[Scribus] [Newbie] Ready for production use?

[Louis Desjardins]

>Hi everyone!
>
>I'm a member of a student organisation, and we want to print a 
>calendar for freshmen (aprox. 1000 copies, aprox 92 pages).
>As with all student organisations, we have no money and got the idea 
>very late in time. So we only have about 4 weeks until everything 
>has to go to the printers... ;o)
>
>That said and bearing in mind what it says on the website ("This is 
>beta software which is undergoing many code changes daily. While it 
>is fairly stable and usable, caution is advised. It is not 
>recommended yet for production use."), do you think we can "safely" 
>use Scribus, or should we rather use another DTP software? (We're 
>using Windows, and RagTime 5.6.5 is another alternative we have in 
>mind.)
>
>If Scribus proofs a safe alternative (e. g. it is stable enough), 
>what documents would you recommend reading, given we have so little 
>time to get to know the software?
>
>Thanks for all and any advice you can give.

Hi Christian,

Assuming that a calendar is made of pictures and a frame for each 
month or weeks and that there will be no long text running from page 
to page, I would recommend Scribus without any doubts and any fear 
for that kind of work.

It could happen you encounter a few issues including slow reactions 
from the application as the document becomes heavier. The workaround 
is to split the job in sections that you can put together in the end 
or output as PDF just like that.

As for your printer, I see no difficulty in assembling parts of a 
final PDF to make it one document if this is at all needed.

The best way to make sure all is fine with your printer is to create 
a few typical pages (say, 4 pages), output it as PDF and send this 
file to your printer telling him that there will be 92 pages like 
this. You'll know right away if everything is fine, the way you did 
it. In any event, don't hesitate to ask advice on this list.

Scribus is very reliable and outputs perfect PDF for production.

To get started, please refer to the scribus wiki and scribus docs 
where you'll find valuable information. There is also a tutorial but 
it is currently being upgraded. Work in progress. Also, there are 
many valuable tooltips that could help you find your way in the 
interface and all the settings.

Plus, other people on this list have already made calendars and they 
might be able to give further advice on just how to lay it out the 
most efficient way.

HTH

Louis

>
>Kind regards,
>
>Christian
>P.S.: I hope this goes out as plain text... Fingers crossed...