# Scribus

8 Hacker News commenters recommended Scribus and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free, open-source desktop publishing app that people use for posters, resumes and print PDFs, valued for typography and longevity. Common caveat: clunky interface with many clicks.

## Why people recommend it

- Intuitive box-based layout for quick designs (2 comments): "Scribus is very intuitive and with enough time I could churn out a beautiful looking effective resume on my first try" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46198241)) "Everything is a box, and you just draw a box and tell it, what to put in there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45870265))
- Strong for print layout and typography (3 comments): "I've used it and liked it for some personal projects for years, but the improved typography in 1.6 is big." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47149143)) "you come around the corner with a poster designed in Scribus" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45870079)) "Scribus' export to pdf is excellent, in a pro setting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47150453))
- Free, open source, runs on Linux (2 comments): "the major upside is that it is open source and runs on Linux just fine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645541)) "we owe a lot to the greybeards keeping Scribus alive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346377))
- Stable project unlikely to be abandoned (2 comments): "we owe a lot to the greybeards keeping Scribus alive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346377)) "much less likely to just abruptly stop one day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47651138))

## What people warn about

- Clunky UI with many clicks (3 comments): "The only problem that Scribus has is a clunky UI that requires a lot of unnecessary clicks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47616255)) "Simple things are painful in Scribus, like adding an image." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45870192)) "the UI is really giving me headaches" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47654418))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Adobe InDesign](https://hackerapproved.com/p/adobe-indesign.md): 16 recommend
- [Microsoft Publisher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-publisher.md): 14 recommend
- [Affinity Publisher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/affinity-publisher.md): 7 recommend
- [Vellum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vellum.md): 6 recommend
- [Adobe FrameMaker](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framemaker.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Scribus", https://hackerapproved.com/p/scribus/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).