Useful Free Resources

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GarryP

I've just added a new article to the wiki that begins a curated list of useful free resources for Scribus users.

It currently covers images, vector art, and fonts, and lists some of the sites that I've found to be good and safe to use but it would be great if other people could add their favourites to the list.

It would be nice to make this article a "jumping off point" for people looking for nice stuff to put in their creations.

If you have a site to be added to the list then please check the "Notes to Contributors" section at the bottom of the article.

You can find the article here: http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Useful_Free_Resources

Nermander

Great initiative.

Trying to google for "free" stuff today is impossible, 90% of the matches are sites trying to take your money.

GarryP

Thanks. I thought something like this was probably overdue.

It must be a nightmare for anyone just starting out. Sites put the "free" keyword in their page metadata so it comes out in searches but hardly anything is actually free, like you say.

Also, for example, I've no idea how anyone could find the "Lost and Taken" site by web searching for "free images". (I've just done a quick search for "free images" on google.co.uk and "Lost and Taken" wasn't in the first 10 pages and it's unlikely that anyone will go much deeper than that.)

Anyway, hopefully people will add to the page - or suggest nice sites to be added by someone else - and it will become a good place to start from.

GarryP

P.S. Actually, on page 11 of my web search I've just looked at http://www.burningwell.org/

On one page there's images of: "Larry the mutant cucumber", a "Pack of silica gel desiccant", a "Toy lawnmower" and an "Antique telephone exchange". Bizarre, but you never know when you might need a picture of one of those.

Obviously I can't endorse this site as I've just found it but it shows that you never know what you'll get until you "go deep"!

SuburbanWorrier

Hi Garry,

I don't want to muck up your beautifully formatted wiki entry so I'm wary about adding it directly but I think http://thenounproject.com/ really ought to be on your list.
100% svg and a decent licensing model.

HTH

Matt

GarryP

Hi Matt.

Thanks for contributing.

It looks like an interesting site but I'll need to look at it properly before adding it.

My initial worries are:
* People under 13 can't register with the site - legally - so some young Scribus users won't be able to use the icons.
* I'm not sure what sort of "embedded credit" each file has, as mentioned on the Pricing page. (I'm never comfortable using stuff with "embedded" anything if I don't know what it is.)
* Purchase at $1.99 for a single icon - albeit royalty free - sounds a bit steep to me. (Obviously you don't have to buy but if you want to it seems a bit high, for just one icon anyway.)

I realise that the above might sound a bit silly but I'm reluctant to recommend something that I've not used myself. (If someone else adds it to the wiki page then that's logged under their name, not mine, and my conscience will be clear if anything goes wrong.)

Also, I'm not seeing what it offers over something like http://www.flaticon.com/ which has none of the same issues (as far as I know).

Having said all of that however, if you or anyone else can tell me why it's better than other places then there's probably no real reason why it shouldn't be added. It's just that I have some qualms about adding it without using it first myself is all.

I hope all of that makes sense. I'm not trying to be deliberately awkward, I'm just being cautious.

SuburbanWorrier

Fair play Garry,

I wasn't aware of flaticon.com! Stuff can be just around the corner on this here Interweb and you never see it until somebody points it out.

For free use the Noun Project license is Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) - the same as Flat Icon.  The emphasis of the site has changed somewhat towards the pricing model since I joined up but as I've got a few of my own uploaded I'm sure I exhibit a natural loyalty bias.
If I get a moment I'll add it under my wiki account and while I'm there I'd like to add Google fonts to the font section - ok with you?

GarryP

If you feel that the Noun Project will be a useful resource for other Scribus users then you should - by all means - add it to the list. As long as you're up-front about things like registration, licensing, etc. then that's not a problem. Ultimately it's up to the individual reader as to whether they are comfortable with using the site and it's for them to stick to the site's rules. All you can do is tell them about it.

As for Google Fonts, I've used them on websites in the past but I didn't realise that their fonts could also be downloaded and used in non-web stuff. (I've just never tried.) If this is the case, and there are no major issues with doing so, then I'd say it would also be a very good addition to the list as I've found their fonts to be of good quality and available in a good selection of styles.

