Programs for creating text brochures. Scribus – creation of graphic and text documents
Main functions
- ready-made page templates;
- embedding various fonts into documents;
- character and paragraph text styles;
- color model and color separation system;
- creating PDF documents;
- drawing tools;
- creating files for subsequent printing on printing equipment;
- import/export of documents in various formats.
Advantages and disadvantages
- free distribution;
- availability of Russian-language localization;
- presence of a master page;
- working with text blocks, graphics, scripts;
- powerful integrated scripting environment;
- PDF support.
- lack of support for working with flash files;
- errors when trying to use the “Visualize” button.
Alternatives
Inkscape. Free application for working with vector illustrations. With its help you can create logos, posters, business cards, etc. It supports various text processing methods, has many drawing tools, works with clones of objects, can compress files and save them in the necessary graphic formats.
Business Card Master. Free program for creating original layouts of leaflets, flyers, business cards. It has many ready-made design options. It features fine print settings, has a built-in integrated editor, allows you to add brand names, pictures, logos, and save the project in a special database.
Work principles
After downloading and installing the program, a window will open in which you can start creating new documents and make all the necessary settings.
The main window looks like this:
Interface
It contains a toolbar with which you can perform all basic operations with documents.
To create a cover, click the “Image Block” button. Then specify the block size using a frame. Once you have determined the boundaries, select the desired pattern from the rectangular selection. Each panel element has its own context menu. Through it you can call the “Properties” item and configure any block parameters.
new document
To add new pages to a document, go to the “Page” menu and check the “Copy” option.
Copying
In the next window, indicate which page and in how many copies to copy. You can remove unnecessary blocks in new pages.
Properties
To create a halftone gradient shade, activate the Shape tool, create a new block and go to the Colors section. Select the gradient type and desired shades.
Color properties
To insert template text, create a new block and select the appropriate item in the context menu.
Inserting a template
To save the layout, for example, in PDF format, click the “Save as PDF” button and set all the necessary parameters:
Export to PDF
Scribus is a professional tool that allows you to create and print books, calendars, business cards, booklets and other printed products.
I’ll say right away - there are only two programs for development, layout, creation of a newspaper, magazine, booklet and so on.:
Quark Xpress
I'm not particularly familiar with the history of this company, but the program is not bad. To this day, newspapers and magazines use version 4 (version 8 already exists) because of its simplicity. Support for Russian is NOT built-in and must be installed separately, and for each version. Without additional settings, word hyphenation will not work,
and when layout of magazines and newspapers Without word hyphens, nothing will work, so if you are going to layout your newspaper or magazine at home, it is better not to use Quark - you will have to install a lot, and this will require additional knowledge and time.
Adobe Indesign
Adobe Indesign is a program from the software market dinosaur that created Photoshop. The previous program was called PageMaker. Problems arise during installation, of course, and every time there are some new ones, but this best program of a kind. The Russian language is built-in, I’m talking about the ability to hyphenate words. I started working in Indesign already knowing Quark very well (I could work practically without a mouse - on the keyboard), and even this point was taken into account by the creators: in Indesing you can install keyboard shortcuts from Quark Exrpress 4.0 (though they are only approximately similar, but you quickly get used to it) ).
In order for all these programs to install and work well, it is necessary to put the fonts in order. To do this, install some kind (the most famous is Adobe Font Manager). " Broken fonts» come across quite often, often the broken font turns out to be Arial (one of the main ones in Windows). That is, this is naturally not visible to the eye - the font itself and the font work great in Word, for example, but some characters are not “drawn” correctly and Indesign simply does not install or does not start after installation.
Well, the most important thing! Programs for layout of newspapers and magazines ( By the way, in Quark Express and Indesign you can assemble any layouts for printing: flyers, posters, brochures, booklets) This programs for working with text but not with a photo, or for arranging text and photos. These programs do not have tools for photo editing, so at least one more mandatory program is Adobe Photoshop, which prepares all raster graphics for your publication.
D. V. Averin, postgraduate student, Northwestern Institute of Printing, St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design
When starting a conversation about programs for creating electronic publications, it should be said that you can create an electronic publication without using any special programs at all. You can use the Microsoft Word editor, create a certain number of pages in HTML format, link them with links and get an electronic publication suitable both for viewing on a local computer and for posting on the Internet. Moreover, there are programs for combining such pages into one executable file, which, when created, you do not have to worry about whether you forgot to copy one or another file from your set to a floppy disk.
