# Scribus Reviews **Vendor:** The Scribus Team **Category:** [Desktop Publishing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/desktop-publishing) **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 27 ## About Scribus Scribus is an open source alternative for entry-level desktop publishing. ## Scribus Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users find Scribus **easy to use** , especially after some experimentation, enhancing their creative workflow. (2 reviews) - Users value the **easy editing** features of Scribus, enhancing their productivity and simplifying document management. (1 reviews) - Users value the **versatile multi-platform support** and powerful features of Scribus for professional graphic design. (1 reviews) - Users value the **free services** of Scribus, appreciating its ease of use and intuitive design after some experimentation. (1 reviews) - Users appreciate the **professional graphic creation** capabilities of Scribus, benefiting from its multi-platform and multilingual support. (1 reviews) - Users find Scribus to be **intuitive** after experimentation, enhancing the overall user experience significantly. (1 reviews) - Layout Design (1 reviews) - Navigation Ease (1 reviews) - PDF Editing (1 reviews) - PDF Management (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users experience frequent **app instability** , as crashes hinder productivity and lead to uninstallation of Scribus. (1 reviews) - Users face **compatibility issues** with Scribus, particularly with color options and complex .ai files. (1 reviews) - Users note the **design limitations** of Scribus, including basic interface and file compatibility issues that hinder usability. (1 reviews) - Users face challenges with **file management** , including limited color options and issues opening certain file formats effectively. (1 reviews) - Users find **limited options** in Scribus, particularly with color management and file compatibility, impacting overall functionality. (1 reviews) - Poor Interface Design (1 reviews) ## Scribus Reviews ### 1. Free, Multilingual, Cross-Platform Tool for Professional Print Graphics **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 18, 2026 **What do you like best about Scribus?** It’s free, available in several languages and can be installed on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It lets you create professional graphics, manage multi-page documents, and generate executable files for printing. When saving a PDF for print, you can convert spot colors to CMYK. You can also set up master pages so the same graphic layout is applied consistently across the document’s pages. I find the Preflight button especially useful for flagging any document issues, the Preview button handy for quickly viewing the graphics without margins and crop marks, and I appreciate the option to display control characters in text frames. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** It doesn't have the Pantone swatches and spot colors need to be created manually. In the Color Management settings the available profiles are limited. The interface design is very basic and has remained unchanged for several years; it could be a bit more polished and also offer a dark mode option. It doesn't open .eps files and has issues with .ai files (it opens them, but the graphics may have some variations compared to the original, especially with complex designs involving gradients, masks, etc.). **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** It allows me to create multi-page documents so I don’t have to make a file for each page and I can manage everything in a single file much more conveniently. It is useful for creating multi-page graphic documents where, with master pages, I can save time and easily apply the same style or elements to different pages without having to recreate the layout each time, thus saving time. It is free and allows me to create files ready for print, whether for traditional or digital printing, without having to use paid software. ### 2. Keeps on crashing **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Federica D. | Professional Reader, Interpreter, Creative Content Writer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 07, 2024 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Easy to use if you keep on experimenting on it; after a while, it becomes kinda intuitive... And it's free, which is always a pro :) **What do you dislike about Scribus?** While operating with the internal editor, it keeps on crashing. I gave it up to two days to work properly but eventually, I had to uninstall it: impossible to work with. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is a free alternative to Indesign. ### 3. Powerful Open-source Publishing Software **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tim D. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Free, opensource software makes all the difference for the small nonprofit where I work. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** While there are user-made videos giving tutorials on youtube, there isn't a centralized way to learn all of the intricacies of the software. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** When our non-profit needs to design a brochure, flyer, or newsletter, this software is my go-to. While it might not be as powerful as an Adobe program (though it certainly can be in the right hands), it is LEAPS and BOUNDS beyond what you can do with Microsoft Word or google docs. Manipulating text, images, shapes, transparencies, and other objects work seamlessly to create a cohesive and visually satisfying published document. ### 4. Brilliant free home desktop publishing solution **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 11, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** It's free, it "just works" and it creates booklets/magazines/really anything you want to put together simply and easily. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** You do need to read exactly *how* to do things in Scribus but once you've done it once it's easy to do again. The interface seems a bit dated (particularly on high resolution screens) but it's great for being clutter free. