[scribus] Scribus vs. QuarkXpress

[a.l.e]

ladies and gentlemen,

let me disagree!

>   I'm certainly no expert on all the ramifications of using a DTP,
> but I was a Quark user for about eighteen years, starting with v.3
> and finally ending with v.6.5.  Both Quark and Scribus have rather
> steep learning curves, they're not word processors (but make dandy
> ones if you already know how to use them!) I've found that Scribus
> will do everything Quark would do, some things are easier, some are
> less intuitive, but overall, once you get used to using either,
> that's what you know. A good application is the one you know how to
> use, and does what you want. I switched because frankly, after buying
> Quark for something like $700, every year or so I had to upgrade to
> keep the program current, upgrades cost me about $280. That got
> pretty old for me, my income has always been rather limited. Scouting
> around OpenOffice's add-ons one day, I came across Scribus. I've
> generally been a DOS then Windows user, Quark was originally ported
> for Mac, later came out with the Windows version. Scribus was
> originally ported for Linux, but as far as I know, has always been
> multi-platform capable. I use it - v.1.3.3.14 - in Windows VISTA, and
> also in OpenSUSE 11.3 Gnome. It works flawlessly for me on either
> platform.
> 
> I do newsletters for specialized groups, and also the color bulletin 
> covers for a local church, and have found Scribus to be just as adept
> at handling things like text columns, inset pictures, runaround text,
> all the things I used Quark for, at least equal to Quark. The only
> thing I really miss is Quark's menu choice of frames for graphics (or
> text, for that matter). Quark came with a nice assortment of
> decorative frames, which became the box itself when applied. Scribus
> requires a frame to be drawn over the object, line frames only
> apparently, though various corners are available, from using the box
> draw choice, then the color (default is black) has to be removed to
> expose the graphic. Line thickness is availble, and I've found that
> most clients are satisfied with just a black line frame around most
> graphics, or sometimes no frame at all, as with a faded border. I was
> fond of Quark's "Greek Key" border. Frames can be any color, I'm not
> sure Quark frames offer that, I never tried to use it.
> 
> Scribus is open source software - its totally free, and that's really 
> hard to beat. QuarkXpress is expensive to purchase, and expensive to 
> upgrade. I did some beta testing on their v.7 and found it difficult
> to use for my applications, so stopped upgrading at 6.5.  I
> especially had trouble loading v.7, and getting file recognition from
> it. I dutifully reported that to the company, maybe they addressed
> those issues, I don't know.  I think Quark started out as a really
> neat, tidy program, and over the years became bloated and hard to
> manage. Seems I recall something about it being completely rewritten,
> in a newer higher language, but I don't know about that. Scribus is
> very well managed, this open forum is the best thing since chocolate
> bananas, questions always get answered and I've met the nicest people
> here. You have absolutely nothing to lose but your time in going
> through the steps to learn to use Scribus. QuarkXpress is, I
> understand, the premier program in this country for publishing
> magazines and newspapers, and in fact that's where I learned of it,
> at the San Bernardino Sun newspaper, where I was working in the
> accounting department, but haunting the typesetting area, fascinated
> by the various software programs they used. (Disney had some really
> nice programs for professional use.) I had trained with IBM many
> years earlier in their MTSC system of computerized typesetting. Heck,
> live dangerously, take a chance on Scribus, save your money for
> something you really need.


for people like me, who for a long time didn't have any access to the "wonderful" quark express but had to work with the good old page maker, the biggest difference between the old proprietary world of DTP and Scribus is not the price but the huge chance to participating in the evolution of the project and get long standing bugs FIXED and new features implemented that ease our work.

for what i've heard this applies to the quark world, too!

but in the meantime, the world has changed. adobe has managed to sell a product which makes the masses happy. and it works. mostly.


yes, i'm a bit tired of earing people telling that the biggest advantage of scribus is that you can get it for no cost.

i don't know how the situation in your country is, but where i live, you get any software for no cost if you really want.

here most people won't use scribus, even if i pay them to switch to it!

the cost of somebody learning for one week a new software is much higher the licensing costs for any closed source DTP package!



why do i write this?

well, i have the feeling that none of us really knows for whom we are developing scribus and we don't even know who is using scribus (we know of some users, but we have no clue about any typology of users).

and i get depressed every time i read somebody writing "you should try it: it does cost you nothing". we should be able to tell them: "you should try it: it fits your needs"!


and now that i got over my "for free" allergy, i can congratulate you for your nice description of working with scribus and with quark express.



have a nice evening!
a.l.e