If you are not satisfied with the capabilities provided by the HTML language, you can try to master one or more programs specifically designed for creating electronic publications.
ePublisher 3000
(www.hypermethod.ru)
Let's start with the simplest program - ePublisher 3000. The program is really a fairly easy-to-learn editor that can either automatically create a book based on existing sections, or allow you to make its own layout. The product supports most of the functions required for layout.
To create a book, you must have text in an RTF or PDF file. It is desirable that the headings in this file be numbered in accordance with the hierarchy (i.e. 1; 1.1; 1.1.1, etc.) this will allow the program to accurately form the book structure and table of contents. After selecting a file, you must choose one of 40 e-book design templates. Templates include the external decoration of the book text. The program allows you to save the finished book in two formats:
in the form of an executable exe file that can be run on any computer running Windows;
in html format for further publication on the Internet.
If you are not satisfied with the existing templates, you can create your own template. You can also change the layout of the book, supplement the book with video fragments (avi, mpeg4), sound (wav, mp3), graphics (gif, jpg, bmp), web objects (html, JavaScript, Java, etc.), external (on sites on the Internet) and internal (to book pages) hypertext links. You can also enrich the book's capabilities using a search system and a dictionary of terms. You can also protect your creation from pirated copying by setting the book to open as read-only.
This package is most suitable for creating lecture courses for schoolchildren and students, since it does not require large expenditures of either time or material nature (the licensed version of the program costs $49).
HyperMethod 3.5
(www.hypermethod.ru)
Unlike the previous product, intended primarily for creating text books, this product from HyperMethod allows you to create full-fledged multimedia electronic publications, where text can be only one of many components. At the same time, the product is quite easy to learn, does not require special programming skills and has an intuitive Russian-language interface.
The package allows you to work with a large number of formats:
text formats (HTML, RTF, TXT, PDF);
graphic formats (GIF, JPG, BMP, WMF, EMF);
audio formats (WAV, MIDI, MP3).
Using this program you can create publications of almost any nature. When creating reference publications, it will be extremely useful to be able to operate with any amount of information, as well as organize a powerful information search system. Thanks to the built-in programming language, it is possible to create systems with feedback, i.e. systems that allow testing of the user's knowledge (which is absolutely necessary when creating educational publications). In addition, the package has other advantages that are useful when creating large electronic publications:
allows you to create structures of any complexity containing tens of thousands of hyperlinks;
allows you to create an individual design;
easily integrates with databases and the Internet;
has developed means of expanding the capabilities of the package due to the built-in script language (scripts);
allows you to automatically create hyperlinks using word form search.
Here is the opinion of one of the software product reviewers: “HyperMethod is a commercial program created by domestic programmers, and in its functionality it is close to the leader, the Macromedia Director program, but costs significantly less.”
It is worth adding that with the help of the HyperMetod package such well-known multimedia CDs as the encyclopedia "Russian Museum. Painting", the encyclopedia of musical instruments "Terra Musicalis", as well as various presentation discs and electronic product catalogs have been developed. The cheapest version of the program costs $150 and will allow you to create a full-fledged publication, which can contain not only text, but also animation, graphics, video, sound and be a full-fledged multimedia publication.
Formula Graphics
(www.formulagraphics.com)
This authoring system has an easy-to-use graphical interface and can also be used for almost any type of electronic publication. The program has no restrictions on the images, sound and animation that you can implement in your publication. Information is displayed on the screen using hypertext and graphical hyperlinks. In the program itself, you can work both using programming (the program has a powerful object-oriented language with more than 500 operators, functions and commands) and without any programming.
Formula Graphics allows you to:
create publications using two- and three-dimensional graphics;
introduce animation and create small games with its help (which is especially useful when creating children's publications);
create projectors (i.e., a window in which your publication will be displayed) of any shape that will fit on the desktop.
Additional features of the program include the ability to create installation utilities and screen savers (screensav-ers) with its help. Developed applications can be played from a floppy disk or CD, directly over the Internet, or embedded in a Web page.
The program has shareware status and is distributed via the Internet. Registration costs $50 for six months and removes all developer restrictions for the free version, however, these restrictions are not that serious.
