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Comparison of desktop publishing software

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The following is a comparison of major desktop publishing software.

Overview

This table provides general software information including the developer, latest stable version, the year in which the software was first released, and the license under which it is available.

Desktop publishing software Developer(s) Latest stable version Initial release License
Affinity Publisher Serif Europe 2.3.0 30 November 2023; 13 months ago (2023-11-30) 2019 (2019) Proprietary
Apache OpenOffice Writer Apache Software Foundation and others 4.1.15 Edit this on Wikidata 22 December 2023; 12 months ago (22 December 2023) 2002 (2002) Apache License 2.0 (Apache OpenOffice 3.4 and later)
Canva Canva Pty Ltd Rolling updates 2013 (2013) Proprietary SaaS
Collabora Online Collabora 24.04.10.4 Edit this on Wikidata 9 January 2025; 12 days ago (9 January 2025) 2016 (2016) MPL-2.0 and others
CorelDRAW Corel 24.5 18 September 2023; 16 months ago (2023-09-18) 1989 (1989) Proprietary
InDesign Adobe CC 2024 20.0 October 2024; 3 months ago (2024-10) 1999 (1999) Proprietary Trialware
LibreOffice Draw The Document Foundation  () 2011 (2011) LGPL v3
LyX The LyX Team 2.4.3 Edit this on Wikidata 16 January 2025; 5 days ago (16 January 2025) 1995 (1995) GPL v2
Marq Draper Rolling updates 2013 Proprietary SaaS
Microsoft Publisher Microsoft Corporation 2021 October 5, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-10-05) 1991 (1991) Proprietary Trialware
Pages Apple Inc. 13.2 September 21, 2023; 16 months ago (2023-09-21) 2005 (2005) Proprietary
QuarkXPress Quark, Inc. 2024 20.0.0 November 14, 2023; 14 months ago (2023-11-14) 1987 (1987) Proprietary
Scribus The Scribus Team 1.6.1 7 January 2024; 12 months ago (2024-01-07) 2003 (2003) GPL
The Print Shop Broderbund 23.1 2009; 16 years ago (2009) 1984 (1984) Proprietary
Desktop publishing software Developer(s) Latest stable version Initial release License

OS and Online support

This table shows Operating System (OS) compatibility with the latest version of the desktop publishing applications, there are five possibilities:

  • No indicates that it does not exist or was never released.
  • Partial indicates that the application lacks important functionality and it is still being developed.
  • Beta indicates that while a version of the application is fully functional and has been released, it is still in development (e.g. for stability).
  • Yes indicates that the application has been officially released in a fully functional, stable version.
  • Dropped indicates that while the application works, new versions are no longer being released for the indicated OS; the number in parentheses is the last known stable version which was officially released for that OS.

Application names that are on a light purple background are discontinued.

Desktop publishing software Android ChromeOS iOS iPadOS Linux MacOS Windows Web, Online, Cloud Other OS
Affinity Publisher No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No
Apache OpenOffice Writer No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Canva Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes No
Collabora Online Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes (App and Online) Yes Yes
CorelDRAW No No No No No Yes Yes No No
InDesign No No No No No Yes Yes No No
LibreOffice No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
LyX No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No OS/2, Haiku
Marq Yes (Online) Yes (Online) Yes (Online) Yes (Online) Yes (Online) Yes (Online) Yes (Online) Yes No
Microsoft Publisher No No No No No No Yes No No
Pages No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No
QuarkXPress No No No No No Yes Yes No No
Scribus No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No OS/2 Warp 4, ArcaOS, eComStation, OpenIndiana, Solaris, Haiku
The Print Shop No No No No No No Yes No No
Desktop publishing software Android ChromeOS iOS iPadOS Linux MacOS Windows Web, Online, Cloud Other OS

Input format

This table gives a comparison of the file formats that can be opened or imported.

Desktop publishing software PDF EPS SVG HTML OpenDocument ODT Microsoft DOCX Other
Affinity Publisher Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes
Apache OpenOffice Writer No Yes No No Yes No Yes
Canva Yes Yes Yes No No Yes PNG, WebP, audio, video, fonts, others
Collabora Online Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes PUB, TeX/LaTeX, WebP, others
CorelDRAW No Yes Yes No No Yes others
InDesign Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes WebP, others
LibreOffice Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes PUB, WPD, TeX/LaTeX, RTF, others
LyX No No No Yes No No CSV, TeX/LaTeX, others
Marq Yes No No No No No PNG
Microsoft Publisher No No Yes Yes No Yes RTF
Pages No No No No No Yes RTF
QuarkXPress Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes PSD, AI, SWF, PNG PDF, RTF
Scribus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No PUB, TeX/LaTeX, others List
The Print Shop No No No No No No No
Desktop publishing software PDF EPS SVG HTML OpenDocument ODT Microsoft DOCX Other

Output format

This table gives a comparison of the file formats each software can export or save.