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used to use Adobe products for desktop publishing and to be honest, they're a mess, they cost too much (subscription? awful) and if you don't stay on top of things your files become impossible to work with. I decided to give scribus a try while working on a new project and I was able to knock up a whole booklet in matter of *hours* with none of the issues I faced with Adobe products. ### 5. A great and simple software for publications **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Paolo N. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 16, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Scribus has a simple way of arranging text, and has a nice workflow in general for the design of documents and publications, both for academic and comercial work. It's easy to use and straightforward. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** I would like a bit more options in terms of customizing pages and styles. I feel that some features found on other commercial software that have the same goals are still missing. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Providing a solution for publications that is multi platform and works for Linux users as well. It really helps me create publications with ease and efficiency. ### 6. Free, Open Source alternative to InDesign **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brian "Sully" S. | Principal, Internet, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 25, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** So far, I cannot find a limitation to Scribus that InDesign offers. It is full-featured and powerful DTP software that can be used for highly layered, sophisticated, professional page layouts. The CMYK colour management tool is a standout. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** I think the GUI would benefit from some updating. Everything is in a logical order, but it has an old styling. Also, additional base templates for needs like social media banners or ebook layouts would be great. They're available online, but having them shipped intrinsic to Scribus would be nice. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used Scribus for many DTP projects--stationery, the layout of books and eBooks, cut sheet flyers, and advertising spots. It does anything InDesign can do without the proprietary software price tag. ### 7. Using Scribus reminds me of PageMaker! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John E. | Networking/Cybersecurity Instructor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 16, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** For an open source free desktop publishing software, it is very powerful and reminds me of my old days using Aldus PageMaker. Easy to use! **What do you dislike about Scribus?** I can not think of anything I disliked about Scribus. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is budget friendly compared to Adobe InTouch. Perfect for someone with a very restricted budget. ### 8. Clunky but it gets the job done **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Justin F. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 16, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I was able to perform all basic design tasks and complete a project to ideal status. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** The interface is clunky and hard to work within. There were multiple crashes and it was tough to find certain settings. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Design capabilities when I don't have access to Adobe ### 9. Scribus is a world class tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Joel L. H. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 27, 2023 **What do you like best about Scribus?** It has an easy learning key. It is highly featured. I am able to do all my required tasks easily and efficiently. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** I find very few to nothing that I dislike. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Magazine-ready copy. Scribus is OpenSource that brings improvements quickly & often. ### 10. Scribus: a program of multi-platform page layout, free and with good capabilities. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Electronics | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 22, 2019 **What do you like best about Scribus?** It is an application that offers a professional support to elaborate diverse documents and publications, in our case it was about giving support to a client that was elaborating a book for self-publishing in his University. The Scribus design presents a pleasant and orderly interface that allows the presentation of professional effects, such as: combinations of colors and creation of pdf files in a fast and dynamic way. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** It is an important detail to point out that although the program's interface is easy to understand, the use of drop-down menus nowadays (where the tape interface has become too common, practically a standard of all kinds of programs) , then, that makes the program look a bit "Old" or "Old", but that does not diminish the capacity to make very good layouts. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** The designer with whom I worked commented that although it was possible to import documents in ODT, DOC and DOCX format without problems, the import of HTML files forced him to make some adjustments due to limitations in that action. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Although I used it as an operator only, in support of the designer's work, for a single recent job that was requested by a client with whom we already have time working, it seemed to me that the problem that allowed to solve this program was to lay out a material for its subsequent printing as a self-publishing book at very low cost, an issue that was decisive for his choice, because in a university context the budget is always "too small" ### 11. Free Software! **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Greissy P. | CEO, Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 27, 2019 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I love the Free Software idea! I mean, you can have the entire experience of an book-magazine editor, at a professional level for free. The UI design is very nice and it's not heavy. Doesn't occupy much space on your hard drive and doesnt recquire many RAM. It is fast compared with other programs as In Design. