Scribus
Free desktop publishing for posters, magazines and books, with real CMYK output a printer will accept.
These buttons open the developer's own site, repository or store listing in a new tab. wares.gg does not host downloads.
6 more ways to get Scribus
Other download sites
Run by third parties, not by The Scribus Team. Prefer the official page above when it works.
Package managers
- Chocolatey
choco install scribus - Homebrew
brew install --cask scribus - Flathub
flatpak install flathub net.scribus.Scribus
About Scribus
Scribus lays out pages the way InDesign and QuarkXPress do: text frames that flow into each other, precise object placement, master pages, and typography controls down to the kerning pair. It exports press-ready PDF with CMYK colour, spot colours, ICC profiles and bleed, which is the part free word processors cannot do.
Complex text layout is unusually good for a free program, with right-to-left support for Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Hebrew, bidirectional text, Indic scripts and OpenType font features across more than five hundred languages.
Strengths
- Press-ready PDF with CMYK, spot colours, ICC profiles and bleed
- Text frames, master pages and precise typographic control
- Right-to-left, bidirectional and Indic script support
- Windows, macOS Intel and Apple Silicon, and a Linux AppImage
Limitations
- The interface is dated and the workflow is not obvious
- Importing InDesign or QuarkXPress files is not supported
- Development is slow and happens in Subversion, not the GitHub mirror
- Word processor import is imperfect and usually needs cleanup
Details
- Pricing
- Free · Free and open source under the GPL 2.0.
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Developer
- The Scribus Team
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Laying out something that has to be printed properly rather than printed at home
- Categories
- Image and vector editors
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (Graphics); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 2 sources on file.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
LibreOffice
The full free office suite: word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, drawing, database and formula editor.
Inkscape
A free vector editor that works natively in SVG, for logos, diagrams and illustration.
GIMP
The long-running free image editor for photo retouching, compositing and general pixel work.
