The best desktop publishing software for 2024: You can create professional and attractive books, applications, magazines, and promotional materials using the top desktop publishing programs mentioned in this article.
Publishing software can help you design engaging content for your blogs to capture and maintain the attention of your target audience. However, finding a single program that meets all your needs can often be challenging. Therefore, we researched the available software, compared them based on various factors (such as features, ease of use, etc.), and listed the best ones in this article.
Before we dive into the list, let’s shed some light on what desktop publishing software is to clarify things for you.
What is Desktop Publishing Software
Also known as publishing software or page layout software, desktop publishing (DTP) is a program that helps you create distinctive designs and layouts for your publications, whether online or offline. Now, let’s take a look at the key features of these programs.
Key Features of Page Layout Software
Some features of these programs include the following.
A wide range of fonts in various sizes that you can use according to your needs.
You can use these programs to set the text color, size, and font style.
They allow you to highlight elements on your page with borders.
They provide a broad spectrum of colors to choose from.
These programs come with a library of artwork containing attractive graphics that you can copy and paste into your publication.
You can use these programs to adjust letter spacing, shrink text, and extend it.
Desktop publishing software allows you to set appropriate line spacing.
There are design wizards to help you create common publications like brochures, greeting cards, newsletters, newspapers, and more.
List of the Best Desktop Publishing Software
Here’s a carefully curated list of page layout programs to help you create attractive publications.
1. Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is the top-rated program when it comes to desktop publishing. Launched in 1999, it offers a rich set of tools to help you create interactive catalogs, brochures, advertisements, magazines, flyers, and other materials.
Adobe InDesign utilizes artificial intelligence to help you request and add generated images without leaving the app. Here are some other fantastic features that make this program one of the best desktop publishing software.
Key Features of Adobe InDesign
It allows you to convert text prompts into images.
You can precisely split characters and apply character and paragraph styles.
It enhances collaboration by allowing you to share a link to your work with collaborators and receive feedback within the app.
Adobe InDesign helps you create documents optimized for screen readers and assistive devices.
There’s an online publishing feature that converts your document into an interactive online version with animations, slideshows, buttons, and much more.
It supports multiple languages and integrates with other applications in Adobe Creative Cloud.
Adobe InDesign supports various output formats, such as ePUB, HTML, and PDF, among others.
2. QuarkXPress
Launched in 1987, QuarkXPress remains a favorite page layout program for millions worldwide. Even though its popularity has slightly declined with the rise of Adobe InDesign, the program boasts its own set of powerful printing tools that make it easy to create stunning publications.
Moreover, support for multiple color font formats, such as SBIX, COLR, SVG, and others, along with OpenType controls and the following features, contribute to making QuarkXPress one of the best magazine creation applications.
Key Features of QuarkXPress
You can integrate this program with XML and Microsoft Excel for easy data import and export.
It allows you to import files from InDesign, which is one of the best alternatives to QuarkXPress.
QuarkXPress supports PDF file output and editing.
In addition to offline publications, this program lets you create Android applications and web pages.
It features many AI-powered automation tools to streamline your work.
3. Serif Affinity Publisher 2
Next, we have Serif's Affinity Publisher 2 on the list of the best desktop publishing software. It offers a vast array of tools to help you create stunning layouts for all your projects, whether printed or digital. It allows you to link styles across all your pages, add artistic text and unique embellishments, flow text along a path, and drop caps to emphasize text.
Additionally, it provides all the font and image resources used to facilitate seamless collaboration, with the option to drag raster or vector assets from multiple sources.
Key Features of Affinity Publisher 2
The program allows you to link or embed images effortlessly.
It supports quick integration of text links and images into your document by merging from text files, Excel, or JSON.
Affinity Publisher 2 features Pantone support, CMYK color management, and ICC color management.
It supports live previews and vector graphics.
This program has a wide range of customization options, including holders and brushes.
4. Xara Page & Layout Designer
Here comes Xara Page & Layout Designer, another excellent desktop publishing program for Windows 10, 8.1, and 8. This desktop publishing software combines the power of a word processor and an image editor to meet all your needs. We love this program, especially for its advanced text processing capabilities.
For instance, it allows you to change the appearance of your text with just a few clicks, supports live style previews, features a robust spell checker, and provides automatic spell checking to break long words automatically, along with a collection of over 600 Google fonts to choose from. Furthermore, the following features are some additional highlights of this program.
Key Features of Xara Page & Layout Designer
There’s a 3D tool that allows you to enhance your documents with high-quality 3D objects.
You can create your own shortcut list that expands automatically as you type.
It features intuitive page layouts with functionalities like drag-and-drop image editing and automatic text flow around objects.
This program offers a wide range of royalty-free templates to suit your needs.
The magic snap feature shows you the corner points of existing objects and the center of the page when placing your content to ensure perfect alignment.
It makes web publishing easier by creating a single scrollable document from your multi-page printed document.
There are built-in image tools and flexible drawing and design tools.
It supports professional color systems, such as HSV, CMYK, and Pantone.
5. Scribus
Scribus is a free desktop publishing program for anyone looking for an open-source tool. This program mimics InDesign's layout and offers over 200 color palettes with support for RGB, CMYK, and spot colors. Additionally, the availability of a wide range of languages, high-resolution printing, PDF output support, and the following features make Scribus a strong competitor against other names on this list.
Key Features of Scribus
The program is capable of delivering markup languages like LaTeX.
Scribus offers a vast array of drawing tools, vector images, and template options.
Custom scripts in Python allow for extending the functionality of this program.
It supports a variety of import and export formats, such as EPS graphic files.
6. Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher focuses on small businesses and is among the best publishing software for Windows users. It features a rich library of templates and a variety of printing tools to help you create brochures, newsletters, and other professional-looking documents. Additionally, drag-and-drop image importing, a simple interface with a familiar look, and the following features are other standout aspects of this program.
Key Features of Microsoft Publisher
It supports a variety of output formats, such as HTML and PDF.
Microsoft Publisher supports color management, such as SBIX, COLR, and SVG.
It features easy integration with other Microsoft Office applications.
7. Marq (formerly known as Lucidpress)
Here comes Marq if you’re looking for a web-based desktop publishing application. This free program allows you to import designs