Multimedia Builder 4.8
(www.compactdraw.com)
Publications created in this program can contain graphics, text, sound, MP3 and video. The program has a huge number of different tools, its capabilities are limited only by your imagination. There are several templates that you can customize to your liking. You can apply many effects to your images.
When you create an application, the program creates either an executable exe file or a file in its own format, which is executed using a small player. Since data compression occurs in this case, the applications are very compact, which allows us to solve the problem of transmitting them over the Internet.
The program, as already mentioned, works with sound files, and there is a developed system of commands for them (Play, Stop, Pause, Next, etc.). Thanks to the built-in capabilities of the program, you can easily create simple music players of any shape and type, which will add originality to your publication.
MMB builds multi-page (multi-screen) applications. This means that, having created the first form, you can add a second, third to it and insert transition buttons between them. The program can create applications without the standard Windows header, as well as applications of any non-rectangular shape, which makes it similar to the previous program described.
The program is distributed as shareware, but the unregistered version is only fully functional for 30 days.
These are the main programs for creating electronic publications. There are a number of other equally (and often even more) powerful authoring systems, but most of them require the user to know at least the basics of programming. In the Russian-language part of the Internet, there is a fairly large number of sites where both the above programs and those that were not mentioned here are described in more or less detail. In addition, some manufacturers often conduct training seminars on how to use their products, so any reader interested in this area of software creation can be sure that he will not be left without information.
Below is a list of the most interesting sites dedicated to the development of electronic publications and multimedia applications:
Free printing program for the layout of books, newspapers, magazines, booklets, postcards and any other printed materials.
With its capabilities it will satisfy almost any requests regarding printing. It can even compete with its paid counterpart - Adobe InDesign. Don't believe me? Compare!
Comparison of the book layout program Scribus with the paid analogue Adobe InDesign
Perhaps due to porting to Windows, or perhaps due to the lack of implementation of some ideas, Scribus looks a little “damper” than its paid “brother”. So, for example, the “Visualization” button is present, but when you try to insert a new block, an error is thrown.
However, since Scribus copes with its main purpose, you can turn a blind eye to some shortcomings (any image can be prepared in advance in a graphics editor).
Installing Scribus
Let's start installing Scribus. To do this, download the installer and run it. The first window will ask you which language to select for the program interface (select “Russian” or a language more native to you and click “Ok”):
Then you will have to “sign” the license agreement by checking the appropriate switch.
Next you will be asked to select an installation configuration. The “Full” option is more than suitable, but if you value hard drive space, you can remove the installation of additional fonts (you will save about 10 megabytes). But it’s better not to save money here.
Once the installation is complete, in the final window you can uncheck the "Show ReadMe file" checkbox. It’s still in English and doesn’t really help in mastering the editor.
The layout program itself will launch, but we will receive a warning that not all components are installed. It turns out that before installing Scribus it was necessary to install the Ghostscript complex.
PostScript- page description language for desktop publishing systems.
In principle, if you do not need support for the EPS format, and you do not need to work with the PostScript system, then you can refuse to install Ghostscript.
Close Scribus, install Ghostscript and launch Scribus again.
Scribus interface
Now there are no problems and the program prompts us to create a new document. Here we can choose a layout for the book layout or create a new document from a template (if we have one).
Also at this stage you can set the number of pages, select how many stripes there will be, set the orientation (portrait/landscape) and page dimensions. When everything is selected, click “OK”.
As an example, we've created a default page to show the basics of Scribus. Let's take a closer look at the program window.
Conventionally, all Scribus tools on the panel can be divided into several groups (they are labeled in the picture above).
Validator- a program for checking for errors in the code.The first group in the top panel is responsible for creating and saving documents. There is a button for exporting to PDF and a “Validator” for the page code, etc. Next come the standard editing tools, after which there are all the specialized functions.
The last section is for those who want to add active elements to their eBook.
The bottom panel allows you to navigate through the document and manage its preview.
Cover layout layout
For now, we won’t go into the jungle of professional book layout, but let’s look at the main features of Scribus using a simple example. Let's imagine that we need to make a layout of a future book. It usually consists of a cover and pages.
Let us immediately note that in Scribus you will mainly have to operate with rectangular blocks. Therefore, when inserting any object, first, using a frame, the boundaries of its block are indicated. If there are no questions, move on.
