With the Microsoft publisher, publishing has been so easy! The unparalleled UI/UX that the product comes with and the advanced set of functions help make the product one of the most sought-after.
However, even with the great response that the product has received from most users, the company does not have a version for Mac. Well, yes, if you have recently migrated to Mac, then this might just seem to be a shock!
We understand your needs, and thus, we would today help you understand some of the best alternatives that you have in the industry. These alternatives would help you with the best interface and features for your next publishing task.
List of Best Microsoft Publisher Alternatives
1 Scribus
Scribus is one of the most popular open-source software for desktops among Mac users. The software is well regarded as a solution for professional-quality-image setting equipment. One can use this for perfect presentations, brochures, forms, newsletters, and much more.
This powerful publishing tool almost seamlessly helps make sure that the publication comes to life and adds much-needed charm every time it is used. The software also comes with plenty of template options to choose from when it comes to brochures, newsletters, and even posters. This only adds to the further ease of use for the customers.
Since the software is free, it generally does not receive a lot of updates from the small group of volunteers who help keep the software running. Also, we would not say that it has the most desirable interface. You would have to walk yourself through the software. If you are tight on your budget, there is no other software for Mac users, which would help you for free.
Another point that is worth mentioning here is that Scribus is not available for the 32-bit Mac. The 64-bit users can only use the developer version or Scriber 1.5.5.
Pros
1. Free resources, thus, are really helpful if you are on a tough budget.
2. Offers plenty of free templates for brochures, newsletters, and forms to choose from.
Cons
1. Delayed updates lead to a poor experience.
2. Poor interface.
3. Work on your own. You would have to work your way through the software.
2 InDesign
When you talk about Mac’s best publishing tools, definitely InDesign would be in the race for you! This software is a must if you are using a Mac device and you have to go for publishing.
The company is also giving away a 60% discount to all the students and teachers to add to the enjoyment. This educational discount only makes the software more tempting for the students and the teachers alike.
If you were looking for something that you could use professionally, then you have the answer. Be it your flyers, calendars, stationary or annual report, this software has you covered.
The software is also easy to use, especially for newbies. This would be a real delight. Also, to make sure that the software can reach and appeal to the largest number of people possible, Adobe has also helped users with tons of video tutorials, making the entire ordeal even more seamless.
One more feature that should be added here about InDesign is that it is integrated with Adobe Stock. This means that you get a huge stock of millions of pictures and videos perfectly for free. These images that are available on Adobe also include vector graphics which helps your graphics have the perfect depth.
Also, it is important to mention here that by just paying for InDesign, you would get access to 20 industry-reputed software for free, including Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Spark, and many others.
Pros
1. Easy to use.
2. Tutorial videos for easy and better understanding
3. Millions of free stock images and videos
4. Great discount for students.
5. 20 apps free from Adobe
Cons
1. A bit costly, especially if you are not a student or a teacher.
3 Swift Publisher
If you consider yourself a beginner and you are looking forward to starting your publisher journey by spending a little instead of going for the free options, then this is the app that you have been waiting for.
The publisher, made by Belight Software, is a perfect delight for the users. The software is slick, user-friendly, and easy to use. And the best thing about the interface of the software is that it is seamless. It is not much you would have to learn or need a hand holding for once you start with this software. The interface makes things pretty much logical.
Swift Publisher is perfectly suited for flyers, booklets, bulletins, and many others. While designing any of these, if you face any issues, then you can also refer to the tutorial videos availed by the software company.
However, even after all that is mentioned, if there is one thing that excites the users the most about this software, then it surely is the 500+ professional-looking templates that the software provides. This makes editing and publishing seamless and easy. You also do not have to spend much time developing from the very basic.
The Swift publisher provides users with some of the best features, which include the likes of Master Pages, guidelines, tables, grid layers, and much more.
Swift Publisher is integrated with Apple Photos and Aperture. So, you can now export your work to PDF, JPEG, and other formats.
If there is one issue that we have noted quite often in the software, it would be the stability with a large number of images. When using the software for normal brochures, flyers, and publications, it works perfectly fine!
Pros
1. User Friendly and Easy-To-Use
2. Pre-Designed Template
3. Can export the work in PDF, JPEG, and other formats
Cons
1. Not stable when used with lots of images.
4 Affinity Publisher
This publisher provides users with a rich variety of publishing tools that help in assembling files. These files may contain the likes of texts, graphics, images, and much more. The various features include the likes of image-framing with a great scaling option, wrapping text around objects, custom table formats and grids, and snipping. The advanced guides and grids, and snapping feature only add to the beauty and usability of the software.
When in this software, the users can simply generate tables and indexes. These features can be inserted with a few clicks and are perfectly professional. The contents can also be organized with a section organizer, and one can also facilitate the keyboard shortcuts for the same.
The software also comes loaded with a ton of Affinity apps. These apps help make sure that the software can help in the publications swiftly and smoothly.
