For an open source desktop publishing application, the first results are scribusproject/scribus (Scribus is a professional-grade desktop publishing application that provides comprehensive tools for multi-page layout, advanced typography, CMYK color management, and industry-standard PDF export, making it the primary open-source alternative to Adobe InDesign), inkscape/inkscape (Inkscape is a professional vector graphics editor rather than a page layout application, making it a specialized tool for creating individual assets rather than managing multi-page documents) and mbrlabs/lorien (This is a vector drawing and infinite canvas sketching tool rather than a page layout application, making it a building block for illustration rather than a replacement for professional desktop publishing software). libreoffice/core and rough-stuff/rough round out the shortlist. Compare the match explanations and check the project documentation against your requirements.
We curate open-source GitHub repositories matching “open source alternatives to indesign”. Results are ranked by relevance to your query — pick filters below to narrow, or refine with AI.
Scribus is a professional-grade desktop publishing application that provides comprehensive tools for multi-page layout, advanced typography, CMYK color management, and industry-standard PDF export, making it the primary open-source alternative to Adobe InDesign.
Inkscape is a professional vector graphics editor and illustration software used to create resolution-independent logos, diagrams, and technical illustrations. It utilizes the SVG open standard format to ensure graphical data remains scalable across all operations. The software functions as a web animation generator, producing CSS-powered animations and interactive presentations for browser display. It also serves as a mathematical renderer capable of importing and typesetting LaTeX formulas directly into scalable vector graphics. Beyond its graphical interface, the project includes a comman
Inkscape is a professional vector graphics editor rather than a page layout application, making it a specialized tool for creating individual assets rather than managing multi-page documents.
Lorien is a cross-platform vector drawing application built with Godot. It functions as a vector graphics editor and a pressure-sensitive sketchbook for creating freehand drawings and geometric shapes. The application features an infinite canvas whiteboard with a boundless workspace, infinite zoom, and coordinate grids. It supports drawing tablets through pressure sensitivity to vary stroke thickness and opacity, and it includes a system for exporting drawings into the standardized SVG format. The software provides tools for vector sketch creation and brush stroke editing, managed via a comm
This is a vector drawing and infinite canvas sketching tool rather than a page layout application, making it a building block for illustration rather than a replacement for professional desktop publishing software.
This project is an open-source office suite that provides a collection of productivity applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases. It implements the Open Document Format standard to ensure interoperability between different office productivity tools. The suite includes a specialized formula equation editor for mathematical formatting, a vector graphics editor for scalable images, and a relational database manager for organizing structured data. The project covers broad functional domains including text document generation, spreadsheet management, presentatio
While this is a powerful office suite that includes document layout capabilities, it is designed for general word processing and office productivity rather than professional-grade desktop publishing and complex page layout.
Rough is a graphics library designed to render shapes and paths with a hand-drawn, sketchy aesthetic on web pages. It functions as a generator for informal visual styles, allowing developers to create illustrations and diagrams that mimic the appearance of human-drawn sketches. The library distinguishes itself by using procedural rendering to calculate randomized offsets for lines and curves, simulating natural imperfections. It employs deterministic seeding to ensure that these variations remain consistent across renders, while providing hachure-based texture filling to apply stylized shadin
This is a graphics library for rendering hand-drawn, sketchy illustrations on the web, rather than a professional-grade desktop publishing application for multi-page layout and print production.
SVGEdit is a browser-based SVG editor and canvas engine used for creating and modifying scalable vector graphics files. It provides a web interface for vector design and functions as an embeddable editor that can be injected into HTML elements within other web applications. The project allows for the development of custom SVG tools and the construction of bespoke vector graphics editors by utilizing its standalone drawing engine.
This is a browser-based vector graphics editor and development framework rather than a multi-page desktop publishing suite designed for professional print layout and typography.
