On Wednesday 25 February 2009 02:47:36 pm jwminer at accessvt.com wrote: > Alison wrote: > > yes, you are right, it is exactly what I need, but I > > know no one who knows Linux unfortunately. Really want > > to learn myself but it's hard > > to figure out how to go about that. Anyway, thanks > > Remember that there are two learning curves involved. One > is learning the fundamentals of designing, laying out, > and printing a publication. The other is learning how to > do this with Scribus. > > You can learn about graphic design and printing from many > places and the software you use for laying out the > newsletter is immaterial. Online a good place for > questions on design, layout, and printing is the Desktop > Publishing Forum ( http://www.desktopublishingforum.com > ). The people are friendly and most are professionals but > very tolerant of newbie-type questions. There are also > numerous books. You might like to start with books by > Robin Williams (a designer, not the actor/comedian). She > has books about typography as well as print and Web > design. There is also a ton of information at > http://graphicssoft.about.com/ including tutorials and > friendly forums, and likewise at > http://desktoppub.about.com/ . > > A terrific magazine that's really a must-read for anyone > learning design is Before&After. The web site is > http://www.bamagazine.com/ and you can read some articles > and subscribe there. The magazine is about design rather > than using software and any software mentioned is for Mac > or PC (InDesign, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and the > like), but as I said, it's about design rather than using > software. > > So that takes care of one aspect of the learning curve. > For Scribus, there is a very extensive wiki and I believe > most of what's in the new Scribus manual is also in the > wiki. The advantage of the book is that it's all in one > place and you can read it without being online and refer > to it without needing to flip back and forth between the > wiki and your project. And of course, part of what you > pay for the book goes to support Scribus. My point is > that you don't have to wait for the book to find out what > you need. Spend some time exploring the wiki and you'll > find many of your questions answered and problems solved. > > Learning Linux is something that happens as you actually > *use* Linux. Most distros have forums where you can ask > questions. Some are very friendly and helpful, some are > not. There are also numerous Web sites covering all > aspects of Linux. Always remember that Google is your > friend. It's often the fastest way to get an answer > because the answer is already on the Internet. > > My own opinion is that it helps to learn Linux if you use > a distro that doesn't try to make everything easier for > beginners (which I think Ubuntu does, unfortunately, and > I really regret that in too many minds Ubuntu is > synonymous with "Linux"). I've used VectorLinux for many > years. It's based on Slackware but is geared to desktop > users and includes graphical front ends for setting up > and managing the system and includes Slapt-get and GSlapt > for package management. Like Debian's apt-get, they > resolve dependencies and thus make things simpler than > installing software in Windows. The just-released > VectorLinux 6.0 Standard comes with Scribus 1.3.3.12, > Inkscape 0.46, and Gimp 2.6.5 preinstalled. One thing I > like about VectorLinux is that you actually learn to use > Linux, not some distro-specific tool that shields you > from Linux. VL also has a very friendly user forum with a > "no RTFM" rule. In other words, the answer to a newbie's > question is never to "read the f***ing manual." > > Of course, everybody has their favorite distro and that's > the Linux Way: offer choice to users. Regardless of what > you use, there is plenty of information out there. > Increasingly, distros have their own documentation, much > of it quite fine. > > Good luck with your quest! Never fear, you'll get there. > --Judy Miner > USA > > Registered Linux User #397786
The above URL is misspelled. Try http://desktoppublishingforum.com/ -- John Culleton Able Indexers and Typesetters http://wexfordpress.com
