Scribus? (split)
Jason Pitre:
You are quite right, I was scared off to some degree by the critical noise on the internet. Still, as a value for money proposition Scribus can get the job done? If so, it's worth pursuing that route. I have partially learned the software, am making a point of supporting open source software and use the GIMP routinely so I do think it's an acceptable route.
If I survive the process, I might post some tips for others who follow in my footsteps.
Graham W:
Play Unsafe was laid out in Scribus. I wouldn't recommend it: it's clunky and frustrating.
It's worth looking at the $9.95 version of Serif Page Plus, which is much better. (Although, um, it keeps blowing up on my Windows 7 machine).
That said, Scribus will get the job done. Eventually. Frustratingly.
Jason Pitre:
What is specific makes it so clunky? What are the frustrating aspects of the program? I am currently used to some of the open source interface principles so I am uncertain if the same difficulties would apply.
Jason Pitre:
So, I managed to use Scribus to layout my gamechef entry "A Sojourn in Alexandria". Master pages worked fairly well and I was able to automate decently enough and I was able to tackle ~10 pages of final pdf over a span of 3 hours or so. The problem I found is that often it would take far too long to complete some kind of operation, such as adding a new image. I don't know if that was a problem with my particular document or a systematic one, but worth noting.
It turns out that once you learn to create a character sheet with Scribus, layout for a book is ridiculously easy by comparison. There is a learning curve for certain, but with the open source philosophy and the price tag of $0, I think that program is worth your while to investigate if you don't have other means of doing layout. If you happen to have a copy of InDesign it likely much better, but I'm not personally willing to spend the hundreds if not thousands of dollars on that program.
Clay:
Clinton Nixon laid out at least one version of The Shadow of Yesterday with scribus.
I've used it to lay out documents, but it wasn't easy. Graphic design programs work differently than other programs. It's not like using a word processor, even though both are used for putting text on the page.
Kind of like how making forms in Microsoft Access, or a complex spreadsheet, isn't like programming, even those both are used for processing data.
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