Xournalpp is a digital note-taking and annotation application designed for capturing natural handwriting and sketching. It functions as a vector graphics editor that treats individual strokes, shapes, and text as discrete, editable objects, allowing users to refine and manipulate their work after it has been placed on the canvas. The application provides a specialized environment for overlaying handwritten notes and drawings onto existing PDF documents. By utilizing pressure-sensitive stylus input, it simulates a natural writing experience, while its layered canvas composition enables users t
This is a digital note-taking and PDF annotation tool rather than a professional page layout application, making it better suited for marking up documents than for designing multi-page publications.
Snap.svg is a JavaScript library for creating, manipulating, and animating scalable vector graphics directly in the web browser. It functions as a browser-based SVG generator and vector graphics manipulation tool, providing a framework to programmatically generate complex drawings and masks. The project serves as an animation engine for transitioning visual properties and attributes over time to create motion. It enables the development of dynamic SVG content, including the ability to animate viewboxes, matrices, and polygon points. Its capability surface covers geometric calculations and th
This is a JavaScript library for programmatic SVG manipulation and animation in the browser, which serves as a building block for graphics rather than a desktop publishing application for multi-page layout and professional print design.
drawio is a web-based diagramming tool and cross-platform visual designer used for creating flowcharts, network maps, and technical schemas. It functions as a vector graphics editor and an XML-based diagramming engine that allows users to design and export scalable graphics. The software supports a wide range of technical design tasks, including infrastructure mapping for server layouts and the creation of visual aids for technical documentation. It enables the import of diagram files from other tools to facilitate cross-tool migration.
This is a diagramming and technical drawing tool rather than a professional page layout application, making it a building block for creating individual graphics rather than a solution for multi-page document publishing.
PDFPatcher is a specialized suite of PDF utility tools designed for editing navigational bookmarks, modifying document structure, managing metadata, and processing pages. It provides a toolkit for altering PDF structures and properties without changing the original content stream. The project is distinguished by its focus on bookmark management, featuring bulk editing and the ability to generate clickable bookmarks from visual tables of contents using optical character recognition. It also includes capabilities for font optimization through substitution and embedding to ensure consistent char
This is a specialized PDF utility and manipulation toolkit for editing metadata and bookmarks, rather than a desktop publishing application for designing multi-page layouts and typography.
This project is a web-based resume builder and document designer used to create professional CVs. It integrates a visual editor with a template system and PDF generation to transform structured professional history into polished documents. The tool features a template-based editor with predefined professional design themes, allowing users to switch layouts and color schemes without losing content. It supports custom template creation and the embedding of industry-standard icon sets to personalize the visual presentation. The system manages document design through a reactive interface and sty
This is a specialized web-based resume builder rather than a general-purpose desktop publishing suite, making it a tool for a specific document type rather than a professional page layout application.
Magic Resume is a local-first resume builder that runs entirely in the browser, storing all user data on the device to protect privacy and enable offline access. It combines a real-time document editor with AI-powered writing assistance that checks grammar and suggests professional phrasing directly within the editing interface. The application provides a selection of pre-designed resume templates and supports custom theme-based visual styling, allowing users to switch between color and font schemes or toggle a dark mode for comfortable editing in different lighting conditions. A client-side
This is a specialized resume builder rather than a professional-grade desktop publishing suite, as it lacks the advanced typography, multi-page layout, and vector design tools required for complex page composition.
| Repository | Stars | Language | License | Last push |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scribusproject/scribus | 0 | — | — | — |
| inkscape/inkscape | 3.2K | — | — | |
| mbrlabs/lorien |
| 6.7K |
| GDScript |
| MIT |
| libreoffice/core | 4K | C++ | GPL-3.0 |
| rough-stuff/rough | 21K | HTML | MIT |
| svg-edit/svgedit | 7.7K | JavaScript | MIT |
| xournalpp/xournalpp | 14.9K | C++ | GPL-2.0 |
| adobe-webplatform/snap.svg | 14K | JavaScript | Apache-2.0 |
| jgraph/drawio | 6.3K | JavaScript | Apache-2.0 |
| wmjordan/pdfpatcher | 12.5K | C# | — |