Scribus icon
Scribus icon

Scribus

 383 likes

Open-source desktop publishing software offering flexible layouts and typesetting, professional image setting, CMYK support, interactive PDFs, vector tools, and wide format support, perfect for creating newspapers, brochures, and more on Mac, Windows, Linux, and BSD.

Scribus screenshot 1

License model

  • FreeOpen Source

Application type

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • BSD
  • Flathub
  • PortableApps.com
  • Oracle Solaris
  • Flatpak
4.4 / 5 Avg rating (11)
383 likes
14comments

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  Lightweight
  2.  Privacy focused

Features

  1.  Desktop Publishing
  2.  Publishing
  3.  Interactive PDF forms
  4.  Fill PDF Forms
  5.  Color management
  6.  Portable
  7.  Ad-free
  8.  Works Offline
  9.  Knowledge base
  10.  Presets
  11.  WYSIWYG Support
  12.  No registration required
  13.  Support for scripting
  14. LaTeX icon  Support for LaTeX
  15.  Built-in Color Picker
  16.  No Tracking
  17.  Support for CMYK Mode
  18.  Dark Mode
  19.  Create PDF files
  20.  Convert images to PDF
  21.  Color Palette
  22.  Page labeling

Scribus News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent News

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Recent activities

  • ver and SapphireDust liked Scribus
    2 days ago
  • julthep rated Scribus  
    about 1 month ago
  • julthep and BIGLINUX liked Scribus
    about 1 month ago
  • PredatorQ and thejfex liked Scribus
    about 2 months ago
  • playmobilmeister reviewed Scribus  
    4 months ago

    a true PDF editor for Linux

  • playmobilmeister liked Scribus
    4 months ago
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Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Comment summary: Scribus is praised for being an open-source alternative to expensive software like Adobe InDesign, capable of producing high-quality PDFs for both personal and professional use. However, it is noted for having a steep learning curve. While it has strong features like robust CMYK color management and font handling, users criticize its user interface and delays in updates, with some labeling it as abandonware due to missed milestones.
Sabire
  
Top positive commentMay 19, 2017

I have used scribus for years for personal as well as professional usage. I have used it to create flyers, pvc banners, business stationery, signage as well as social media content eg twitter or facebook or youtube cover photos. I have also used it to create slider images for websites as the software allows custom page sizes apart from standard page sizes.

Once you know how to use this software, your creative imagination is the limit of what you can do with this software as you can see the examples of usage i have provided above.

Before installing the software, you should install ghostscript which is available for free online. Watch this video on how to install ghostscript and scribus successfully.

Hope you have a lovely time using the software :)

[Edited by Sabire, May 19]

5
João Lourenço
  
Top negative comment
Pending approval • Edited Mar 10, 2024

I really wanted to ditch Adobe and its always bad to crap on an OS project, but if you want an alternative to indesign, just get Afinitys' solution.

1
playmobilmeister
  
Positive commentDec 2, 2024

a true PDF editor for Linux

0
Guest
CommentJun 15, 2021

I am interested in creating greeting cards. Has anyone used Scribus for this, and how does it perform? Thanks.

-1
Roland Ino
  
Positive commentMay 27, 2021

Scribus is not very good looking or sleek, but if this doesn't bother you, you will find it is a great program, especially versions from 1.5 onwards. The only thing that irks me is the difficulty of importing text with italics and bolds preserved. But its CMYK color management and font management is one of the best among DTP programs. I learned book formatting with Scribus and I continue using it for this purpose, but I also use the proprietary VivaDesigner.

1
ruskelljd
  
Positive commentAug 2, 2020

On Ubuntu Linux the AppImage version works the best. That is the best publisher for Linux that I have found that is free. I ma sure there are paid ones that are better but this is more than enough for me.

1
hansencomputers
  
Positive commentFeb 11, 2020

Scribus is a very refined and user friendly software that I use to create PDF documents with Combo Boxes, List Boxes, etc. at my office.

We prefer the PDF rather than working with a WORD doc or Excel spreadsheet, so whenever possible I'll make the interactive document (usually a form of some type) with Scribus.

This is another great Open Source software that is amazingly well developed and powerful.

-1
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7 of 14 comments

What is Scribus?

Scribus is a desktop publishing (DTP) application. Scribus is designed for flexible layout and typesetting, and the ability to prepare files for professional quality image setting equipment. It can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms. Example uses include writing small newspapers, brochures, newsletters, posters, and books.

Underneath a user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK colors, spot colors, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

Scribus has many unexpected touches, such as powerful vector drawing tools, support for a huge number of file types via import/export filters, emulation of color blindness or the rendering of markup languages like LaTeX or Lilypond inside Scribus. The Scribus file format is XML-based and open. 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. Scribus has been translated into more than 25 languages, and more are coming in the future.

Official Links

Scribus information

  • Developed by

    Scribus
  • Licensing

    Open Source (GPL-3.0) and Free product.
  • Rating

    Average rating of 4.4 (11 ratings)
  • Alternatives

    25 alternatives listed
  • News

    3 news article related to Scribus
  • Supported Languages

    • English
    • Slovene
    • Portuguese
    • Dutch
    • Croatian
    • Hungarian
    • Chinese
    • Esperanto
    • Basque
    • Russian
    • Italian
    • Polish
    • Ukrainian
    • Arabic
    • Spanish
    • Galician
    • German
    • French
    • Danish
    • Norwegian
    • Norwegian Bokmål
    • Norwegian Nynorsk
    • Serbian
    • Breton
    • Catalan; Valencian
    • Slovak
    • Czech
    • Estonian
    • Lithuanian
    • Swedish
    • Indonesian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Finnish
    • Sanskrit (Sa?sk?ta)
    • Greek
    • Turkish
    • Welsh
    • Malayalam
    • Persian
    • Georgian
    • Albanian
    • Kannada
    • Hebrew
    • Afrikaans
    • Occitan
    • Luxembourgish
    • Tamil
    • Malay
    • Bulgarian
    • Telugu
    • Hindi
    • Interlingua
    • Tatar
    • Somali
    • Bengali
    • Mongolian
    • Sinhala, Sinhalese
    • Belarusian
    • Romanian
    • Thai
    • Azerbaijani

Our users have written 14 comments and reviews about Scribus, and it has gotten 383 likes

Scribus was added to AlternativeTo by corfy on Apr 14, 2009 and this page was last updated Jan 27, 2025.