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DTP Features

Here is a brief comparison between a few closed and open source vector graphics programs. It is a list of features that are not so much a roadmap as things that any self respecting desktop publishing software should have. You will note that hardly any of this is currently implemented in Laidout.

THIS TABLE IS FAR FROM COMPLETE! Please send me updates, or post on the Laidout mailing list if you see something that is not correct. You might also check out this comparison over on the Scribus site about import and export capabilities of Scribus, OpenOffice.org, Inkscape, GIMP, and Krita. Also this page about vector graphics editors in Wikipedia. Really someone more industrious then myself should probably transplant something like this chart to Wikipedia. I couldn't find a DTP software comparison there, only this plain list of such software.

Please note that I have no access to InDesign or Illustrator, so the estimation of the capabilities of those programs might be totally wrong. They are based mostly on browsing video tutorials for them.

Hover the mouse over a block to see what version the feature first appears in, if known, plus other relevant notes.
"partial" means the feature exists, but leaves much to be desired
"planned" means actual coding has begun on it, but it is not yet functional

Infrastructure Features Laidout Scribus InDesign Inkscape Xara Illustrator
Impositioning. By the way, see Easypose for a promising, rapidly growing imposition utility. Yes planned Yes      
Mobius strip Impositioning planned Not Yet No No No No
Impositioning involving non-rectangular pages Yes No No No No No
Spreading page contents over several pieces of paper (posterizing) Yes partial       partial
Fore-edge printing. See here. Also Easypose might include it!!            
Aligning points, text, and/or objects to paths            
Math calculations in input boxes planned Yes Yes      
Plugins or scripting planned Yes Yes Yes    
Beginning/end/middle arrows and such   Yes   Yes    
Edge feathering (as seen in Xara), or equivalent blurring       Yes Yes  
Metafont-y erase brush, aka a knockout "color" or knockout groups            
Fill applied to stroke       Yes    
Use Stroke/fill as mask            
Color separations   Yes        
RGB/CMYK/CIELab/Grayscale/BW/DeviceN????: Color specifications with arbitrary primaries            
ICC color profiles   Yes Yes      
Autotrace images       Yes    
Spread editor Yes partial partial      
overprinting/trapping on per object basis            
UCR, BG            
Rotate whole page view on screen by arbitrary degrees, not just portrait/landscape Yes No No Planned No No
Preflight verifier planned Yes        
Collect for out planned Yes        
Record macros, like Pagestream, Vim, or Openoffice!   planned        
Non-destructive Bezier patch transforms on any object            
Arbitrary f(s,t) transforms, and f(s) or f(t) transforms for paths            
Guides that are arbitrary paths, not just vertical and horizontal lines. planned No No No No No
Tablet pressure support, stylus, eraser, mouse allowed different functions       partial    
Ability to use odd control surfaces like midi controllers, a la the Gimp planned          
Multi-contact touch pad support, or support for the poor man's version using 2 mice            
 
 
Non-text Tool Features Laidout Scribus InDesign Inkscape Xara Illustrator
Images Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Linear, and circle color gradients Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
On canvas gradient color spot editing Yes No   Yes    
Patch gradients (aka mesh gradients) Yes No No No No Yes
Image Patch distortions Yes No No No No No
Lines/polygons with various methods of shifting edges planned Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ellipses, arcs, chords planned Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Paths composed of different types, such as a circular arc to a bezier segment to a straight segment planned          
Repeater tool along path            
 
 
Text Features Laidout Scribus InDesign Inkscape Xara Illustrator
Story Editor   Yes        
Tabstops that lie on arbitrary paths, not just vertical and horizontal lines. Gone are the days of rigidly defined and poorly accessed tabstops! planned No No No No No
Text on a line   Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Convert Text to bezier path   Yes        
Editable clip and textwrap mask   Yes        
Tables   planned        
Spiffy Hyphenation and justification   Yes        
Insert sample gibberish text!! Yeah!   Yes        
 
 
Exporting Laidout Scribus InDesign Inkscape Xara Illustrator
To image Yes Yes   Yes    
EPS/Postscript Yes Yes   Yes    
Html            
Passepartout partial          
PDF mostly Yes        
Scribus partial Yes        
SVG/Inkscape partial Yes   Yes    
OpenOffice.org Draw            
TeX/LaTeX            
 
 
Importing Laidout Scribus InDesign Inkscape Xara Illustrator
EPS Yes Yes        
Html            
Multiple images at the same time Yes plugin Yes partial No No
Passepartout planned No        
PDF            
Scribus   Yes        
Svg   partial   Yes    
OpenOffice.org Draw   Yes        
TeX            


other kind of neat ideas from other programs, namely Scribus 1.3 roadmap and map suggestions:
Auto sync keyboard shortcuts with inkscape/gimp/whatever!
support for TeX, LaTeX, MathML, lilypond, such as by passing some text block to those programs, then importing their output
Openclipart integration/scrapbook
cntl-+/- zooms around object, neat!
Color selector previews different shades of color with black and white text on it!!! Fab!
The scribus color wheel is very clever.
be able to swap any two items, or do same as spreadeditor be able to swap and roll and eject



Notes

Spreading page contents over several pieces of paper (posterizing):
  Scribus
-- partial
Scribus is set up to handle several papers right next to each other. In the file, there are PageSet sections, which are very suggestive, but I'm not sure how to use them, or if any but the defaults are recognized.

  Illustrator -- partial
Papers can be laid down in a grid, but the edges can only touch the other edges. If your printer cannot print across the entire paper all the way to the edges, you are out of luck!