I love making creative projects the old-fashioned way. As a teenager, I played around with Dreamweaver, Quark Xpress, and Flash. In college and at work, I used Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher for most of my projects. For me, a desktop publishing project or a handmade website is a fun journey where I learn things and feel enriched by the experience. The end result matters, but it isn’t the entire point of what I do.

I like having control over my work and doing it myself. AI “features” usually just get in my way. When you combine this with other issues like excessive subscription fees and awful user interfaces, it makes sense (at least for me) to find a better alternative. Lately, I’ve been using an open-source desktop publishing program called Scribus to get around these issues. Scribus offers functionality, value, and options in an open-source package you can run locally on your PC.

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Why I gave up on big-name software and switched to open-source

AI and subscription fatigue forced me to look for an alternative

I love WYSIWYG tools, design, and making zines. I don’t love subscriptions, AI, and not owning things I pay for. Subscriptions and poor products (Cory Doctorow has a term for this) are a problem for users who like owning and having control over their software. Affordability and premium features are a problem for some users, too. The reason for my switch goes far beyond pricing and subscription concerns. Like many of you, I’m not too keen on so-called artificial intelligence being shoved into most of the tech I use.

I just don’t find it very useful in most of my work. They make stuff up too often to be useful for my writing/research, and their suggestions (and summaries) don’t impress me at the moment. I don’t like outsourcing my thinking, either. They just don’t work for me from a productivity angle most of the time.

OS

Windows, macOS, iPhone, iPad, Android

Brand

Microsoft

Microsoft 365 includes access to Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on up to five devices, 1 TB of OneDrive storage, and more.

As an artist, writer, and musician, I have some issues with how the LLMs were trained, the way they affect the environment, and the bizarre ways some people seem to be using these systems. With Adobe’s high prices and Microsoft Publisher’s impending death coming up in October, now is a fantastic time to explore open-source alternatives.

A lot of open source software helps avoid these issues. It doesn’t hurt that they’re readily available and low-cost (some OSS programs do have premium features) and can be modified or shared without fear of legal issues. I started using OSS software as much as possible. Scribus doesn’t even bother with AI or any of that nonsense. It’s just you and your editor, the way nature intended.

I can get professional-quality results, publish newsletters, build a resume, create a flyer, or make a cool retro zine page without spending a dime or giving up my autonomy and data. In 2026, that’s definitely a good thing.

Scribus is a design powerhouse, but it does come with some challenges

The Internet is disappearing, but open source and ingenuity can save it

Using Scribus for desktop publishing and design is fun, but it does have a bit of a learning curve. That said, the internet as we know it is disappearing, and it’s a good time to learn. Things can get pretty complicated with text formatting, for instance, if you don’t take some time to get to know the software. There are also scripts you can use within the program for different functions.

When I first started using the software, I had some trouble finding the features I wanted, especially the formatting menus. Layers were also somewhat tricky, as was using text boxes correctly. Once I learned the shortcuts and got the hang of it, I found I preferred the user interface to other software.

For people who aren’t power users, there might be some confusion as to what the icons mean or what certain functions do. Options like welding and scripts might seem a bit complicated, but eventually make for a better user experience and result.

Now that you know why I switched, let’s get started with some basics.

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Getting started with Scribus

Take some time to set up your first document and get your settings right

Just like any other publishing software, you can start from a blank template, set your margins, set your page bleed, paper size, and all that jazz. To get the most out of the setup, turn on guides, snapping, rulers, and gridlines. You may not need these, but they can come in handy as you work.

1. Navigate over to the view on the top menu.
2. Select Grids and Guides.
3. To add helpful lines and guides, toggle on the two listed options: show grid and show guide.
4. Next, if they’re not already switched on, toggle on the ruler. Head over to view and select Measurement.
5. Toggle on Show Rulers. You can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + R.
6. Return to view and select Document.
7. Toggle every option available: Show Margins, Show Bleed, Show Frames, and Show Layer Indicators. Doing so helps with setting up your layouts properly and creating a more professional, polished page.
8. Head back to view, select Images, and make sure you have Show Images toggled on.
9. You can also enable preview mode (CTRL + ALT + P if you prefer), adjust page zoom, and adjust text frames. The last thing I like to do before setting up my master page is enable snapping.
10. To enable snapping for layouts, select Page on the menu.
11. Select the snap options you want to use.

Snap to Grid is the most useful because it will snap to your gridlines, but the other two (Snap to Guide and Snap to Items) are also useful if you’re creating a professional layout or brochure.

Getting to know the basics

It takes a minute to get used to the interface

We’re not going to create a full-fledged document for this piece, but we will show you how to quickly get the hang of text boxes, images, layers, and shapes in Scribus, with more in-depth guides to come. Layers have their own menu. Here’s a quick breakdown:

1. Click on the plus sign at the bottom of the menu to add a new layer and rename it as needed. You can blend layers using any options in the drop-down menu.
2. Click on the eye to hide a layer or move layers up/ down using the arrow keys.
3. To add a shape, click the one you want to add it. Scribus offers unique shapes, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, in addition to the usual stuff. If you want a full-color background for your page and want to use a rectangle with a thick border, you can do that as well.
4. To insert a new image box, press I or select Image from the insert menu.
5. Highlight the box and press CTRL + I or right-click and select Get Image. You’ll use the same menu to insert text boxes (or push T).
6. To add an image, click on the frame and select an image. For text, you’ll select the text box and type.
7. To alter the text, you need to use the story editor. Highlight your text, right-click, and select Edit Text in Story Editor.
8. In the Story Editor, you can change text color, font, font size, height, and width. You can also do it directly in the properties menu, but there are fewer options available.
9. It takes a bit of an adjustment, but it provides a lot more control and can really help make your text pop. Here’s the final result with just a few adjustments to font, size, and style.

That’s it for the basics. Once you get the hang of text and images, everything else gets easier as you go!

Some helpful shortcuts for using Scribus

It’s dangerous to go alone. Take these shortcuts!

Now that we’ve covered the basics, here are some helpful, commonly used shortcuts to use in Scribus:

1. Grouping items is extremely useful. Just select the items you want to group and press CTRL + G.
2. Use F6 to toggle the layers menu on or off.
3. Use CTRL + T to edit your text in the story editor.
4. Use F2 to bring up the Properties tab. This is useful for adjusting your objects. F3 brings up content properties. Use F2 for text editing if you don’t want to use the Story Editor.
5. CTRL + ALT + P to enable Preview mode
6. The arrow keys are wonderful for making precise adjustments to your text, shapes, and image boxes.

Scribus is an open-source path to better desktop publishing

Scribus is one of the best open source programs I’ve used in a long time. I added it to my workflow a long time ago, but it does require some effort to use effectively. Once you take the time to get to know it, however, it will likely become your go-to for desktop publishing work. You can download it directly from Scribus’ website.

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