Scribus: Open-Source Desktop Publishing [Paperback]

Christoph Schäfer (Author), Gregory Pittman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0956078001 | ISBN-13: 978-0956078001 | Publication Date: January 9, 2009

This book provides a detailed overview over the hundreds of features of the premier Open Source Desktop Publishing software Scribus, as well as numerous tips and tricks. It has been written collaboratively by designers, pre-press experts, experienced Scribus users, and also by some of the Scribus developers. Led by Dr Gregory Pittman and Dr Christoph Schäfer, both experienced writers, they created this documentation, which was approved by the Scribus Team as the Official Manual for version 1.3.3. Hundreds of questions from the Scribus mailing list and the Scribus IRC channel, as well as real-world experiences in professional layout and printing with Scribus, have helped to make this documentation an invaluable resource for the use of Scribus. A substantial portion of the proceeds from each copy goes to the Scribus Project to support its development and ensure it is made freely available for many years to come. Scribus is open-source software, available for free download at http://www.scribus.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 452 pages
• Publisher: FLES Books Ltd. (January 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0956078001
• ISBN-13: 978-0956078001
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive guide to Scribus, March 30, 2009

By 

John Culleton "rowsereviews" (Eldersburg, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scribus: Open-Source Desktop Publishing (Paperback)

Finally there is a book on Scribus, and what a book! All the bits and pieces of help pages and wiki items have been assembled, rewritten as needed and put into a coherent and comprehensive guide. Much of the material is not available anywhere else. Covering version 1.3.3.12, a recent stable version, the book goes beyond just Scribus and discusses the various companion programs every Scribus user should have.

The author list reads like a Who's Who of the Scribus developers' world, including Gregory Pittman, Christoph Schafer, Craig Bradney, Peter Linnell and a dozen others. One of the virtues of Open Source software is the participation of the actual developers in the documentation process. The buyer is assured that the documentation is authoritative and complete.

This book was a long time coming, but was worth the wait.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great User Manual, March 6, 2010

By 

John P. Reid (Bear, Delaware, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scribus: Open-Source Desktop Publishing (Paperback)

I have done a lot of desktop publishing but have little experience with high-level page layout software. Using Scribus was confusing and frustrating until I bought this book. It is well done and very thorough. Creation of a simple book cover serves as an introductory tutorial. Hundreds of pages follow that add functions one at a time. It is all very practical -- push this, click that, select the other. Mixed in with the step-by-step material are comments on general philosophy that help wean the user from word processors into true page layout software. The book also treats Scribus on a variety of platforms -- Windows, UNIX, Linux, and Macintosh. The book's illustrations are a bit smudgy. The index is briefer than I would like. But all told, this is a great manual that I will make good use of for years.
John Reid, Bear DE

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick Scribus Review, June 26, 2009

By 

tgf (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scribus: Open-Source Desktop Publishing (Paperback)

Scribus, besides providing solid general DTP info, furnishes links to virtually all open source document production packages available on Unix/Linux based to other, more esoteric, systems. With a single exception, MS licensed products (all legal) will soon be stripped from the eight machines operated by me. My partial business background include the printing and publishing world.