Scribus: open-source desktop publishing
Although it isn’t as widely used as some of the other open-source graphics applications, Scribus ( www.scribus.net) is a capable page-layout tool. One design professional using it in his commercial work is Dennis Groenewegen van der Weijden, who is the founder of Dutch studio Digidio Media ( www.digidiomedia.nl).
Formerly a senior printer engineer and sales executive in the IT industry, Dennis initially began producing in-house marketing materials as a hobby, eventually stepping up to user guides and packaging. Despite being familiar with Adobe InDesign, he elected to use Scribus both for major projects at his old firm and for Digidio Media’s current jobs.
“You can create beautiful things with InDesign, but it’s overkill on simple leaflets or brochures,” he says. “There’s a lot of functionality you don’t use.”
As well as promotional material, DigidioMedia’s work ranges from product photography to magazine design, with all the page layout work being completed in Scribus1.5. “Even though Scribus isn’t recommended for use in production at the minute, it brings so many improvements that I don’t want to return to an older version,” says Dennis, and he cites Scribus1.5’ s single-window mode and its support for industry standards, such as PDF/X-4 and the LAB and HLC colour spaces as critical improvements.
Although some of the other artists we spoke to felt that Scribus still has some way to go before it’s capable of matching the ease of use of commercial tools, Dennis feels that the main reason it isn’t more widely used in professional work is simply that many design studios aren’t aware that the program even exists.
“There are things I occasionally miss in Scribus,” he says. “But there’s never been a showstopper where I had to go to another program to complete my work. And customers don’t ask what program I use: they see the results, and that’s what counts.”