I'd like to keep the lists to a reasonably small number of sites for each section - maybe a maximum of 10 in each list - so that the reader isn't overwhelmed with too many options, but - as the lists are just starting out - I can't see a problem with getting new stuff in there.

If anyone has a major problem with anything on the lists there are many ways to discuss any issues they have and any listing can be removed by anyone if they have strong feelings about it. It's a wiki, that's what they're for.

P.S. If you have any problems editing the article then feel free to send me a private message through this forum and I should be able to help. (But please be patient for replies as I can be offline for days at a time.) If you add your stuff to the end of the existing lists, at some point in the future I might go in and re-order them somehow that shows no bias to either site or contributor.

P.P.S. I'm now wondering if "Icons" should be on a separate list from the other "Vector Art". Icons tend to have different uses from normal vector art. This might be confusing though. Probably best to stick them all in the same place for now and see how things go. We can always change things round later.

Zyphon

Hi Gary,

Thanks for posting these resources all on one page it is really useful to find them located in one place and not have to hunt them down in the forum.

Much appreciated. :)
Kind regards,

Michael

GarryP

Thanks Michael.

I'm hoping that the list will expand as more people add to it so that more people can benefit.

geekartiste

I took the original post to mean that we could edit the linked wiki page. However, we can't register to edit the page unless we're in the Administrator group.  Please rewrite the post to keep other from wasting fifteen minutes trying to log in with different user names, change passwords, and create new accounts.

The best source I've found is already listed—Font Squirrel's curated collection. That said, here are a couple of font resources that I've used occasionally:


  • SIL International (located at sil.org) is a Christian missionary group involved in Bible translations. Publishing Bibles for most indigenous groups starts with creating an alphabet—hence the need to create fonts. You'll probably find most of their offerings to have fairly comprehensive unicode glyph sets. They are, without a doubt, some the best freely available fonts.

  • The Fedora Project has a font catalog (fedoraproject.org/wiki/Category:Packaged_fonts where I found this meticulously crafted treasure: M+, housed at http://mplus-fonts.osdn.jp/index.html. M+ is multilingual, comes in a half dozen families in a half dozen weights! Sadly, however, no italics. Probably not high on a Japanese type designer's list. ;^) 

    Here's how the site describes their intended use:

    "In the Latin fonts, M+ P is aimed as sophisticated and relaxed design, while M+ C is optimized to be proportioned well in typesetting, M+ M emphasize the balance of natural letterform and high legibility. Each have 2 variations of the Type-1 and Type-2, corresponding to the Japanese fonts."

  • Phil at Phil's Fonts, Inc. (https://philsfonts.com/index.php/free_fonts) is a professional type designer who gives away a single member of some of his families.

  • You've probably run across most of these already, but you might find newly released or updated versions first at the source. The folks at exljbris.com seem to release a free font from each family they develop.

I haven't had the opportunity to use these in a prepress environment, but the PDF's look very good.


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Malsasa

Hello Mr. Garry,

I like the wiki page. How about public domain pictures? I use them for my cover designs in Scribus. I use pictures from:

- http://unsplash.com
- http://jaymantri.com
- http://superfamous.com
- http://publicdomainarchive.com
- http://gratisography.com
- http://freenaturestock.com
- http://publicdomainpictures.net

GarryP

Hi Malsasa.

There are some nice sites in that list.

Unsplash, Super Famous and Gratisography are already in my browser bookmark list and they're great resources but the others look like they offer some great photos too.

At some point I'll get round to having a proper look and modifying the wiki page as appropriate.

Thanks for sharing.

GarryP

Hi geekartiste.

Apologies for the delay in my reply; I didn't notice your post until today. (I must have done something wrong with my notifications.)

You should be able to follow the instructions here: http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Your_first_Scribus_Wiki_article to get a wiki account. Once you've got an account you can start editing. Sorry if my original post was a bit misleading.

I'll definitely have a look at those font sites you've mentioned - when I get the time - and add them to the list on the wiki page as appropriate.

Thanks for sharing.