After understanding the basics, what desktop publishing is, one question remains – which software to buy. The answer depends on which purpose the user wants to fulfill with page layout applications, namely which publications to create.
Consumer-level Desktop Publishing Programs
The following three DTP programs are geared for small offices, new users or those using desktop publishing primarily for personal reasons or as a hobby, for example, to produce personalized greeting cards, invitations, flyers or weekly newsletters. Small business users can create business cards, letterhead, advertisements, business forms, envelopes or simple catalogs or brochures.
1) Microsoft Publisher
The advantage of MS Publisher is that it is part of the MS Office package, making it ideal for anyone wanting to try out desktop publishing. Geared for DTP novices, it comes with a host of templates for online and print publications like Web sites and e-mail newsletters and anything from simple business cards to newsletters; even resume templates are available. In summary, MS Publisher takes care of all the personal or small office page layout and print needs. As a consumer-level DTP programs, it is not geared for long texts or other complex print jobs.
2) Publish-iT by Poster Software
Like MS Publisher, Publish-iT targets the DTP consumer market but aims for a lower price point than Microsoft, offering also some free software downloads. The company advertises the program’s user-friendliness and quick production of print materials like business and greetings cards, posters, flyers, newsletters and catalogs. Publish-iT Pro allows the output of PDF files for further compatibility. As a consumer-level DTP program, it is not geared for complex projects or longer texts.
3) Serif PagePlus
PagePlus is Serif’s MS-Vista certified desktop publishing and PDF editing software. Priced between MS Publisher and Publish-iT, Serif advertises the professional aspect of its DTP software but targets the consumer market – amateur and hobby DTP artists. With an interface that looks like a cross between MS Office and Adobe Photoshop, PagePlus can handle text, graphics, tables and charts. Though not as smooth as professional programs like QuarkXPress or InDesign, many of the effects can be replicated. Serif also offers related products like PhotoPlus, DrawPlus, WebPlus, MoviePlus and others.
High-end Desktop Publishing Programs
The following three professional DTP programs are used in professional office settings or by anyone who produces commercial, high-end publications. Complex projects like manuals, brochures, catalogs and books are usually not printed in-house but given to a professional print service. Here, it is important to ensure that the software programs used by printer and publisher are compatible. Otherwise, file conversions can be time consuming and drive printing costs up unnecessarily.
4) QuarkXPress
Quark’s high-end product targets professional graphic designers and experts in related professions who spend a large part of their day working with this software or its competitor, Adobe InDesign. Their advertised user-friendliness therefore pertains to a certain professional level; just consider this description of one of their features from the Web site: “You can control the look of your text margin alignment by quickly applying preloaded settings for Hanging Punctuation and Punctuation Margin Alignment.” Right. QuarkXPress is available for Mac and Windows and Web design features have been incorporated in the latest version. Quark offers a free 60-day trial for QuarkXPress 8.
5) Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is available for Windows and Mac and as part of the Adobe family, works well with other Adobe products like Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver. The latest version, CS4, claims to work well for print and digital publishing. It is one of the high-end DTP programs and is used by experts in the field like graphic designers and prepress, production and print professionals (what an alliteration!). Like QuarkXPress, it is geared for handling long texts such as complete books and projects with various elements like text, design and images. InDesign has replaced PageMaker, which Adobe stopped developing in 2002.
6) Corel Ventura
Ventura was the first professional DTP package for PCs, released in 1986, and set the standard for a while, then got bought by Corel in 1993, but lost out to other programs. It has since been discontinued by the manufacturer, but is still used by some professionals for complex and long document composition. The complex program works on Windows platforms only and requires quite a bit of memory to run, but supports XML imports.
More information about features and compatibility with other products can be found on the manufacturers’ web sites. There are also many DTP software reviews and further comparisons available on the major PC magazines’ web sites.
Once the question regarding software has been solved, the next question comes along, namely which printer to buy. Inkjet and laser printers are the ones most commonly used in home offices but depending on project scope, one should weigh the options carefully – to print at home, to invest in a better printer, or to try a commercial print shop or printer. After all, the desktop publishing project will only be as a good as the printed result.
Related article:
Working as a desktop publisher
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