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Choosing the Best Desktop Publishing Software

To be the best in the field of desktop publishing or DTP, you need to work with the best desktop publishing software. With all the developments in technology, there are a number of programs available for creating printed and electronic designs including: books, magazines, brochures, newsletters flyers, catalogs and more. In this article, you’ll learn more about the top contenders in the field.

Identifying the best desktop publishing software available on the market today is not that easy because software publishers are extremely competitive and are always adding new features. The top two contenders in the field are Adobe InDesign CS4 and QuarkXpress 8. Pagemaker, which is one of the first DTP publishing programs available is also a good program, but lacks some of the functionality of the other two.

Reviews: Desktop Publishing Software

Adobe InDesign CS4 is generally considered the leader in the field. It can do big jobs, support multiple designers on one project and multiple versions of a document (for instance, if you have a national company that offers regional catalogs and you want each catalog to have a local flavor). InDesign can do complex layouts for books, magazines, catalogs and more and also has some great new features. (The upgrade to CS4 from CS3 is well worth the upgrade price.)

InDesign is largely considered the best desktop publishing software because it integrates seamlessly with other products in the Adobe CS4 suite such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat Professional and more. Of course, the rich feature set of Adobe InDesign comes at a price and that price is increased complexity. Still, with all the book and video tutorials out there, it is not that hard to learn, even if you are a novice.

Reviews: Desktop Publishing Software

QuarkXPress 8 - once considered the leader in the field, Quark lost its first place lead when company executives decided to focus more on electronic publishing. With version 8, Quark has come full circle and now offers a full complement of design tools for printed and electronic designs. It also offers vector-based drawing tools, although with a limited feature set that is not comparable to Adobe Illustrator, but still, this is offered in the same software package that allows you to layout your designs.

With QuarkXpress version 8, the company may be regaining its lead and in fact independent customer reviews on desktop publishing software have revealed that users believe that Quark offers high productivity for design and production-intensive workflows. With its support of Flash-based designs, it is especially useful for electronic publishers who want to include video and animations in their products.

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