[Scribus] Scribus on Linux & Fink/OS X

[Craig Bradney]

Hi Kevin

> I'm increasing my use of Scribus in my day-to-day business for cover
> design, and I used both a Linux box and OS X for a recent project. I
> thought I'd share some impressions with the list.

Always ready to hear this stuff :)

> Scribus runs OK on the Mac under Fink, but it's a bit slow. I have an
> old PC (733 mhz/P3) that I put Suse 9 on a while back, so I thought I'd
> build Scribus 1.1.7 there and see how it worked.
> 
> What a difference it makes working in the native environment! Scribus
> immediately picks up the look and feel of KDE. It also "feels" a bit
> faster, owing to the lack of two windowing systems (the Mac has its own
> Aqua windowing system and also runs Fink apps with an X11 server).
> Without the distractions of working in two environments, I was able to
> get the cover done a bit more quickly than before--and also explore more
> of Scribus' new features. I especially like the better color mixing
> capabilities, and the support for transparency (don't know if that was
> there before 1.1.7, but the great tutorial that was posted recently
> pointed it out to me).

Within CVS there is now transparency export to PDF and a nice gradient
editor in the making too :)... Its amazing how long you can sit and play
with making the coolest or ugliest gradients and colours that exist :)
hehe.

> It does, I must admit, make a difference doing graphic design on a
> desktop with a 17-inch monitor instead of a laptop with a 14" screen,
> which is my usual environment. Working this way, Scribus comes very
> close to InDesign.
> 
> The one area where I'm not yet ready to use Scribus in a more day-to-day
> context is for page layout of books. Losing text formatting if I have to
> make an edit in the story editor is a bit of a pain. It's OK for a few
> paragraphs of cover text, but not for a 100-plus-page book of poetry.

Story Editor is on the list for a rewrite before 1.2 is released.

> The day Scribus gets a rich-text import filter--say in OpenOffice.org
> format--then it will match InDesign in every essential way. Even if I'm
> running it under Fink on a laptop. (I already use OpenOffice.org this way!)

We have this in the works too.. being designed Right Now.

> I hope this feedback from a "power user" perspective is useful.

Always, and thanks.

Craig
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