First, let's create the cover. Usually it is decorated with some kind of drawing or photograph. To add an image, click on the “Image Block” button on the toolbar and indicate the two corners of the block, which will look like a crossed out rectangle.
If you wish, you can fill the entire cover with this block, for which we stretch it from edge to edge.
To insert a picture, double-click on the block with the left mouse button and in the window that appears, select the picture for the cover.
Context menu- a menu that appears when you right-click on an object.Now comes the most important part! All elements of the Scribus workspace have a context menu, in which the most important item is “Properties”. Thanks to them, you can configure almost all parameters of the block.
For example, after inserting an image, it may appear smaller. Therefore, go to “Properties” and specify the desired scale of the image on the cover manually or set automatic scaling using the “Scale to block size” switch and uncheck “Proportional” so that there are no extra fields left.
Also, you can apply various photographic effects to the image, such as adjusting brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc., using the corresponding button.
In addition, in the “Colors” submenu in the same “Properties” panel, you can set some more parameters for this block. For example, an opacity of 90% for greater effect. But here you need to look at whether the applied effect will benefit the layout being made or will only make it worse.
And don’t forget to save the draft of the book being typed up (menu “File” - “Save As”), so that later it won’t be excruciatingly painful for wasted hours :) Projects are saved in SLA format.
Now let's add a title to our book. To do this, activate the “Text Block” tool and define its boundaries. Then double-click the left mouse button in the selected space and enter the desired text. At first it will turn out to be very inconspicuous, since it will be small in size.
To configure the text parameters, call the same “Properties” option from the block’s context menu. The important items here will be the “Text” and “Color” submenus. In the “Text” section we will be able to influence its various properties (font, size, fill color, shadow, etc.).
And thanks to the “Color” submenu, you can create a fill for a text block and change the color of its stroke.
Alpha channel- transparency of a certain part of the image.If you want to create a very non-standard inscription, you can always draw it in a graphics editor, and then save it with the alpha channel enabled (for example, in PNG format) and insert it into our layout editor as an image.
Adding new pages
So we made the cover for our book. But we only created one page, so how can we add new ones now? Very simple. Go to the “Page” menu and select “Insert”. In the window that appears, we configure exactly where we want to insert new pages, what they should look like and how many there will be.
In the same way, you can move or copy the current page using the appropriate commands in the "Page" menu. All copy pages will contain the same set of blocks. To clear them, simply delete unnecessary blocks by highlighting and pressing the "Delete" key on the keyboard.
Creating a Gradient
Gradient- a smooth flow of one color into another in a certain direction.You've probably noticed that in some books (and more often in booklets) the pages are not just white, but have a beautiful halftone gradient tint.
Implementing this effect in Scribus couldn't be easier. Let's activate the "Shape" tool, select some shape from the drop-down menu and create a new block with it on the entire page.
Now go to the properties of our block and go to the “Colors” section. Here we select the gradient type and set the desired colors. You can then set the opacity level, which will create a lighter toned effect on the page.
Ready! With this simple technique you can slightly elevate even a simple black and white page.
To see what the finished printed sheet will look like, we can use the function of inserting template text. To do this, just create a new text block and select “Insert template text...” in its context menu.
Then, in the window that appears, you will need to select the text language. The program will generate random meaningless text on which you can evaluate the future appearance of the page.
Text properties are configured using the same “Properties” menu, called up with the right mouse button.
When all the main visual parameters of the template have been adjusted, you can begin directly typing text. The best option for this purpose is the built-in text editor, which can be launched by clicking the “Change Text” button.
Using this editor, you can fine-tune each entered character or even specific printing parameters of entire words and expressions.
To view the changes made, use the “Update text block” button or the “Ctrl” + “U” key combination.
Saving a Layout
Export- converting a document into a format readable by other programs.And finally, when everything is ready, we can start saving and exporting our book. Most often, e-books are published in PDF format. To do this, click the “Save as PDF” button. The program can warn us that there are certain errors in the template that are incompatible with the selected format.
If they do not seem critical to you, you can select the “Ignore errors” option, or try to correct them to be more confident in the result.
The layout saving window is the last stage of our work.
