A simple utility to center the content of selected pages on the page

.gitignore

@@ -82,3 +82,4 @@ nosetests.xml
 /tests/testCalendar/a4l/*.pdf
 /tests/testCalendar/a4p/*.pdf
 /tests/testIndexLarge/*.mcf.*.idx.*.png
+/utilities/fixleftrightchanges/tests

README.md

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ more detail for users, contributors, and coding assistants.
 | Set up and test Linux using WSL | [Linux/WSL guide](documents/TestingOnWSL.md) |
 | Build or install a standalone executable | [Build and Windows integration guide](documents/build_a_compiled_version.md) |
 | Work with tests and approved PDFs | [Test workflow and cleanup](tests/README.md), and [compare-pdf interface](tests/compare-pdf/README.md) |
+| Center selected album page content | [MCF/MCFX content centering utility](utilities/contenttocenter/README.md) |
 | Understand or author clip art and passepartout resources | [CLP file format and authoring notes](clipart/CLP_FILE_FORMAT.md) |
 | Consult superseded setups and investigations | [Historical documentation](documents/history/README.md) |
 
@@ -222,6 +223,13 @@ shared operating-system font folders (for example ``C:\\Windows\\Fonts``).
 This is disabled by default because the available fonts differ between
 machines.
 
+**Windows executable exception:** when the executable converts an album from
+the Explorer context menu, automatic mode enables shared system-font discovery
+even if an album or program ``cewe2pdf.ini`` sets ``loadSystemFonts = False``.
+See the [Windows Explorer guide](documents/build_a_compiled_version.md#windows-explorer-installation-and-use).
+This setting is separate from per-user fonts: those are still searched unless
+the ``IGNORELOCALFONTS`` environment variable is set.
+
 To find a potential ``additional_fonts.txt`` the code searches, in order, the album directory, the current directory and the location of the program itself; it uses only the **first** such file found.
 
 For normal use (i.e. actually creating a pdf album, rather than testing the code) the most reasonable strategy is to place an ``additional_fonts.txt`` file with the album file, out of the way of future updates to the program repository. The repository supplies a commented ``additional_fonts.example.txt`` which you can copy and adapt. It is deliberately not called ``additional_fonts.txt``, so it is never used as implicit configuration.

cewe2pdf.pyproj

@@ -378,6 +378,7 @@
     <Content Include="tests\unittest_fotobook\unittest_fotobook_mcf-Dateien\img4.png" />
     <Content Include="tests\unittest_fotobook\unittest_fotobook_mcf-Dateien\img5.png" />
     <Content Include="tests\unittest_fotobook\unittest_fotobook_mcf-Dateien\img6.png" />
+    <Content Include="utilities\contenttocenter\README.md" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="albumConversionSession.py" />
@@ -496,6 +497,7 @@
     <Compile Include="texts\shadows.py" />
     <Compile Include="texts\tabs.py" />
     <Compile Include="texts\__init__.py" />
+    <Compile Include="utilities\contenttocenter\contenttocenter.py" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Folder Include=".github\" />
@@ -662,6 +664,8 @@
     <Folder Include="tests\unittest_fotobook\previous_result_pdfs\" />
     <Folder Include="tests\unittest_fotobook\unittest_fotobook_mcf-Dateien\" />
     <Folder Include="texts\" />
+    <Folder Include="utilities\" />
+    <Folder Include="utilities\contenttocenter\" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <InterpreterReference Include="CondaEnv|CondaEnv|cewe2pdf312" />

documents/build_a_compiled_version.md

@@ -68,8 +68,11 @@ Administrator rights are not required. The editor remains the normal double-clic
 application for album files.
 
