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Macs are great for working with desktop publishing applications, but unfortunately the commercial software options like Quark and InDesign are pretty pricey. Scribus is a terrific open source alternative that will take your ideas from concept all the way to print without missing a beat.

This application will produce brochures, flyers, booklets, and more on your Mac, Linux, or Windows box -- all for the low, low price of free.

Installing Scribus on a Mac isn't as straightforward as grabbing and downloading a .dmg, but luckily it's not difficult -- just follow these simple steps. If you're feeling adventurous, you can opt for Scribus/Aqua instead. It's a "port of Scribus to a native Aqua build using Qt Free for Mac OS X." Although Scribus/Aqua is an official release of Scribus, it's still a work in progress so you may want to rely on this version for casual use only.

When you first get started with Scribus, you've got the option of choosing from brochure, newsletter, or PDF presentation templates that come preloaded with the application. If none of these catch your eye, just use the new document tool to create a page layout to your exact specifications. From there, you're only limited by your imagination.

Place objects like logos or images into the document, then rotate, scale, link, and move until they're positioned exactly how you want. There are several font, paragraph, and text style options to choose from, and you can also import common text formats including Microsoft Word and OASIS documents.

The wide range of publishing features is where Scribus really shines:

• Font embedding and sub-setting in both PostScript and PDF export

• Support for Photoshop PSD and layered Tiffs

• Import vector formats including Adobe Illustrator, EPS, and SVG

• Create PDFs, including interactive PDF forms

• Output to professional-grade image-setting equipment

One caveat about installing Scribus on a Mac: it won't be able to access Mac's font libraries without a little help. Fortunately, the app's Web site has the instructions you'll need.

Scribus is a great tool to easily create newsletters, posters, manuals, business cards, stationery, and more. It's professional enough to be used in a publishing house in Spain, yet approachable enough to be included in Edubuntu, a Linux distribution made just for kids.

• mac
• Apple
• scribus
• desktop publishing