Learn Scribus desktop publishing software with these tutorials

Learn to use the free desktop publishing software Scribus

Scribus is a free and open source desktop publishing application that compares to Adobe InDesign in the same way GIMP compares to Adobe Photoshop and OpenOffice to Microsoft Office. It’s free and powerful. However, if you’ve never used a professional page layout application, it can be a bit overwhelming when you first open it and try to create something. Scribus tutorials may not be as numerous as InDesign’s, but they are there. Here are some Scribus tutorials and documentation you may find helpful to quickly get started with Scribus.

Versions of Scribus

Scribus offers its software in two versions: stable and development. Download the stable version if you want to work with tested software and avoid surprises. Download the trial version and help improve Scribus. The current stable version is 1.4.6 and the current development version is 1.5.3 which has been in development for some time and is relatively stable. You can even install both versions on your computer and decide which one you like better. Download Scribus for Mac, Linux or Windows.

Scribus Video Tutorials

What do we like?

• Practical walkthrough

• Illuminate you gradually

What we don’t like

• Can cover more options

This three-part video clip walks you through the basics and helps you use Scribus effectively on your own. Each video in the set immerses you in the core concepts of Scribus.

The first video starts you off with the absolute basics. The second is the Scribus history editor and the start of the stylesheets. The final video in the series continues your work with stylesheets and teaches you how to distribute your finished work from within Scribus.

Video in Theora/Ogg format, which is supported by Chrome, Firefox and Opera. If you’re using a different browser, read these instructions before watching the video.

YouTube demos by Kevin Pugh featuring Scribus

What do we like?

• Split into manageable parts

• Project-based

What we don’t like

• Can be longer/more covered

YouTuber, Kevin Pugh has created an excellent eight part video tutorial for beginners in Scribus. The first video walks you through the controls and settings. From there, you dive into using Scribus for real projects.

If you’re a more visual learner, or prefer project-based tutorials, this is a great place to get started quickly without having to read lengthy tutorials or browse through all the tools in the app.

Scribus Hexagon Tutorial

What do we like?

• Well organized

• Great screenshots

• Tons of information

What we don’t like

• Can be tight

• Maybe not the best place to start

PDF file Hexagon Scribus Tutorial contains information for beginners, intermediates and advanced users of Scribus. In its 70+ pages, it covers many topics, including:

• Page model

• Installing the Font

• styles

• connections

• Image conversion

• layers

• Text Effects

It contains many details and screenshots useful for new Scribus users.

Official Scribus Wiki gids guide

What do we like?

• Step by step introduction

• complex

What we don’t like

• Slightly outdated

During the official wiki Getting started with Scribus , a screenshot tutorial, teaches you about the features available in Scribus as you create multiple magazine pages. You will not only learn how to use the Scribus desktop publishing software, but also desktop publishing and printing in general.

This course was developed for an earlier version of Scribus. There may be some differences between it and the current stable version.

Sott’s World Scribus Tutorial

What do we like?

• Great screenshots and diagrams

• Well organized

What we don’t like

• Partly obsolete

• In short, an introduction to the tools

A beginner’s tutorial on using Scribus to design your publications can be found at: Sott’s World Scribus Tutorial . While not going into detail about the project, it is a great introduction to the various tools available with Scribus.

This guide was written for an early version of Scribus. The core concepts will be mostly the same, but there may be some differences between them and the current stable release. Icons and menus will also look slightly different.