drawing program

Sounds like you need a publisher program. http://www.scribus.net/ is a free one and you might look at serif.com for their publisher. It is not free but you might google it and look for an older version - usually cheaper.

 

Have you looked at GIMP?

 

I've heard some good things about Mangastudio. It can set up panels for you and has tools that can even help with perspective. It is mainly for making comics, though, so I guess it depends on what kind of tracts you're making.

 

GIMP would be great for the graphics part; it's just as powerful as Adobe, but free. Only drawback, if you're new or inexperienced, GIMP has a steep, hard learning curve.

For what you described, I'd recommend excentric's post for a "publisher" package.

However, consider: you might have a basic version of Microsoft Word already on your computer; and it has "drawing tools" to insert circles and other shapes that you can type text into. It also has templates that you can utilize.

It's not meant to replace a publisher program, but if it's already on your computer, it's free; and would at least give you some practice laying out your page.

 

I run the Serif program and you can do a free download of it for a starter. I agree that you will find no better Graphics program than GIMP, not even Photoshop and it is free also.

 

LibreOffice has a great draw program. I use it in conjunction with GIMP.