Desktop publishing software PDF EPS PNG SVG WebP EPUB HTML Other
Affinity Publisher Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes, others
Apache OpenOffice Writer Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Canva Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No JPEG, Video:GIF, MP4, others
Collabora Online Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ODF, others
CorelDRAW Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes PSD, AI, SWF, WPD, others
InDesign Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes JPG, RTF, others
LibreOffice Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ODF, JPEG, RTF, other
LyX Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes PS, ODF, TeX/LaTeX], DOCX, others
Marq Yes No Yes No No No No JPEG, GIF, MP4, others
Microsoft Publisher Yes No Yes No No No Yes JPG, TIFF
Pages Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes RTF
QuarkXPress Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Kindle
Scribus Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes List, TeX/LaTeX]
The Print Shop Yes No No No No No No No
Desktop publishing software PDF EPS PNG SVG WebP EPUB HTML Other

See also

Notes

  1. release date not stated on vendors web page
  2. Rosetta 2 emulation is required to run on all current Apple macOS hardware which use Apple silicon (M1, M2, M3...). Native CPU support remains for previous Intel based macOS devives.
  3. Build your own application from source code
  4. ^ unsupported
  5. ^ not supported on mobile web browsers.
  6. ^ Online or Build your own application from source code
  7. The free version of Canva does not support transparent backgrounds. Canva Pro or Enterprise have an option to “Remove Background” from images

References

  1. "Latest Affinity V2 releases on each platform by store". Affinity Newsroom. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  2. "Announcing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15". 22 December 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  3. "The Apache OpenOffice Project Announces Apache OpenOffice 3.4" (Press release). Apache Software Foundation. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  4. "Create great flyers, newsletters, brochures and more with open source software". opensource.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-08.
  5. "Collabora Online 24.04 Release Notes".
  6. "Collabora Productivity releases Collabora Online 1.0 "Engine" for Hosters and Clouds" (Press release). Collabora Productivity. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016. Collabora Productivity, the driving force behind putting LibreOffice in the Cloud, has released the first production grade version of Collabora Online, its flagship cloud document suite solution.
  7. "Create great flyers, newsletters, brochures, and more with open source software". opensource.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-08.
  8. "[lyx-announce] LyX 2.4.3 Released". 16 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  9. "License". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  10. "See what's in Office 2021". Archived from the original on 2023-03-30.
  11. "Pages on the Mac App Store". Mac App Store. June 13, 2023.
  12. "Scribus 1.6.1 Released". scribus.net.
  13. "System requirements". Affinity. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  14. "System requirements". Apache_Software_Foundation_and_others. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  15. "Canva: Design, Photo & Video". Google Play. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  16. "Mac App Store Preview". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  17. "Technical requirements". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  18. "Google Play Store". Google Play. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Collabora Office - LibreOffice based editor for Microsoft Office, LibreOffice and OpenOffice docs.
  19. "Collabora Office 6.4 Launches For Android, iOS & Chrome OS". KYM Know Your Mobile. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2021-01-15. ...it works on desktop and mobile, and it will sync up between devices too, so you can start something on your desktop PC and then pick it up later on your phone and/or tablet.
  20. "Apple App Store". App Store. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2021-01-20. Collabora Office - This app is available only on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
  21. "Collabora Office Enterprise-ready Office Suite for Windows, MacOS and Linux". Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  22. "Product Info Sheet". coreldraw. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  23. "InDesign system requirements". Adobe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  24. "3 alternatives for Microsoft Publisher on your Chromebook". chromeunboxed.
  25. "How to setup Lyx on a Chromebook". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  26. "Step-By-Step Installation of Lyx on Linux, macOS, and Windows". Baeldung. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  27. "System requirements". Marc. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  28. "System requirements". Marc. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  29. "Pages User Guide for Mac". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  30. "Getting Started with QuarkXPress 2023". QuarkEXpress. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  31. "3 alternatives for Microsoft Publisher on your Chromebook". chromeunboxed.
  32. "Import and export file formats". Affinity. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  33. "File Formats". Apache Software Foundation and others. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  34. "Upload formats and requirements". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  35. "interoperability with over 100 third party documents formats". Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  36. "Which formats can the programs of Collabora Online read?". Collabora Online. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  37. "Supported file formats". CorelDRAW help. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  38. "Supported file formats for InDesign". Adobe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  39. "Working with File Formats, Security, and Exporting". LibreOffice Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  40. "UserGuide, see IMPORT". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  41. "Pages User Guide for iPhone". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  42. "Import and export file formats". Affinity. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  43. "File Formats". Apache OpenOffice. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  44. "Download design with transparent background". Canva. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  45. "Supported download file types". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  46. "interoperability with over 100 third party documents formats". Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  47. "Which formats can the programs of Collabora Online read?". Collabora Online. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  48. "Supported file formats". CorelDRAW help. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  49. "Supported file formats for InDesign". Adobe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  50. "Working with File Formats, Security, and Exporting". LibreOffice Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  51. "UserGuide, see EXPORT". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  52. "Download export settings". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  53. "Pages User Guide for iPhone". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  54. "Digital Publishing with QuarkXPress 2022". QuarkEXpress. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
Desktop publishing software
Desktop installed software
Online - cloud based software
See also
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