Guidebook creation programs?

Ideas?

I used InDesign and think it works very well.

There's also an open source layout program called Scribus.

I've used it, and I prefer to pay Adobe for InDesign.

On a side note, my book is going to be download-only, and offered for free. I am thinking the best format would be probably be .pdf, and I would list the link on MP.com and people can just download and print it.

So whatever it is, it would have to be able to convert to .pdf unless someone has a different idea.

InDesign does a nice job of this. My book is in PDF and print format. I have never used Scribus.

LaTeX! ;-)

Geir wrote:I used InDesign and think it works very well.

What do you use for a map of the location (i.e. the map showing where the crag is relative to the road, towns, ect.).

Illustrator is part of the same suite of software. I have also used Photoshop (also part of the same suite) for this.

20 kN wrote:Ideas?

I use Beta Creator for drawing routes on photos and BetaFlash for route diagrams

20 kN wrote: What do you use for a map of the location (i.e. the map showing where the crag is relative to the road, towns, ect.).

And if you want to get fancy with the GIS, qGIS is open source and super powerful, though it has a bit of a learning curve. But everything I do in that program then passes through Adobe Illustrator to be made aesthetically pleasing before being used in the real world.

But if you're doing something with no commercial intent, you could also just use Google maps/earth. Or if you want to be open source, Open Street Map. But I'd still end up processing whatever I pulled off that through an Adobe program to make it look better.

If you want it actually printed, any program that can generate printer or reader spread, full bleed, press ready PDFs will work. InDesign will more than likely be the most adept at this. You can do multi-spread layouts in Illustrator, but it's a bit of a pain.

You can also hire a real designer for best results...

Tits McGee wrote:If you want it actually printed, any program that can generate printer or reader spread, full bleed, press ready PDFs will work. InDesign will more than likely be the most adept at this. You can do multi-spread layouts in Illustrator, but it's a bit of a pain. You can also hire a real designer for best results...

The one thing I found was that the InDesign suite was kind of pricey. For a free guidebook it might be more than someone might want to spend.

I used WordPress since people want to browse through the guide as well. Really easy and cheap, and seems to print fine.

www.climbcaymanbrac.com