[scribus] beginner's luck, or lack thereof

[Margaret and George McIntosh]

On 22 Apr 2010 at 14:02, Peter Thorkelson wrote:

> dear list,
> 
> I am a true beginner-to the business of all but completely
> prepackaged  
> software.
> 
> I downloaded scribus (1.3.6), and was informed upon trying to open
> it  
> that I was missing some software:
> 
> "The following programs are missing:
> Ghostscript : You cannot use EPS images or Print Preview"
> 
> is what it said.  I went looking for "ghostscript," and was
> introduced  
> to the terms "tarball" and "distro."  I have since gleaned (rightly
> or  
> wrongly) that a tarball is a collection of small bits of software,
> but  
> apparently I should know what a distro is, since I'm supposed to  
> report that when asking for help.
> 
> SO. what's ghostscript, where do I get it and how do I install it?
> 
> what's distro?
> 
> if I get and install ghostscript, will I then be able to use scribus
> unimpeded?  seems unlikely.
> 
> btw, I re-downloaded scribus as a dmg file (haven't opened it yet), 
> and notice that it's 1.3.5.1.  what are the relative pros and cons
> of  
> using this over 1.3.6?
> 
> I appreciate what help I can get.
> 
> thanks,
> Peter T
> 
Peter

What operating system are you using? If Windows, you can forget about tarbals and 
distros.

You can get Ghostscript at sourceforge.net. You should install it before you install 
Scribus but if you have already installed Scribus, and it doesn't recognise Ghostscript, 
you can go to File, select Preferences, then External Tools and tell Scribus where to 
find Ghostscript. If you are using Windows 7 64x, it will probably be installed in  
C:\Program Files (x86)\gs\gs8.70\bin\gswin32c.exe. Other windows versions will be 
similar.

My understanding is that V1.3.5 is a development version. 1.3.3.14 is their "stable" 
version and I am using 1.3.6, which I like better then 1.3.3.14 and I find it stable, 
enough so for a 8 page newsletter.

Welcome to Scribus.

George