If you think it takes expensive publishing applications to design and create a magazine or a newspaper, you are mistaken. Scribus is an open source multi-platform desktop publishing application that you can use to create and print your own newspaper, magazine, tabloid or pamphlets.

Scribus is known for its page layout features comparable with leading non-free applications such as Adobe PageMaker and QuarkXPress. It supports publishing features such as CMYK colour separations and create versatile PDFs of your magazine. It can also be used to create interactive PDF documents and presentations.

People familiar with QuarkXpress will be able to find many similar commands in Scribus, but will have to also deal with some different ways of handling works. Though it includes most of the features available in popular desktop publishing applications, it lacks some comfort and ease. Sribus manual should help you make sense of the application and create some good magazines with it.

One can also find plenty of templates on various sites, including Scribus Stuff, to begin work on various projects. Also, there are portable versions (PortableApp Scribus, Portable Scribus) of the desktop publishing software, which you can carry in a USB drive or a disc.

Scribus is available for several platforms, including Windows, Debian and Ubuntu Linux, OSX, Open Suse, Red Hat and Fedora.

Scribus