In the LaTeX community there is some sort of missing knowledge obvious how to create a pdf paper without the tex engine. Sure it is known that apart from TeX some other programs are available like Quarkxpress, Scribus and layouting software in general but it remains unclear how exactly such tools are used to process text. Instead of explaining how a certain software is working the following blog post will introduce how to use layout oriented software in general.
A good general software which is working with the frame paradigm and is preinstalled in most Linux systems is the Libreoffice draw software. The surprising fact is that the inner working has much in common how scribus and other layout DTP programs are working. After starting the program, the user can create a new text box on the page and fill it with example text.
Right on the screen a pane is shown which allows to adjust the properties of the box which includes the font size and the paragraph justification. With a bit intervention the user can make the text box look different. Also an image can be added.
The idea is that the user creates each page as a separate file and saves it into the vector based pdf format. At the end an entire newspaper or book is created in this way. The main advantage is that the user has the maximum control over the layout, he can arrange the items, add headlines and so on.
So let us explain what the difference is between libreoffice draw and the scribus software. There are only minor improvements available. In scribus it is possible link two text boxes together also it is possible to hyphenate the content of a text box. But the general interaction with the software is the same. So we can say that the Libreoffice draw software is a great choice for creating a multi column newspaper which contains lots of graphics.