 'toggle', 'Items', {'Off', 'On'}, ...
                            'Position', [120, 290, 45, 20]);

    % Margins Input
    uilabel(controlPanel, 'Text', 'Margin (mm):', 'Position', [15, 240, 80, 22]);
    marginEdit = uinumericeditfield(controlPanel, 'Value', 20, ...
                                    'Position', [100, 240, 150, 22]);

    % Font Family
    uilabel(controlPanel, 'Text', 'Base Font:', 'Position', [15, 190, 80, 22]);
    fontDrop = uidropdown(controlPanel, 'Items', {'Helvetica', 'Times', 'Courier'}, ...
                          'Position', [100, 190, 150, 22]);

    % Font Size
    uilabel(controlPanel, 'Text', 'Font Size (pt):', 'Position', [15, 140, 80, 22]);
    fontSizeEdit = uinumericeditfield(controlPanel, 'Value', 12, ...
                                      'Position', [100, 140, 150, 22]);

    % 3. Preview Canvas (Right Side)
    canvasPanel = uipanel(fig, 'Title', 'Page Spread Preview', ...
                          'Position', [320, 20, 410, 410]);
                      
    canvasAxes = uiaxes(canvasPanel, 'Position', [20, 20, 370, 350]);
    axis(canvasAxes, 'equal');
    canvasAxes.XColor = 'none'; 
    canvasAxes.YColor = 'none';

    % Attach Callback to update preview dynamically
    updatePreview();
    paperDrop.ValueChangedFcn = @(~,~) updatePreview();
    spreadSwitch.ValueChangedFcn = @(~,~) updatePreview();
    marginEdit.ValueChangedFcn = @(~,~) updatePreview();

    % Function to draw simulated page layout
    function updatePreview()
        cla(canvasAxes);
        isSpread = strcmp(spreadSwitch.Value, 'On');
        m = marginEdit.Value / 10; % Scale down for display
        
        % Aspect ratio box simulation
        if isSpread
            % Left & Right Page
            rectangle(canvasAxes, 'Position', [0, 0, 10, 14], 'FaceColor', 'w', 'EdgeColor', 'k');
            rectangle(canvasAxes, 'Position', [10, 0, 10, 14], 'FaceColor', 'w', 'EdgeColor', 'k');
            % Margin lines
            rectangle(canvasAxes, 'Position', [m, m, 10-2*m, 14-2*m], 'EdgeColor', 'r', 'LineStyle', '--');
            rectangle(canvasAxes, 'Position', [10+m, m, 10-2*m, 14-2*m], 'EdgeColor', 'r', 'LineStyle', '--');
            xlim(canvasAxes, [-2, 22]); ylim(canvasAxes, [-2, 16]);
        else
            % Single Page
            rectangle(canvasAxes, 'Position', [0, 0, 10, 14], 'FaceColor', 'w', 'EdgeColor', 'k');
            rectangle(canvasAxes, 'Position', [m, m, 10-2*m, 14-2*m], 'EdgeColor', 'r', 'LineStyle', '--');
            xlim(canvasAxes, [-2, 12]); ylim(canvasAxes, [-2, 16]);
        end
    end
end