Blurb BookWright vs Laidout
Blurb BookWright
store.blurb.comLaidout
laidout.orgSide by side
| Figure | Blurb BookWright | Laidout |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 10 | 1 |
| Spec score · Desktop Publishing Software | 9.4 (#1) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Integrations | BookWright supports importing photos from Adobe Lightroom, SmugMug, and Dropbox through Photo Manager. | The site describes Scribus import and export, Gimp palette import, and Podofoimpose PLAN export. |
| License | Blurb grants a royalty-free, nonexclusive, nontransferable internal-use copyright license for BookWright and retains proprietary rights in the software. | The FAQ says Laidout is released under GPL 3.0. |
| Purpose | BookWright is desktop bookmaking software for designing custom books. | Laidout is desktop publishing software built for arranging pages into cut and folded impositions such as booklets and polyhedra. |
| Support | Blurb directs customers to its Help portal for answers and customer support contact. | The maker directs users to the Codeberg issue tracker for bugs and feature requests and also offers email contact. |
Plans
Blurb BookWright
- BookWright softwarePrice not published
- Softcover photo book$12 a month
- ImageWrap Hardcover photo book$32 a month
- Linen Hardcover with Dust Jacket photo book$32 a month
- Layflat photo book$60 a month
- BookWrightFree
- BookWrightFree
- Paperback book, Economy Color, 5×8 in$3.99, paid once
- Paperback book, Standard B&W, 5×8 in$4.99, paid once
- Premium Magazine$7, paid once
In their own words
Blurb BookWright
Blurb BookWright is desktop software for designing custom books, including photo books, paperbacks, hardcovers, magazines, notebooks, and wall art. It provides customizable templates, freestyle grids, typography and cover tools, bleed lines, and trim guides. Image tools support scaling, cropping, enhancement, and auto-retouching powered by Perfectly Clear by EyeQ. Text Flow fits text into frames and accepts Rich Text Format imports, while Photo Manager imports photos from Adobe Lightroom, SmugMug, and Dropbox. Users can work offline in the desktop software, but publishing requires an internet connection and a free Blurb account is needed for features and publishing options. Finished projects can be printed on demand, ordered in bulk, or purchased as PDFs. BookWright is free to use; users pay for a book when they send it to print. Listed requirements include Windows 7, 8, or 10, or macOS 10.13 or later, with 2GB RAM and 500MB storage. Books can be up to 440 pages.
Laidout
Laidout is free Linux desktop publishing software for arranging pages into folded print layouts, including book signatures, accordion folds and polyhedron nets. It also supports single pages and can help arrange posters for printers limited to small sheets. Its graphics objects include paths, ellipses, rounded rectangles, gradients, point sets, color meshes, warped images and captions. Laidout imports SVG, images, Scribus files and OFF polyhedra; PDF pages can be imported as rendered images, though PDF page import for reimposition is under development. Export options include PDF, SVG, Scribus, images, HTML galleries, Podofoimpose plan files, Page Atlas images and PostScript. Command-line use supports batch import, reimposition and export without opening a window. Laidout is released under GPL 3.0. The homepage identifies version 0.097 and says the stable release is old, suggesting a development snapshot or compiling from source where possible. Proper color management has not been a development priority; the FAQ suggests exporting to Scribus for that work.