If you’ve used Adobe InDesign then then Scribus will feel familiar although the interface is nowhere near as refined or intuitive as Adobe’s product.

If you’re already familiar with frames, layouts and typesets then you’re already half way there. If you’re new to desktop publishing, then Scribus will definitely take some learning. You can read more about this in our Adobe InDesign review. You can also get some very generous student and educator discounts of 60% off Adobe Creative Cloud which is an extremely good deal considering you get all of Adobe’s industry leading design software included (full Creative Cloud review here). If you’re a student of design or publishing however, Adobe dominates to design field and you’re far better off biting the bullet and splashing out on Adobe InDesign.

Some even argue that Scribus compares with professional desktop publishing software like Adobe InDesign and while we feel this is definitely stretching it, it’s certainly a very accomplished DTP software considering it’s completely free to use. If you’re an indie graphic designer or working on a budget then Scribus is a tempting option – after all since it’s an open source project released under the GNU license it’s completely free to use.

Alternative scribus