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** I don't have any complains about program itself, it's just that I'm used to work with other program. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** It is a great option to learn making books and magazines before jump to InDesign, or if you don't want to pay for this kind of software. Just give it a try! **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used it for a time because I wanted to learn another things, and it solved quick problems. It launches fast and you don't have to wait to start to work or save your project ### 12. Simple, effective, and efficient tool, recommended **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Julia A. | Encargado de operaciones, Consumer Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 20, 2018 **What do you like best about Scribus?** To highlight, being a free platform, with all the advantages that this entails. Following this, the diversity of projects it allows you to carry out (one option being to save the document in PDF format, whose utility is broad). Based on my own experience, thanks to Scribus, my company has not only been able to create forms for different clients, but has also been able to make brochures to promote its products (preaching their uses and their impact on the environment...) with a halo of professionalism that has nothing to envy from a paid platform. For all those in charge of a company's marketing, they know how important it is to know how to sell the product as well as to attract and encourage customers to invest in them, and this platform is outstanding for that, as it has the entire visible spectrum (CMYK), which gives the magazine, brochure, or document in general, a freshness and originality that not only makes the products stand out but also indirectly catches the attention of customers, the visual impact is important. Another point in favor would be the number of languages it is available in, specifically 24, which, combined with being a free platform, makes it accessible to people from many corners of the world. To appreciate about this platform is the number of tools you can use to edit the document, ranging from the most basic change of font size and images to something as professional as color separations. As well as the presence of fonts nonexistent in word processors such as layers, master pages, and text outlining. In Scribus, you can also use your own templates, ideal for beginners who want to delve into the platform but don't know how. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** One of its biggest drawbacks: when a text box is copied, the element itself is not copied, but rather an image of that text box is made, which involves designing a box with the same dimensions, causing a great loss of time although with a little practice, this won't be much of a problem. Adding another negative point, you cannot choose the percentage of the gradient in the title and the fact that you cannot rotate or flip images that are inside a text box. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Before starting to write, it is advisable to make a kind of sketch of the project to be carried out. This way, we will not only visualize in advance the form the document in question will take, but we will also be able to distribute the information much more easily and save time, which is always a plus. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have generally resolved the company's marketing at the promotional level by not only creating forms but also brochures of the most attractive products for customers, leading to an increase in their purchase. ### 13. Works great for designing with text and images **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Donna B. | free-lance photographer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 31, 2018 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I really appreciate high-quality, useful open-source free software. As a free-lance wildlife photographer, the ability to access free software is critical. Adopting Scribus has allowed me to drop Adobe Creative Cloud. Whenever I have had a question about how to do anything with the software, a quick Google search has always provided an immediate answer. A Scribus forum is available to ask questions as well. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Image boxes do not have a caption function. Captions can, of course, be added by creating an image box and a text box for the caption. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** It is an acceptable substitute for much more expensive software. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Using Scribus and my wildlife photographs, I've designed growth charts to record children's heights which I sell on Etsy. In addition, I use Scribus to design newsletters and MagCloud publications. I've also produced my business cards and letterhead in Scribus. ### 14. Free to use but things could be easier **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ryan S. | Director of Education and Public Relations for North Dakota One Call, Public Safety, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 26, 2018 **What do you like best about Scribus?** The face that Scribus is free to use is the best part. I do very limited and simple desktop publishing so I don't need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a product I won't use very often. Setting up my sheet sizes and importing my logos/images are nice and easy. There are many different exporting options, including EPS which is great if I need to pull my creation into GIMP for editing. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Text editing is a nightmare. When adding text, you need to open up a different window for the editing. But if you don't highlight the text correctly it seems like it doesn't accept the changes. Many other parts of Scribus are easy to use but if dread it if I have to add text to a project. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Good product, just needs a little improvement. However, when using, just remember that Google is your friend. I've found many tips from other users when I search for something specific. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Minor desktop publishing. I use Scribus to make table tents, flyers, brochures, promo item proofs, etc. ### 15. Swictched from Indesign to Scribus **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rheana B. | Self Employed, Furniture, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 27, 2017 **What do you like best about Scribus?** This free program can do pretty much anything InDesign can do. I have the CS4 f InDesign and have used it for years. I do a 25-page (60-70 color photos) monthly email PDF newsletter. I decided to switch when my desktop PC went into the shop for two weeks with a mysterious monitor blackout problem. InDesign can only be installed on 1 computer. A killer if you have to switch to your backup machine. I installed Scribus on my laptop and used creating a duplicate of my previous issue as a way to learn it. It is very different from InDesign and the learning curve is a little steep, but I have found that once you have it down it does anything I want, and it handles sizing photos better than InDesign. (Instead of Placing a photo you draw an image frame. Can set frame to image size or image to frame size. Very good idea.) . I now have it on both my PC and laptop, and keep a daily backup on an external hard drive that can be moved from one machine to another. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Once in a while hitting Ctrl-V to paste something in the clipboard causes the program to close, losing your latest changes. I have gotten into the habit of saving before pasting. But on the whole I am very happy with Scribus. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Cutting cost on design software ### 16. A prouduction-ready Desktop publishing software, free and open-source **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Francesco S. | Titolare, progettista, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 13, 2017 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Scribus is a multiplatform, open source, free desktop publishing software. It can import a wide range of formats and allows a full control over the page. It features many professional marks, like CYMK support, image packing, and a wonderful PDF export function, very appreciated by professional printing services. It also plays nicely with other open-source software, like Inkscape. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** The interface is a steep learn curve at the beginning, and some features, like the text editor, show still room for improvement. Also, being so portable it does not integrates completely with the native features of some operating system, lime Mac OS. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** The learning curve is a bit steep at the beginning, but it pays back soon! **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Scribus is a wonderful tool to prepare booklets for printing, pdf forms, and presentations. It is free and multi-platform, so we can deploy it on every machine and bring it around with us, without worrying of license codes. ### 17. A great alternative to InDesign **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Erica R. | Page Designer/Copy Editor, Newspapers, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 03, 2017 **What do you like best about Scribus?** It's functional, free and does the job. Does everything that ID does (with a few caveats/differences) but it gets the job done in the same way in the same amount of time. In short: It's free! Try it! **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Some of the features and functions seemed clunky and slow to me sometimes, especially since I was using InDesign for college coursework and heading home to use Scribus for personal projects. It was difficult to set things like tab stops and spacing, for example. Text boxes and settings work differently compared to ID as well. The more I used the program, the more I found functions that Scribus lacked or I found easier to do on ID. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used this software for 2.5 years to produce an independent magazine. The publication was entirely self-funded, so using a free program was the best and smartest option. Sure, it's not as user-friendly sometimes like ID, but it's free, so you can't really complain too much. ### 18. Scribus **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Publishing | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 04, 2018 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Super easy to use and packed with all of the essentials needed for all types of publication. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** As with most if not all open source software, help can be somewhat slow and a bit lacking. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy publication use across the board. ### 19. Scribus Review **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Religious Institutions | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 02, 2017 **What do you like best about Scribus?** It was a free substitute for Adobe Indesign. It got the job done without having to pay the monthly fee for the Adobe suite. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** It has a bit of a learning curve and it's not as user friendly and intuitive as InDesign. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm able to make simple document layouts and export for use with other programs in a pinch. It's a decent substitute for Indesign if you're on a budget. ### 20. Good open source software **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 26, 2017 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I like that it is free and available. For small companies with little overhead profit this is the difference between success and failure. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** If you are used to other brands of publishing tools then it may take a while to get used to these. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Try it out! There is nothing to lose. Plus it is always good to know MORE software. