date: 'Wednesday, August 28 2024' title: 'Desktop Publishing Alternatives to Adobe InDesign' description: 'Despite being the industry standard, InDesign has its drawbacks. Discover inexpensive and easy to learn alternatives.' image: 'indesign-alternatives-infographic_bi3ovy' author: 'Brian T. Sullivan' editor: 'Lindsey Woldt'

category: 'learn'

Desktop Publishing Alternatives to Adobe InDesign

Written by Brian T. Sullivan • Edited by Lindsey Woldt

So, you're looking to do some desktop publishing (DTP), but for one reason or another you don't want to use Adobe InDesign. That's fair! Despite being the industry standard for years, InDesign definitely has drawbacks. It's an expensive, subscription-based program, for one thing, and it has a steep learning curve for another.

Thankfully, there are a variety of alternatives that might be able to meet your needs. Let's look into some of them!

Word Processors

Even if you don't do much desktop publishing—or if you're just beginning—there's a good chance you already have a word processor available to you. This can be a great way to start exploring the process—or to just get that one-off DTP project over with.

Word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, or LibreOffice Writer share a lot in common with DTP software, and are InDesign alternatives for quick and simple designs. With simple and intuitive interfaces, you are able to do a lot of design work in programs like this.

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You can format text, insert images, adjust margins and page size, and lay out pages in so many ways. On top of that, a lot word processing software (like Google Docs or LibreOffice Writer) is FREE to use, while programs like Apple Pages come included with Apple devices.

The drawback to word processors is that you don't always have the same fine-tuned controls that desktop publishing software provides. Word processors will also generally be better for projects focused on large, continuous blocks of text. Complex, graphical layouts are possible, but harder to achieve with great success using these tools.

Desktop Publishing Softwares

As nice as it is to have multiple use cases for a tool to streamline production, sometimes you just need to use dedicated software. Although many people claim there is no substitute for InDesign, there are some InDesign alternatives for desktop publishing that you may want to consider.

Affinity

Developed by Serif, Affinity Publisher is a direct competitor to Adobe InDesign. As such, it has many features akin to InDesign and can even import InDesign files and edit them in-house (but it can't export files as INDD). Additionally, Affinity Publisher is a one-time purchase of $69.99 for Mac or Windows ($18.49 for iPad), which can save you money in the long run, compared to the $22.99-a-month subscription cost for InDesign.

The drawbacks are largely that Affinity Publisher does not have some of the more advanced features that Adobe InDesign offers, such as tagging PDFs for accessibility. Like InDesign, it also has a steep learning curve and is largely meant for experienced designers.

Scribus

As an open-source option, Scribus is free to use and available for most operating systems (including Windows, macOS, and Linux). While it has many similar features to InDesign, it lacks the advanced features of InDesign and it cannot import or export to other proprietary file formats.

Furthermore, since it is open source, its development process can be haphazard. This may lead to inconsistencies in the user experience while using the program, as well as issues running on certain operating systems. As a result, it can have a steep learning curve.

Easiest Publishing Programs

While programs like InDesign, Affinity Publisher, or Scribus really require you to be fairly knowledgeable of design before using them, there are DTP tools that do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. These programs are great for inexperienced designers who look for InDesign Alternatives.

Swift

At a one-time fee of $19.99, Swift Publisher has a simple user interface and hundreds of templates for brochures, booklets, business cards, etc. It only runs on macOS, though, so Windows or Linux users are out of luck with this program.

Canva

With a free option and a tiered subscription model, Canva can be a one-stop shop for all sorts of design needs, not just for designing books and other publishing material. The free edition can probably do a lot for you early on, and more features become available at more expensive tiers.

Latex

If you want software that is free and powerful for desktop publishing, and you don't mind "coding" all of it, then LaTeX (pronounced LAH-tek or LAY-tek) might be the option for you.

It's a popular system among professionals in STEM and other academic fields because it can represent many different writing systems, as well as formatting mathematical and scientific formulae nicely. The major drawback is the user interface.

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Unlike the other tools discussed here, you have to describe all of the formatting in LaTeX documents by writing markup tags, similar to writing a website in HTML. This is kind of like coding the document, and it can give you a lot of fine-grained control, but it's also complicated and has a steep learning curve.

You also won't see what things look like until you export your document as a PDF. Unless you have a very specific reason to use LaTeX, like formatting equations, saving money, or adhering to the expectations of your profession, I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

Best Alternative

As always, the decision is ultimately yours. That being said, if you are a novice and just need to do something simple, I'd recommend using the software you already have available to you, like a word processor.

If you want a little more dedicated design features, you might consider simple DTP software, like Canva or Swift Publisher.

Then, if you want to have a lot of control, programs like Affinity Publisher and Scribus would be wise choices. You could also use LaTeX, if you don't mind the text-based formatting process. It's up to you which InDesign alternative best suits your needs and experience, but they are out there!

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