Because desktop publishing is primarily about the eventual printing or other creation of a physical document, the precise layout and color matching becomes as important as the content. While modern word processors provide great capabilities in this area particularly in the realm of justification, columns, and tables, they still fall short of the pinpoint control and accuracy required for publishing. The difference between desktop publishing and mere word processing is in the layout. Scribus is best known inside the Linux community where it is the only desktop publishing platform available, but it is equally powerful and ready for the more traditional Windows and Mac platforms. If you are thinking that means that Scribus is some stripped down child-level desktop publishing platform, think again. Open-source also means the product is free. If you are familiar with Firefox, then you are familiar with this basic concept. Around open-source products, a community of stewards and developers forms, and this becomes the product’s open-source community. In addition, that code can be used, updated, fixed, or added-to by anyone as well.
Open-source means that the actual computer code the program is written in is available to anyone who wants in. Scribus is an open-source desktop publishing software package. That high outlay means that many writers and publishers make due with products that aren’t specifically designed for desktop publishing, but there is an alternative. Adobe PageMaker lists at $499, InDesign CS3 at $699, QuarkXPress 8 weighs in at a hefty $799, making MS Publisher the cheapy of the group at either $169 or as part of the higher end Office Suites. And, there is no shortage of other players in every niche and specialty out there.
Other major contenders include Microsoft Publisher, and QuarkXPress. Adobe alone makes three products depending upon how you count. In the world of desktop publishing, there is no shortage of contenders for your dollars.
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