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is a publishing tool. ### 21. Excellent and professional free product **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Santiago Elías R. | Ilustrador y animador independiente, Animation, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 07, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I used this tool for the first time when I was asked to do an animation book layout for a movie project. Since this was not the kind of work I usually do I didn't want to spend a large amount of money in a commercial sofware like InDesign. I was really happy to see that this open tool had everthing I needed to get a professional result. It has many functions for text and image editing and was also easy to understand at a basic level, so it didn't take me too long to start working with my first layout. Scribus can also be integrated with Gimp, a more complete open tool for image editing. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** It can be a little hard to move the objects to the exact position you need them to be. There are times when you need to calculate the positions numerically or move the objects little by little since the program can't aligning objects automatically.. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Scribus has all the functionalities required to get very proffesional results. This surely is your best option if you don't want to spend your money in an expansive desktop publishing software. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** This very complete and professional tool is an excellent free alternative to more expensive publishing software. ### 22. An excellent compliment to my creative ckoud programs **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Alternative Medicine | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 20, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I enjoy using Scribus with both Illustrator and Photoshop. It's an excellent tool that you can use in combination with your creative cloud programs. Scribus is great for working with type. It really provides a more detailed way to design layouts and create type. It's a great product for any graphic designer **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Scribus isnt super intuitive. It's a bit difficult to navigate in the beginning and i can see where people could get easily frustrated with learning where the tools are. If you're willing to put in the time and actually learn it's certainly worth it.. I honestly did a lot of googling when i first got it but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome! **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** For me, most of the benefits are with type. Type setting with Scribus is excellent. It allows me to dive into the details of my work and really make my projects look how i want them to look. ### 23. An excellent open tool for publication and poster layout. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Miguel Angel A. | Instructor Professor, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 17, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** The best thing about Scribus I would say is it's complete support for CMYK color management capabilities. This is a feature that's sort of difficult to find in open source packages. It's also very easy to understand and use, with most of it's features being usable from the toolbar and all the object editing functions placed in context menus. It's export function is also very good, with support for placing standard crop, alignment and color calibration marks. Scribus is also extensible with custom Python plugins. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Some basic functionality is provided by plugins included with the standard distribution of Scribus. Things like aligning an image to the center of an image frame for example. The problem is that as plugins these functions become sort of difficult to find for first time users. There is only one function missing from the program that I think is very important: aligning two or more objects vertically or horizontally. This can be done manually by calculating and tweaking the positions of objects numerically, but it's certainly not the best way to do it. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** If you need a full featured desktop publishing solution Scribus is great for the job. If you already have experience with similar software like Adobe InDesing or QuarkXpress then switching to Scribus will be very quick and easy. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Scribus professionally to layout academic posters for the research center I'm currently working with. I also use Scribus extensively as a hobbyist to layout minicomics and zines, and to prepare stencil masks for printing. Older versions reported problems working with some commercial printing services like Lulu.com but I have never experienced such problems with my posters. ### 24. Scribus, the open source alternative for desktop publishing **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Roberto D. | Programador y administrador de sistemas, Internet, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 21, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** First, Scribus is free and open source, which is very important in a field so specialized as desktop publishing. Commercial software like InDesign has prices so high that freelance designers, schools or nonprofit organizations can’t use them. Scribus is not a perfect substitute for those programs but it’s a great alternative to create all kind of publishing material with professional quality. In Scribus there are some tools, like master pages or styles, which control most of the layout and design process. I like how easy is to integrate text and images and make them flow together. The placement of text boxes can be automated too, and it’s very easy to create pages, clone them and reuse them when you need. Mastering this basic concepts speeds up your workflow and makes you capable of carry out all kinds of projects, from simple ones, like two-page brochures, to fully illustrated manuals. