## PDF Exporting from Scribus

### Overview

The power and versatility of the PDF (Portable Document Format) export in Scribus is one of its notable features. The platform-neutral nature of PDF enables Scribus users to overcome a number of potential barriers between Open Source software and “traditional” print workflows. Scribus reliably exports high-quality, “press-ready” PDF, including advanced PDF features and ISO-compliant PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3.

If Scribus would only be capable of creating high resolution PDFs for commercial printing, that alone would make Scribus a great application. The bonus is all the easy-to-use versatility, such as: creating presentations à la PowerPoint or creating web-enabled interactive PDF forms, which can be used in electronic document exchange, or the ability to use JavaScript to control elements within the PDF. Scribus also provides other useful features, like annotations, bookmarks and optionally document encryption.

The PDF abilities of Scribus enable for “repurposing” a document. A single document can be exported for printing, web download or for slide presentations. That this is a future trend in publishing is indicated by the same strategy in Adobe’s InDesign, the new PDF capabilities in QuarkXPress or in Adobe Illustrator. New requirements in publishing have resulted in many enhancements to the PDF standard, which often overcome the limitations of HTML and traditional PostScript, respectively.

Your best PDF viewing/printing results will be with the newest version of Adobe Reader.