[scribus] Re : making 11 by 17 page layout

[jwminer at accessvt.com]

Alison wrote:
> yes, you are right, it is exactly what I need, but I know no one who
> knows Linux unfortunately.  Really want to learn myself but it's
> hard
> to figure out how to go about that.  Anyway, thanks

Remember that there are two learning curves involved. One is
learning the fundamentals of designing, laying out, and printing a
publication. The other is learning how to do this with Scribus.

You can learn about graphic design and printing from many places and
the software you use for laying out the newsletter is immaterial.
Online a good place for questions on design, layout, and printing is
the Desktop Publishing Forum ( http://www.desktopublishingforum.com
). The people are friendly and most are professionals but very
tolerant of newbie-type questions. There are also numerous books.
You might like to start with books by Robin Williams (a designer,
not the actor/comedian). She has books about typography as well as
print and Web design. There is also a ton of information at
http://graphicssoft.about.com/ including tutorials and friendly
forums, and likewise at http://desktoppub.about.com/ .

A terrific magazine that's really a must-read for anyone learning
design is Before&After. The web site is http://www.bamagazine.com/
and you can read some articles and subscribe there. The magazine is
about design rather than using software and any software mentioned
is for Mac or PC (InDesign, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and the
like), but as I said, it's about design rather than using software.

So that takes care of one aspect of the learning curve. For Scribus,
there is a very extensive wiki and I believe most of what's in the
new Scribus manual is also in the wiki. The advantage of the book is
that it's all in one place and you can read it without being online
and refer to it without needing to flip back and forth between the
wiki and your project. And of course, part of what you pay for the
book goes to support Scribus. My point is that you don't have to
wait for the book to find out what you need. Spend some time
exploring the wiki and you'll find many of your questions answered
and problems solved.

Learning Linux is something that happens as you actually *use*
Linux. Most distros have forums where you can ask questions. Some
are very friendly and helpful, some are not. There are also numerous
Web sites covering all aspects of Linux. Always remember that Google
is your friend. It's often the fastest way to get an answer because
the answer is already on the Internet.

My own opinion is that it helps to learn Linux if you use a distro
that doesn't try to make everything easier for beginners (which I
think Ubuntu does, unfortunately, and I really regret that in too
many minds Ubuntu is synonymous with "Linux"). I've used VectorLinux
for many years. It's based on Slackware but is geared to desktop
users and includes graphical front ends for setting up and managing
the system and includes Slapt-get and GSlapt for package management.
Like Debian's apt-get, they resolve dependencies and thus make
things simpler than installing software in Windows. The
just-released VectorLinux 6.0 Standard comes with Scribus 1.3.3.12,
Inkscape 0.46, and Gimp 2.6.5 preinstalled. One thing I like about
VectorLinux is that you actually learn to use Linux, not some
distro-specific tool that shields you from Linux. VL also has a very
friendly user forum with a "no RTFM" rule. In other words, the
answer to a newbie's question is never to "read the f***ing manual."

Of course, everybody has their favorite distro and that's the Linux
Way: offer choice to users. Regardless of what you use, there is
plenty of information out there. Increasingly, distros have their
own documentation, much of it quite fine.

Good luck with your quest! Never fear, you'll get there.
--Judy Miner
  USA

Registered Linux User #397786