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Scribus is not easy, you need time to learn and master several concepts that can be tricky, especially for those who haven’t worked with software like InDesign or QuarkXpress before. More and more tutorials and guides are available each day, but the newcomer has to realize that an adaptation process is needed to become familiar with both the tools and the way everything is done in desktop publishing. However, as I said before, once the basics are mastered only your imagination is the limit. A problem that Scribus team (as of version 1.4.6) has not yet solved is how to manage tables. The tool to create and modify them is so basic that it's not worth wasting time with it. It’s easier to create the tables we want in another program, for example LibreOffice or Inkscape, and then export them in a vector format that Scribus can read. I hope the next stable version of Scribus will have this problem solved, since creating and editing tables is basic in design. Like in other open source programs there are also limitations with proprietary color palettes, for example Pantone. This but this must be taken into account if your work is going to a traditional printing office, if your output is PDF this is not an issue. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** You must be aware of the limitations of Scribus. Although it fulfills most of the common tasks of desktop publishing, it’s not a perfect substitute for commercial software like InDesign and it’s very unlikely that a company will use it in a professional environment. However if you (or your school, or your nonprofit organization) are looking for a free tool to design and publish your projects, Scribus is the program you need. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** With Scribus I have been able to create professional-quality books with zero cost on software licenses. You don’t have to worry about monthly fees or renewals. When a new version is released, you can download and install it in a few minutes. My main activity is creating books in PDF, a task that I discovered Scribus performs flawlessly, with lots of options and seamless compatibility. ### 25. Scribus is great for professional use **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sharon M. | Owner/Creative Director, Marketing and Advertising, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 21, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Scribus is a great alternative to expensive seats of Indesign or Quark. I'm a professional marketing communications creative developer. I used QuarkXpress for more than 10 years, then started my own business and didn't feel like paying for Indesign or Quark, so I started doing some research. Came across Scribus, Inkscape and Paint.NET, and I've never looked back. I've been using it for 10 years, and it's never let me down. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Can't think of a darn thing. Seriously. Still thinking... (have I met 40 character minimum yet?) **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Try it, and pair it with Inkscape for vector art and Paint.NET for image editing. Sweet suite. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I design print pieces for clients regularly and send them off to professional printers. There's never been a problem with the files. I save tons in original license fees and costs of software updates. ### 26. Excellent product **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Victoria G. | Teaching Assistant, Higher Education, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 21, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** Scribus is available for Linux, including Ubuntu and other flavours that are user friendly, so it is available free of charge. Unlike many commercial software packages that beta test on paying users, Scribus encourages everyone to experiment with the software without charging you any money. **What do you dislike about Scribus?** Scribus will run on my Mac, but some things don't work as well. I would advise you try the program yourself because it works really well for layout and design of publications for web or print. **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Find a flavour of Linux desktop that works for you. There are many types and they are not the same. I started with Ubuntu, but there are others that might have features that you would like better. Once you have a type of Linux you like -- check out the world of FREE software. Unlink other operating systems -- if you can get it to work it is yours. You don't have to pay huge sums of money to get tools to work with. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I learned Adobe software on my employer's copy, so when I wasn't working there, I lost access to the programs. Learning Scribus allows me to have the functionality of expensive software free of charge. Scribus is an excellent substitute for Adobe products -- without the cost. Paired with The Gimp, you can do almost everything that you can in Creative Suite. ### 27. A pretty good desktop publisher **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Micah S. | Web Designer / Graphic Designer, Non-Profit Organization Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 07, 2016 **What do you like best about Scribus?** I loved that it was free and as capable as publisher **What do you dislike about Scribus?** The learning curve was pretty high for me **Recommendations to others considering Scribus:** Give it a try. If you are on a budget you can still have excellent print material. **What problems is Scribus solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was able to create attractive newsletters for my company at no cost. - [View Scribus pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/scribus/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-15+11%3A18%3A43+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=f4a66108-775d-4cc1-8c56-19afda5c29c4&secure%5Btoken%5D=c0cce6f860884c704a5d7e3aa8ba95107ad47f40c998ec2e7c3588039add239b&format=llm_user) ## Scribus Features **Design** - Templates - Layout editor - Publishing formats - Saved preferences - Infographics - Asset Library **Platform Additional Functionality** - Mobile Access - File Storage ## Top Scribus Alternatives - [Canva](https://www.g2.com/products/canva/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (6,306 reviews) - [Adobe InDesign](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-indesign/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (3,387 reviews) - [Microsoft Publisher](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-publisher/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (989 reviews)