In this window you can configure the necessary parameters and the name of the future PDF document. It makes sense to study all the settings of this window, so that later you don’t have to ask why the pictures and text in the PDF book look different from the original version;)
conclusions
In addition to the visual interface, the Scribus book layout program has a powerful integrated script programming environment (PostScript and Python), thanks to which a professional can create an effect of any complexity or fine-tune any element of a future book.
And finally, a small children's flash game in which you need to assemble a car in the correct order for one of the Smurfs. Do you think you can easily assemble a wooden car? Ha ha!
P.S. Permission is granted to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
P.P.S. One of the most important things in printing is beautiful fonts. On our website you can find an excellent selection of fonts for all occasions:
https://www..php
Most commercial publishing software is expensive. But don't despair, there are at least two excellent free programs that will allow you to handle the specific task of creating a print layout. One of these programs is designed for small businesses and is a great alternative to Microsoft Publisher. The other is a serious high-class competitor, not inferior to multifunctional commercial programs.
Review of free software for publishing (creating a print layout)
Scribus is a multi-platform, complete layout solution
The first, most advanced program is open source. Initially, Scribus was designed only for Linux systems, but over time it also began to support Mac OS X, OS2 and Windows.
Scribus is truly a program capable of creating professional creations that can be sent straight to print, without any need for pre-processing. The list of features is impressive. Everything you might need, including support for CMYK colors, separators, ICC color profile management, pdf creation and much more. The layout procedure is somewhat reminiscent of Gimp (a fairly well-known open source program). In addition, Scribus can import and export data from Open Office, a powerful analogue to Microsoft Office.
Although Scribus is a very, very functional application, the user interface is still a little behind its commercial brothers. Of course, the program allows you to use different display templates (shells), but you can still feel the difference. Scribus has fairly extensive documentation and its development continues to this day.
In general, Scribus places more emphasis on functionality rather than beauty. Therefore, this program is more suitable for those who need to create printed layouts of any complexity.
PagePlus Starter Edition is an excellent product for start-up publishers and small organizations
The second program is from Serif, creators of the famous free image editor PhotoPlus. PagePlusSE is a simplified version of PagePlus X8. Of course, the free version lacks many of the features of the commercial version, but the functionality available is more than enough to create relatively simple brochures, flyers, and newsletters often used by small businesses and charities. In fact, the lack of complex features makes PagePlusSE much more intuitive and user-friendly for novice users with general publishing needs.
The program comes with a good set of ready-made templates (additional templates can be downloaded from the Internet), so even a novice user can create beautiful and presentable materials for printing in a short time. PagePlusSE has quite good tools for processing text and images (inserting, resizing, etc.). There is also a basic set of forms: folding leaflets, business cards, letter forms, etc. Tools for manipulating the color palette are limited in places, but they are, however, quite sufficient for most needs. Limitations also affected the available file formats for saving your works (for example, there is no PDF).
Note: However, you can use pdf creation software to get around this limitation.
If there's one thing that truly sets PagePlus SE apart from its peers, it's undeniably ease of use. In fact, the program's interface is designed in such a way that if you are even slightly familiar with Microsoft Word and similar office suites, then consider that you already know how to use PagePlus SE. In this case, it is clearly felt that this product is based on commercial software.
Note: Of course, you should not in any way assume that free and open source products cannot be attractive, beautiful and convenient. And that all commercial products have a better interface by default. In reality, this is not always the case. It's just that, unlike free products, the main focus of commercial programs should almost always include appearance (interface, etc.). Otherwise, they simply will not withstand the competition.
Quick Selection Guide (links to download free software for publishing)
Scribus
| Very powerful, can do anything you can imagine. | ||
| Perhaps too complex and powerful for average users. | ||
| http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus | ||
| ------------- | ||
| 70 MB x86; 82 MB x64 1.4.4 Unrestricted freeware Windows 2000 - 8 x86, Vista - 8 x64, Mac OS X, Various Linux distributions, OS2 eComStation. | ||
| 64-bit OS support | ||
| Before installing Scribus (for Windows), install Ghostscript. It is required to import EPS and print previews. |
PagePlus Starter Edition
| Easy to use. Lots of ready-made backgrounds, templates, samples, styles, etc. Likely to be the best choice for everyday creation of relatively simple layouts. | ||
| Mostly basic functionality. | ||
