Scribus

From OpenEducationWiki

Table of contents

1 Introduction

2 Features

3 Frequently Asked Questions

4 Online Support Forums

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Introduction

Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to desktop computers with a combination of "press-ready" output and new approaches to page layout.

Scribus' development began in 2001 and has since become one of the premier desktop applications for Linux. Called by Newsforge, "..one of the killer applications for Linux", Scribus 1.2 brings new power and versatile tools for desktop publishing. New features like separation previews, cross-platform python scripting, advanced PDF 1.4 support are just some of the hundreds of improvements large and small in Scribus 1.2.

As of the 1.3.2 release, Scribus is completely cross-platform and runs natively on Linux/Unix, MacOS X and Windows desktops.

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Features

Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation. Scribus was the first DTP application on the planet to directly support PDF/X-3 output, a rigorous ISO standard. Scribus did so by almost a year. Other features include PDF Import, EPS import/export, Unicode text including right to left scripts such as Arabic and Hebrew.

Scribus also has unexpected touches such as: useful vector drawing tools, SVG import/export and support for OpenType Fonts. The Scribus file format is XML based; open and completely documented. Unlike proprietary binary file formats, even damaged documents can be recovered with a simple text editor - sometimes a challenging problem with other page layout programs. There is an easy to use drag and drop scrapbook. Scribus has been translated into more than 25 languages and more are coming in the future. The Scribus team prides itself on excellent end user support with a lively IRC channel and friendly mailing list.

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