Desktop publishing (DTP) is one of the core uses of the PC. Ten years ago, even novice computer users could put together documents with Microsoft Word and decorate them with clipart. The expectations have changed so that now even beginners try to create professional-looking presentations. Graphic artists can now create flyers and brochures on a home computer. This may not always lead to spectacular results, but when good aesthetics, creativity, and appropriate tools come together then good results are inevitable.

Scribus is a tool suited for the task of desktop publishing. This open source program was years ago the first to promise DTP functions, which were then only known among professionals in the field. As users of the first version of Scribus can attest, not everything worked. However, years of development work and the dedication of the developers to stabilizing the software are now bearing fruit.

Scribus does not offer every function that tools such as Adobe InDesign can handle. This doesn't change the situation much because the large professional tools include many functions that are easy to do without when confronted with straightforward DTP tasks.

Even without all of the functions found in the larger tools, Scribus has shown itself to be fully capable of creating professional results as exemplified by the magazine Le Tigre [1], which was created entirely with this package.

Signs of Life

For a while now, many observers have been skeptical when the topic of Scribus has come up. The project appears to have been in an extended dormant period for some time. The current major version 1.4 appeared at the beginning of 2012.

The last bug fix release is dated January 2015. Nothing much has been done since then. The interface, various functions and the integration into the current desktop environment all appear a little bit outdated.

Under these circumstances, it is easy for rumors to start. Scribus has been considered dead and gone from the digital scene. At the end of May 2015, the developers refuted these rumors by releasing version 1.5 of the software. This is actually the preliminary version, however, and the developers advise against production use. Nonetheless, Scribus 1.5.0 is clearly a foundation for version 1.6.0, which has already been announced.

In other words, the developers want to communicate that the software is alive and well, and that users can count on future versions. This is reason enough to examine version 1.5.0 more closely and see what has been done to the software and what can be predicted for future versions. The "Trying Out Scribus 1.5" box describes how to install the software.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Once installation is complete, you will notice immediately that the program looks different (Figure 1). This is primarily because Scribus 1.4 was still based on Qt4, and the developers have taken the graphical interface for the new version from Qt5. The software profits from this change with increased speed and better suitability for desktops that depend on the same framework.

Figure 1: Scribus 1.5.0 comes with a new interface that resembles the old one in many respects.

For users accustomed to working with this application, the new appearance won't require learning everything all over again. Although it looks more rounded, and the icons look different, almost all of the buttons for the important functions are in the same place (Figure 2). It is entirely possible that this may change with version 1.6, but a completely new interface is not yet on the drawing board.

Figure 2: The dialog for adapting a document has been rewritten from the ground up. It appears more intuitive but not necessarily unfamiliar.

More noticeable to the knowledgeable observer are the changes that have been made in the details. For instance, the context menu invoked via the right mouse button is significantly smaller (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The context menu that comes up with a right mouse click has been tidied up. The application now handles tables as such.

In the previous version, often a gigantic menu would appear on the screen for a selected task. The user had to scroll through all of the entries in order to read them. The menu for determining the features of an individual page has been completely redesigned. The same goes for the menu by which you control all of the behavior of the application (Figure 4).

Figure 4: The Scribus developers also worked on the configuration dialog. It has been reworked but is not very straightforward.

By comparison, the dialog that makes it possible to edit the characteristics of individual objects is almost overwhelming because of many new features. The developers have promised to tighten this up for version 1.6. The software now lets the user dock palettes around the entire edge of Scribus. These can be used for the use of colors or shapes.

The preview dialog now indicates vector and BMP files. The user accustomed to browser tabs will appreciate the tab mode in the current version. This mode lets you open several documents for simultaneous editing.

New Developments in Text Processing

One of the primary tasks of a DTP program is to arrange texts in an organized fashion. The main focus of the developers has therefore been to polish the text functions. As a result, they have now implemented some of the functions that users have long been asking for. For example, you can now change the appearance of individual words found in a scrolling text if they do not fit with the surrounding text because of things like boldface or italics.

The handling of widow lines and orphan lines is important for professional-looking results. These expressions may sound strange, but they are common terms from the language of printers. A widow line is the last line of a paragraph, which is in a new column or on a new page. An orphan line is the first sentence of a paragraph that is the last line in a column or on a page.

The new version of Scribus takes control from the less experienced user when these issues appear. Double-clicking on the second frame divides the text between the frames so that these errors disappear.

Additionally, the program has mastered footnotes and endnotes. Probably few academics will use a DTP program to write with, because classic WYSIWYG tools like LibreOffice and LaTeX are much better suited for the task. However, books and flyers intended for academic use can profit from the new Scribus ability to place footnotes and endnotes into a common section at the end of the document.

Place holders in a text are practical. Starting with version 1.5.0, Scribus also provides this function. The software dynamically replaces placeholders with the desired text.

The program implements cross-references as well. These are also dynamically adjusted as soon as either the reference or citation in the text changes.

The topic of tables was a sore spot for Scribus for many years because these were not actually implemented as such. Instead, they were simple text frames that needed to be arranged accordingly. This made it difficult to use tables in the same was that other DTP tools did.

Up to now, it has been impossible to create a consistent appearance for these objects by clicking. This is no longer the case in the new version. New table objects work as an individual group and offer corresponding functions for editing. Within a short amount of time, you can change the appearance of a table so that the result looks cohesive rather than pieced together.

