Whats the best desktop publishing software at an affordable price?

Question

I've been getting to grips with the trial versions of Adobe Indesign and QuarkXpress but they are too expensive for me. What I'm after is a piece of software which will enable me compile a quarterly magazine. Either A5 or A4, it will be an ezine also, but at the moment there is very little funds in the kitty. I have Macromedia Fireworks and Dreamweaver. So whats out there?

Answer 1

I recently bought PC Pro (DVD edition) because of the free software - Quark Xpress 5.01!! Whilst this is getting on a bit in computer terms (It was published in 2002 - the current version is 7) in real terms its not really all that old, and I've found it amazing.

And for the cover price of £5.99, you can't really go wrong!!

You have to register it online, and there is a unique CD key just for Quark, but if you like the trial, you can get the program for free now.

Answer 2

If you've never used a computer before, I think you'll have a difficult time with any computer. Mac, Windows, and Linux all have counterintuitive parts of their respective interfaces. The best thing to do for a total computer novice is to get set up with the kind of computer close friends and family can support. If all your close friends (especially the tech-savvy ones) are using Mac OS X, get a Mac. If they're all using Windows, get a Windows PC. If they're all using Linux, use Linux. Some people do (sadly) resort to overpaying the Geek Squad, but usually when folks have computer questions or problems, they ask their close friends or family for tech support first.

Answer 3

Most people don't realise that they probably already have very good software on their own computers like Microsoft Publisher or even Microsoft Word, both of which can be used as web pages if that is what you require in the future.

If you have a very good printer that produces great colour, and then buy good quality paper, you can produce excellent results.

I find that most people don't realise exactly how much Microsoft Word can create, and you probably already have this, so it will cost you nothing for the software.

Give it a try, as with most magazines, the skill is really in your own creativity.

Answer 4

Scribus is prety good. It's got two different versions - a standard version for your desktop PC and a portable version, if you work on multiple PC's. It rivals QuarkXpress quite well, and it's free.

It's free because (I think) it's open source. Mozilla Firefox is open source, so people can create loads of great plugins and features for it. I think you can do the same with Scribus.

Go to www.portablefreeware.com and search for Scribus. This will give you the link to their website, where you can get the standard version from.

Answer 5

So..
I easily got for free Adobe InDesign here http://j.mp/1rt1IdN
It's the best choice.

Answer 6

Open Office has a free one, you can download the whole office suite or just the one program plus all the tutorials as PDF.
If you don't like that one I'd go for PagePlus; some older versions might be freeware from the Serif site so you can try it out.

http://www.openoffice.org

Answer 7

Have a look for a used copy of Microsoft Publisher. I bought Publisher 98 (which works with XP) from eBay for £17, and it does everything I need, and a lot more beside.

Answer 8

The Serif programme PAGEPLUS has loads of the features of QUARK and ADOBE at a fraction of the cost....often the older versions are given away free on the front of magazines....I have used it for loads of in-house publications

Answer 9

Buy this months Computer Pro magazine(I think thats what it is called) it has a free Quark DTP DVD, which originally sold for £600-£800.
The magazine costs £3.99

Answer 10

I think Microsoft Publisher offers good value and certainly worth looking into.