Dozens of Scribus Tutorials

Scribus is a free desktop publishing application that's been compared to InDesign, much like The GIMP has been compared to Photoshop and OpenOffice compared to Microsoft Office. It's free and powerful. However, if you've never used professional page layout applications, it can be a bit overwhelming when you first open it up and try to create something. Scribus tutorials may not be quite as plentiful as those for InDesign or QuarkXPress but they are out there. I've rounded up some that I think you may find useful in getting up and running quickly with Scribus.

• Demonstration Using Scribus by jasonscottpage
  This is a quick moving overview that simply lets you get a feel for how you'll be using Scribus. Take a couple of minutes (it's only 2:02 long) to watch this if you've never seen Scribus in action.

• Scribus Desktop Publishing Videos at ShowMeDo
  This is a very nicely done series of videos on Scribus. These are the tutorials you want to watch if you really want to dig into the program beyond the basics but with a little video guidance. There are 28 videos that begin with an introduction and then proceed to separate videos on working with text, working with images, working with layers, levels, styles, columns, shapes, tables, templates, links, and much more. The instructor speaks slowly and clearly (sometimes a little too slowly) and the screen shots are nice and clear. If you've downloaded Scribus but find it a little intimidating, these videos should help a lot.

• Scribus Video Tutorials
  This wiki offers several video tutorials and some text instructions on styles, lists, drop caps, text frames, page numbers, text effects, and other common tasks done in Scribus. The videos are in Theora/Ogg format so you may need to refer to these instructions before viewing them.

• Get Started With Scribus - A Beginner's Tutorial on Publication Design
  This is online documentation for Scribus that covers installation, basics, importing, exporting, printing, and color management.

• Course: Get Started with Scribus at Open-of-Course
  During the course of this text tutorial with screen shots you learn the features of Scribus while creating several pages of a magazine. You''ll be learning not only how to use Scribus but a lot about desktop publishing and printing in general.

Have you tried Scribus? What do you find most difficult about learning or using the program?