 Right-click an album and select the command. Automatic mode discovers the CEWE
-installation from Windows file associations where possible and enables system fonts.
-A valid explicit configuration still wins. The resulting PDF and a diagnostic
+installation from Windows file associations where possible and enables shared
+Windows system-font discovery. This deliberately overrides
+`loadSystemFonts = False` in either INI file. An explicit, valid `cewe_folder`
+still takes precedence over automatic CEWE-folder discovery. Per-user fonts are
+also searched unless `IGNORELOCALFONTS` is set. The resulting PDF and a diagnostic
 `<album>.mcf.log` or `<album>.mcfx.log` are written beside the input.
 The log is overwritten each run.
 

pageNumbering.py

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ def ToEnum(value: str):
 class PageNumberingInfo:
     def __init__(self, pageNumberElement, pdf, availableFonts, state: ConversionState):
         """
+
         Constructor that initializes the page numbering info from the given lxml element.
         """
         # Extract relevant attributes or sub-elements from lxml_element
@@ -63,8 +64,8 @@ def __init__(self, pageNumberElement, pdf, availableFonts, state: ConversionStat
             logging.error(f"Unrecognised pagenumbering position value {self.position}, reset to 1")
             self.position = 1
         self.format = PageNumberFormat.ToEnum(pageNumberElement.get('format','0'))
-        self.horizontalMargin = int(pageNumberElement.get('margin','50')) * mcf2rl # * 0.1 mm
-        self.verticalMargin = int(pageNumberElement.get('verticalMargin','50')) * mcf2rl # * 0.1 mm
+        self.horizontalMargin = float(pageNumberElement.get('margin','50')) * mcf2rl # * 0.1 mm
+        self.verticalMargin = float(pageNumberElement.get('verticalMargin','50')) * mcf2rl # * 0.1 mm
         fontfamily = pageNumberElement.get('fontfamily','Liberation Sans')
         self.fontfamily = getAvailableFont(fontfamily, pdf, availableFonts, state)
         self.fontsize = int(pageNumberElement.get('fontsize','12'))

utilities/contenttocenter/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# Centering album page content
+
+`contenttocenter.py` adjusts the horizontal position of page content in a CEWE
+album. It reads the edited MCF or MCFX and an explicit list of pages to center;
+it does not need the original album or a record of how pages changed.
+
+## Page selection
+
+Page numbers are one-based editor page numbers. Use comma-separated page
+numbers or inclusive ranges. Pages cannot repeat. For example:
+
+```text
+2-5,8,10-65
+```
+
+This selects pages 2 through 5, page 8, and pages 10 through 65 in the edited
+album. Only selected pages are adjusted. CEWE album page 1 is on the right;
+odd pages are on the right and even pages are on the left.
+
+## Centering rule
+
+For each selected physical page, the tool finds the horizontal bounding box of
+all positioned areas, including rotated areas. It shifts every area on that
+page by the same amount so the center of that bounding box matches the physical
+page center. This preserves relative positions between photos, text, and other
+elements. It does not scale, mirror, or move elements vertically. Pages with no
+positioned areas are skipped; pages do not need to contain photos.
+
+MCF positions use spread-wide coordinates. Areas are assigned to a physical
+page by the center of their rotated horizontal bounds. Page backgrounds stored
+separately from page areas are not translated.
+
+## Run
+
+From the repository root:
+
+```text
+python utilities/contenttocenter/contenttocenter.py --pages 2-65 --dry-run edited.mcf
+```
+
+Review the reported shifts and centered bounds. To write the corrected MCF,
+omit `--dry-run`:
+
+```text
+python utilities/contenttocenter/contenttocenter.py --pages 2-65 edited.mcf
+```
+
+The output has the same format as the input. By default, this creates
+`edited.centered.mcf` or `edited.centered.mcfx` beside the input and never
+overwrites an existing file. For MCFX input, the tool uses the project's
+`unpackMcfx()` reader and replaces only the embedded MCF in a copy of the
+archive, preserving its other files. Use `--output corrected.mcf` or
+`--output corrected.mcfx` to choose another destination with the matching
+extension. Open the result in CEWE and inspect the changed spreads before
+continuing to edit the album.