i have projects in GIMP that need to be printed, so I found that Krita can convert them to CMYK tif files.... which I have done. But step 2 is getting those into Scribus to convert to pdf for the printers, and that's where I run into trouble.
On opening Scribus, it allows me to create a new file or open an existing one. I've tried importing/opening both ways, and when I find my way to the folder holding the files, nothing is there. Switching file type at the bottom list to "all files" finally shows everything in the folder, and I try to open the file. It simply says tif, (and just about any other format) I have is "unsupported". The only allowed file types are scribus, illustrator, openoffice, pic, svg, and some other stuff I've never heard of.

both scribus and krita were downloaded new today, so I presumably am updated. I don't know if the issue is in how I made the tiff or if scribus is the problem (after all I expect it would show tiff on it's list of files to open).

I have never tried this on Windows or macOS (I'm guessing you're not using Linux...), but when I created the 2016 art book, I simply dragged an image shape where I wanted one in my scribus document, and the popup dialog for adding an image allowed me to select tiff files. The preview in the file dialog was inverted because it doesn't understand CMYK, but embedded in Scribus everything was fine.

From your description, I'm completely unsure what you're actually trying to do, but it sounds a bit like you're trying to load the image _as_ a scribus document instead of _in_ a scribus document, and I don't think that's possible.

Your post raises several points and I wonder if your situation is more complicated than it needs to be.

When you say "... convert to pdf for the printers, ...", do you mean you're using a printing service company? If so, they should have told you which one of many CMYK colour profiles they use.

GIMP itself has colour management facilities where you tell it which colour profile you want to use. You'll find these in Edit -> Preferences. You have to tell it where the colour profile file is stored on your computer. These colour profiles can be easily obtained:
http://www.color.org/findprofile.xalter and https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads ... s_win.html for example.

On your PC, when you print from GIMP (or any application) the printer driver will give you the option of printing to a .pdf file. It may be that this is quite suitable for delivery to the printing company, provided that GIMP has been set up to produce CMYK output.

Scribus is a 'document processing' application so it only Saves or Opens document format files, not images.
Within Scribus, you can create a new file and then do Insert -> Image Frame, then the space/frame for the image will be created and you can resize it and move it around on the page. Then you right-click the image frame and choose Get Image to find an image on your hard drive to put into the frame. Then do right-click Adjust Image To Frame. When it's all done, you can Save the finished document as a .pdf file.

Scribus has comprehensive built-in colour management under File -> Preferences and File -> Document Setup.
Considering this or GIMP's colour management, I wonder if you need Krita at all for your task.

Is there any particular reason why you're using .tiff images instead of .png images?

Thanks to both of you for the quick response.

All the hoops I'm jumping through are a result of "tips" and such from google/various forums.

The printer service is a company that does signage, banners etc. I am looking to make a vinyl banner that will be used in a parade. The printing company accepts only pdf for online submissions (but others if I go in person). This is all the site says:

"Files that print best are .eps or .ai (in version CS5 or lower) converted to outline. We can also print high resolution .pdf, .tif, and .jpg formats. Typically 300 dpi or higher is suitable for banners. We print in four color C, M, Y, K or six color C, M, Y, K, LC, LM. Please keep this in mind when submitting files for printing as color tone shifting may happen if file is submitted in R, G, B format. If there is a specific PMS color you need, please specify that to us when submitting your order so we can help you verify that the proper color mix is used (vector artwork only)."

At worst I can just take my gimp jpgs/tif etc in person... I was going to print out a 3ft x 3ft clip of the banner as a test for color/resolution/material sample for the people who will use it.
>>>>
as far as the question about opening the file "as" scribus instead of "in" scribus, what I was trying was this:
1. took existing gimp file, copied it, opened it with krita
2. converted to cmyk mode
3. created a tiff (since can't make a pdf... gimp can make pdf but not cmyk)
4. opened scribus with "new document" option, then tried to import tiff but it is not on default list... when adjusting search option to "all files" I selected the tiff and got a message of invalid format/possible corrupt file. (open "in" scribus)
5. tried scribus "open existing file" and got same results (open "as" scribus)

>
I see the steps you listed about "get image" and will give that a shot and report on that. I had a little free time and wanted to respond asap. Having never used scribus before I was under the impression it was a text/paint program, as opposed to something like MS word where you just pop in art/pics. That would be nice if the issue was simply my wondering why I can't drive down the highway when i am in a perfectly good rowboat, LOL.

I'd assumed you were producing brochures/pamphlets/leaflets but now .... wow.

A 3ft x 3ft sample clip at 300 dpi is about 11,000 x 11,000 pixels. Will the final banner will be about 12 ft x 3ft or larger? That would be a 4.5GB GIMP working file and a 1.5GB .tif file if uncompressed. You could get that down to about 100MB using a .jpg file output, depending on how complex your artwork is, but you'd need to open the .jpg file and check it carefully for any compression artifacts. 300 dpi seems like a very high resolution for a parade banner but you might as well go for it if that's what they recommend.

You said "I was going to print out a 3ft x 3ft clip of the banner as a test for color/resolution/material sample ...", so would this be done by the printing company so you'd get the material sample? That sounds like a good idea.

They say, "... color tone shifting may happen if file is submitted in R, G, B format." Is this the sort of shift that results in a disappointing print of a good quality photograph or is it the sort of shift that ruins a poster? What effect would it have on your parade banner? It sounds like they can accept RGB profile artwork files and can convert them to the CMYK requirements of the printing machinery but they can't guarentee exact colour rendition, as might be expected.

What you are proposing is that you take your GIMP RGB artwork, convert it to CMYK using Krita, then run it through Scribus to produce a .pdf file for printing. Will this produce a file for print that gives perfect colour rendition of your original artwork? (I doubt that it will.) Krita gives you a choice of 'Chemical Proof' or 'Coated FOGRA27' as CMYK colour profiles. Are either of these a perfect match for the printing machines?

It would be a good idea to develop a good e-mail communications relationship with the printing company so you can ask them these questions. They are the ones with the experience and the fancy expensive equipment so they should be able to tell you this, especially since you'll be spending money with them.

I think that the best possible result, in terms of work and complexity for you, would be for you to be able to deliver (or send by post) a usb stick with RGB artwork as a .tif file (or maybe .jpg if you check it carefully for artifacts) and have the printing company use their knowledge and skills to print it with good colour accuracy. If they make warning noises about that, use Krita to produce a CMYK .tif/.jpg file to send. If you want to go the online route then use Scribus to package your banner artwork as a .pdf file.

Good Luck and try to let us know how it all turns out.

EDIT: P.S. The good thing about using Krita to do the RGB to CMYK conversion is that you'll see, on screen, the likely colour shift effects of printing but these will be an approximation for the likely effects for a particular type of coated paper. The effects when printing on vinyl will probably be different.