Scribus
A free page layout program.
New to this? What open source means and how to read this page.
What it is
Desktop publishing software for brochures, magazines and print-ready PDFs. The GitHub repo is a community mirror of the official source.
Good for
Print layouts, flyers and books where you need control over typography and colour.
The catch
It feels dated and has a learning curve. File exchange with InDesign is limited, so do not plan on opening INDD files.
Scribus versus Adobe InDesign
The paid product's own plans and terms change. Check its site before you decide.
Install it with an AI assistant
Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant that can work on your computer (Claude Code or Claude Desktop, for example). It is written from the project's official repository and tells the assistant to show you every command first. Setup time is our estimate: about 5 min.
I want to install and try Scribus on my own computer. Official repository: https://github.com/scribusproject/scribus Official site: https://www.scribus.net License: GPL-2.0 or later Before you do anything: 1. Read the README and install notes in the official repository above, and nothing else. Do not follow third-party tutorials or mirrors. 2. Tell me in plain words what will be installed, what it needs (operating system, memory, graphics card, disk space, accounts) and what it will cost me, if anything. 3. Check my computer against those needs and tell me honestly if it will not work well. Install it as a regular desktop app: download the latest release for my operating system from the official releases page or the official site, install it, and open it with me. Rules: - Show me each command before you run it, and say what it does. - Ask before anything that deletes files, changes system settings, opens a network port or needs an administrator password. - Never put my passwords or keys on a command line, or in a file I did not choose. - When it is installed, help me check it with one small test, and tell me how to start and stop it. - If something goes wrong, explain it in plain words and do not guess your way around it. Good to know before you start: It feels dated and has a learning curve. File exchange with InDesign is limited, so do not plan on opening INDD files.
We have not run this prompt ourselves yet. Read what the assistant plans to do before you say yes.
Facts checked on 12 October 2026. We have not yet run a hands-on test of this tool. When we do, it gets a "Tested" mark here. Approximate US list prices for an individual plan, from third-party price trackers checked on 12 Oct 2026. Monthly billing where it exists. Regions, taxes and promotions change them. Confirm at the vendor before you decide.
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