Free Desktop Publishing...

[xiombarg]

Okay, kids, can anyone reccommend a decent, FREE (or very, very cheap, like less than $40) desktop publishing program that works on Windows 98 andor Windows XP? Feel free to point me to old threads...

[spawky]

Hi!

Have you considered OO? It's free and I like it much better than Word. It handles word processing, spreadsheets, power point presentations and some other stuff. It can also save directly to html and pdf. Every so often they update it with more features, eliminate bugs, etc.

www.openoffice.org

Hope that helps...

Spawky

[madelf]

Serif has a free package that's fairly impressive
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/Software/PagePlus/download.asp

Not as nice as the full version, but it blows open office away for layout.


I also heard that Scribus has been set up to work on windows now (though they're still working on an auto-installer).

[xiombarg]

Have you considered OO? It's free and I like it much better than Word. It handles word processing, spreadsheets, power point presentations and some other stuff. It can also save directly to html and pdf. Every so often they update it with more features, eliminate bugs, etc.

I already have MS Office. I need something more than a word processor, an actual desktop publishing program. Like the sort of thing Calvin is talking about.

[Trevis Martin]

YOu could take a look at LaTeX for windows.  There's some info about it at
http://erdos.math.swt.edu/LaTeX/latex.htm

I don't know how easy to use it is, but I know its a layout program.

Trevis

[DevP]

LaTeX probably won't do - I find it radically difficult to learn and hard to make do what you want, despite all my CS-ish schooling. I say skip it, probably.

My open-source-minded friend just suggested Scribus, and I think Clinton suggested that as well. Give it a shot...

[Trevis Martin]

I was thinking scribus too at first but as far as I know there isn't a windows port of it.  Now if you want to install linux, then it can be used.  (And mandrake linux is free.)  

On the other hand this might help you out to put scribus on windows.  You could also do some layout on Inkscape if its a small project.  Its really an svg program but you could do it a page at a time. or in layers.

You might also look at Ragtime  There is a free version but you can only use it, according to the license, if you are not making a profit with the product you produce with it.  And there is ReportLab but that is based on writing style sheets in python, again possibly a little difficult.

Trevis

[MisterPoppet]

There's a lot of free versions of linux, but I don't recommend Mandrake. Getting your hands on it is more trouble than it's worth. I recommend Mepis Linux, it's easier to use and easier to get. But this is about publishing software...

I recommend Scribus first. But if you're not willing to install Linux, I would go with Serif Page Plus. They're both free and both really good for being so.

-MisterPoppet-

[Victor Gijsbers]

LaTeX probably won't do - I find it radically difficult to learn and hard to make do what you want, despite all my CS-ish schooling. I say skip it, probably.

LaTeX is brilliant - if you want to create good-looking document without worrying about layout. It's ideal for scientific papers and the like, with its automatic cross-referencing and section-numbering, its math-support, etcetera. But if you want to do fancy lay-out yourself, you don't want to use LaTeX, since it was especially created to make sure you do not have to worry about that kind of stuff. I mean, even changing the font of your document is something the avarge LaTeX-user may not know how to do.

[madelf]

Reports claim that Scribus has been made to work on Windows.

http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Installing_Scribus_on_Win32

I don't know what Scribus is like, I've never even seen it, but I hear things.
:)

To me, PagePlus sounds easier to install and I know it does a pretty good job. But if you like tinkering with an installation (I don't personally), Scribus might be worth checking out

[Clay]

A fair warning on "free" software from Serif: they sell your email address.  They're giving you a publishing program that's worth a lot of money for free, so obviously they have to make money somehow.  But it's good to know ahead of time.  Using a disposable address is a really good idea.

[madelf]

A fair warning on "free" software from Serif: they sell your email address.  

Please don't consider this a challenge, but I'm curious... where did you get that idea? I got started with the free version of PagePlus and (although I do get an ocassional email from Serif about new products & such - which I really don't mind) I certainly didn't get any sudden surge in spam. I also haven't heard any such accusation in the past.

I tend to point people to Serif quite often (I've been very happy with them personally), so if there's actual verifiable evidence indicating that they are doing this I'd like to know.

[Clay]

I went from very little spam to floods of spam (50+ pieces/day) within 72 hours of giving my address to Serif.  A person notices something like this.  Their distribution list is rather small; another company sold my address to a much bigger distribution list a few months later and doubled my spam count over night.

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

I have something that's kinda like what you wanted. It costs $80 and only works on a Macintosh, but Pages is exactly, precisely the app you need. It's part of Apple's iWork bundle and gives a genuinely surprising amount of typographic control.

So if you can get ahold of a Mac (maybe work on a friend's?) and an extra $40, it's the tool for you.

(I'm a graphic designer and find myself actually satisfied with Pages for my simpler stuff. For everything else, I use InDesign, $165.)

[Doug Ruff]

If you want to try Scribus, but don't want to install Linux on your PC, then you may want to consider using a 'Live CD'. This is a bootable CD which runs Linux using CD and system memory only, so it doesn't affect your hard disk installation of Windows. You'll need a decent amount of system memory (RAM) to use it effectively though.

If you've got a broadband connection, this will only cost you the price of a blank CD and a few hours of downloading.

Distrowatch has a good list of Live CDs and how to get them (go through the 'Search Link' first.) Make sure to check the details page, as not all Live CDs come with Linux. The latest PCLinuxOS disc does (I've tried it) and I believe that Knoppix does too.

At the moment, I'm using a Windows install of OpenOffice for draft documents, as it makes PDF's very easily. But when it comes to serious layout time, I'm going to give Scribus a try.