New Graphics Administration

The process of working with images was also not a joyful task in past versions. Aside from a simple dialog for inserting a graphic into a document, there were practically no functions that made it easy to work with images. The administration of images was better done outside of Scribus. This was because images used for multiple documents had to be individually placed in each of the documents.

The current version has the new Picture Browser , which lets users manage the graphics that are used and loads imported images and photos via mouse click. This is especially good for photos having a high recycling rate. Users who often deal with hand-drawn graphics and graphs also have a lot to be happy about with Scribus 1.5. The developers use more external tools and libraries, which in turn makes the handling of these types of files easier. The software now has better support for vector graphics, such as those in SVG format, and also makes it more intuitive to use them.

The import plugin for vector graphics from Adobe Illustrator is not quite finished. However, it already shows impressive performance and handled graphics in text very well during testing. Many other formats such as CGM and ORA are celebrating their inclusion in Scribus 1.5.

Visio files from the Microsoft world and Corel Draw files are also now part of the portfolio of formats being supported. A library from the Document Liberation project serves as the technical foundation. The program can also even administer Vector curves that you have created with other programs and then exported in dialogs, such as the Custom Shapes dialog that handles Photoshop Custom Shapes (CSH), which have been created for this purpose.

GraphicsMagick serves as the graphics library and makes sure that Scribus can open and edit almost any image format imaginable. Cast shadows are now also a part of the repertoire. If you want to create vector drawings yourself, you will find the suitable tool in Scribus graphics. Scribus now also supports things like the specification of arches and spirals.

Attack of the Clones

The inconspicuous feature Symbol created a sensation during testing. The developers designate an object as a symbol inside of a document that should serve as a template for other objects related to this object.

Once an object has been declared to be a symbol (right-click on the item, Convert | Symbol ), it becomes possible to make an arbitrary number of copies of the original (select Windows | Symbols from the top menu to access the catalog you create). Modifications to the original symbol are automatically propagated. Therefore, if you change the color of the master, then the color in all of the copies will automatically change accordingly (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Symbols define the instance of a particular shape. Copies attached to the symbol automatically change with the original.

The Weld function makes it easier to handle objects that you would like to move but without needing to group them. Grouping can lead to loss of ability to edit individual objects in a group. The Weld function merely creates a logical connection among several objects. The objects can then still be individually edited. If necessary, you can free one of the objects from the objects that have been welded together.

The Undo-Redo mechanism has also been improved through reworking and rewriting. Likewise, the function for snapping an object in place, which allows an object to be placed according to the placement of other objects rather than merely the presence of grid lines, has been improved.

Changes in the Format

Most of the changes described thus far are readily apparent when you look at the program. Changes have also been made under the hood.

One of these is in the format for document itself. Scribus has been using its own XML format by the name of SLA for years, but this is not a well-known fact among users. However, users have become aware that version 1.5 includes various changes to the SLA format, which have many practical side effects.

The format used for Scribus 1.5 offers the possibility of directly integrating bitmap images. Previously, these could only be integrated via links. When the file was opened on another computer, the images had to be in exactly the same position in the file system. The alternative was to engage in a long click session, which manually corrected the paths to the individual images. This process was also dependent on the user always transferring the documents together with the images from one place to another.

The flip side of the many innovations made to formatting is that the documents created with the new version of Scribus are no longer compatible with those of older versions. However, the new Scribus 1.5 can still open documents created with older Scribus versions. It remains to be seen whether the format function will change again with version 1.6.

The developers have promised that all of the functions will be kept so that documents from version 1.5 can be opened. It is not clear that they will be successful in meeting this goal. What is clear is that Scribus 1.5 is not intended to be a stable version.

Conclusion

Scribus 1.5 represents a milestone in the development of this program. It now offers many more professional functions, which is good for the software. The support for tables is extremely helpful and means that the application catches up with other tools, such as Adobe InDesign.

The symbols that make it easier to update multiple pages of multiple copies simultaneously decrease work time significantly. The changes to the interface are not so noticeable in spite of the switch from Qt4 to Qt5. Buttons, and other elements may look different but the basic functions remain the same.

On the other hand, the developers have given much thought how to clean up the structure of the menus and build in additional functions to the interface. The newly designed dialogs and the installation of a print page make it easy to accomplish work. Particularly impressive is the attention to detail with which Scribus 1.5 had worked on various formats for content and templates. The software can now edit image and vector data with much greater mastery than could previous versions.

Because Scribus 1.5 understands files from other DTP programs, it has now become easier for designers to exchange files with colleagues. There are already plugins for the import of Adobe InDesign, Pagemaker, Quark Xpress, Apple iWorks Pages, Microsoft Publisher, and others. Currently, these are not yet in perfect condition.

Scribus 1.5 is appealing and makes the user want more; however, it is not quite ready for production use. As soon as the developers release version 1.6, the program will be able to establish itself in the field of DTP programs. Interesting gimmicks, such as the option for generating QR codes (Figure 6), also point to greater competitive strength for the open source program as compared to commercial offerings.

Figure 6: The function for generating QR codes is one of the interesting innovations. These graphics, which resemble chessboards, are now created directly in the DTP application.