Scribus Versus Microsoft Publisher

The web is crawling with programs that are used to publish anything from web sites to newsletters. Not to mention, there is stiff competition between the manufactures. But to make life easier, let's just compare two well known programs-Microsoft Publisher and Scribus.

Microsoft Publisher is a piece of software that can be purchased in a package of Microsoft products: or, it could be purchased separately. It is used to publish pages to the web or create clean, professional looking web sites. Aside from being able to publish sites, it can be used to publish newsletters, brochures, fliers, and catalogs, and all of them can be printed straight from your desktop.

Though this program is of superior quality, other programs such as those from Adobe and Mac are far better. This is why it is usually considered to be an entry level program.
 
Scribus, on the other hand, is of much greater quality. It is extremely flexible and easy to use. And unlike Microsoft Publisher, which is only made to work on PC's and Windows based operating systems, Scribus can work with practically any computer and with any OS making it universal. This enables a wider number of people to have access to the program and the benefits it provides. But, just what are the benefits? How is this program better than the conventional Microsoft Publisher?

One benefit that this program has over Microsoft Publisher is that it is free whereas Microsoft Publisher costs a pretty penny. Not to mention, the program is open source which means that anyone can create plug-ins and offer patches and suggestions to fix problems. Should a new release ever come out, anyone can test the program and give feedback before it is received by the public. None of this can be done with any program manufactured by Microsoft.

Should one create documents in Microsoft Publisher and want to touch them up in Scribus, this is possible as Scribus offers features that will allow for compatibility between the two programs. This program definitely has not issues as far as compatibility is concerned.

Another great benefit of using Scribus is that commercial grade PDF documents can be produced. The documents are so well done that it appears that a nice sum of money was spent on software to create them. What's more, professional features such as CMYK color, spot color, separations, and ICC color are supported.

The program only has a few drawbacks. For one, it is freeware which means that spyware and malware can be attached to the program and during the installation process, they can install themselves on the computer. This can be remedied by running a scan on the program before fully installing it. The second hassle Scribus presents is that it can sometimes be buggy. This can be fixed with every new release.

Scribus has a well established reputation. Everyone who has used it has had no complaints. Wonderful reviews are written about it all over the web, and word about it is spreading rapidly. As more find out how easy it is to use and how high quality materials can be produced, they'll no doubt continue to use the program as well as recommend it to their friends.