Another feature worth mentioning here is that the Affinity software allows users to create text frames of any shape. And definitely, you can link multiple text frames together in the entire document. This feature greatly helps in developing the aesthetics of the publication.
The advanced typography, the perfect workflow, and the professional outputs are a few added benefits that you would appreciate in the software. The transparency control and the smooth gradients of the software only help in having the much-desired finish that the publications need.
Pros
1. Awesome supporting features
2. Affinity apps loaded
3. Advanced Typography and perfect workflow
Cons
1. The company could have helped the users with better templates.
5. Pages
This is the solution that Apple came up with for its customers and is used extensively in iWork, which arguably is the Apple version of MS Office. If you are well aware of the Microsoft Word interface, then in all probability, you will understand the interface soon enough. So, if you are looking for an alternative that is easy to use, you probably have one right here!
The first thing about Pages that would blow you away is the number of templates that are almost ready to use. They have templates for almost everything that you would ever need. Also, the software is capable of desktop publishing while not doing away with word processing.
However, since Pages is free, it comes with its share of problems. The interface as a whole is not user-friendly. Having said that, the software does have most of the features. So, unless you are a real pro and have the perfect idea about how to go ahead with stuff, in all probability, you would be lost in the software.
There is one point that essentially weighs out many of the advantages that we did discuss, and that is the unavailability of the tutorial videos. So, let’s say you start with the software and you get stuck somewhere. There is perfectly no video tutorial that you can refer to. However, if you would prefer some blogs, then there are a few authentic ones, which would help you with the guides.
Pros
1. Perfectly free.
2. Decent number of templates
Cons
1. No tutorial video
2. Interface not user-friendly
6. Lucidpress
If you are looking for simple, easy-to-use publication tools for digital and print mediums, then you should consider Lucidpress as an option. This user-friendly option makes sure that you do not have to look for anything else when it comes to professional-looking digital and print publications. These include the likes of magazines, posters, flyers, newsletters, reports, and much more.
The drag-and-drop feature that you would get in the software exceptionally helps you to well articulate your ideas on the canvas. You can also directly import files, and add tables and buttons. If need be so, you can also import interactive media such as YouTube videos.
The overall interface of the software is really very smooth. You would not have to search around for features; they are easily available. Also, the amount of customization that you can go ahead with this particular software is mind-blowing.
The software provides templates that are high-quality 300dpi printable designs. This means that your print media would be appealing and worth the effort you put in.
When it comes to the cost part, for trivial use, you can use the software for free. Typically, Lucidpress allows users to 25 MB of storage usage or 3 pages, completely free. So, if you think you will be done within that, you will have your work done for free. However, if you want to go beyond that, you would need to pay the developers for the same.
Pros
1. Free for trivial work
2. Professional templates
3. High-quality printables
Cons
1. The free version is very restricted
FAQs on Using Microsoft Publisher Alternatives
Now that you have read and understood about some of the best alternatives of Microsoft publisher for your Mac device, we do understand that you would definitely have some questions. Here is a set of the most common questions that we face from our readers regularly.
1. Is there any free Microsoft Publisher alternative?
Well, as you might have already read, Pages is a good option. But we would highly recommend you to instead go for a paid option as the efforts needed would be really lower. This would help justify the cost included. Pages are good only if you are confident with your publisher skills. You would not be availed of any tutorial videos or support, so you might just rethink your choice and need.
2. I need software that would help me with templates. Which one would be best?
When you go for the paid options, almost all of them will give you some templates. You can definitely work your way through it. However, if you are willing to just have a publisher where you would only be using the templates, then it becomes important to choose one. Here, after having gone through all the software available, we would suggest InDesign for the templates. They are well made, perfectly suited, and really professional. However, you definitely can differ. Please feel free to check all the options before finalizing your purchase.
3. Which Microsoft Publisher Alternative seems the most value for money to you?
This is a very common question that we keep getting from time to time. But the biggest issue with this is that the answer is very subjective. It would largely depend on the competency skills and the type of use for the users. But even still, if we are to choose one publisher alternative that would be the most value for money, then we would go for Swift Publisher. The reason behind the choice is simple. You do not have a monthly or annual fee, and the software is well-equipped to cater to every audience possible. But definitely, you would have to consider your level of expertise and needs before you get the software.
Conclusion
While making a list, we tried to make sure that we included only the best, according to our presence in the industry. We have considered various points to make sure that the readers do get the list of the best publishing software.
These Microsoft Publishing alternatives are worth the money. Every alternative stands out on its own. While there are free variants that would suit your needs in case your budget is tight, you would also get the best ones in the market, which would help you save tons of time with the free templates and the simple drag-and-drop features.
We tried to put up the best list possible, but even still, you might just wish to differ with us on certain points. We would also love to hear from you since you want to add or remove something from the list. Or you can just share with us your experience while working in any of the publishing tools.
If you think that there is someone who might just need this guide, we would love it if you could please share this with them too!
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