Scribus is an Open Source application that helps you to design web page layout for Windows, macOS, and more. It can be used to create interactive forms and PDF presentations. Features: It stores data in XML format so that it can be easily analyzed using any text editor. This application offers a reliable color management solution. Page 273 ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS User Guide Known as the Image intent in Adobe To color-manage an image while printing: Perceptual PageMaker and Illustrator 9, Perceptual aims to Choose File Print Preview, or click the Print preserve the visual relationship between colors Preview button ( ) in the shortcuts bar. Adobe InDesign is considered an industry standard for graphic designers and publishers. It’s been around since 1999 and was the successor to Adobe PageMaker. It’s been around since 1999 and was the successor to Adobe PageMaker. Open Source Adobe Animate Alternatives. The best open source alternative to Adobe Animate is Wick Editor, which is both free and Open Source.If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Adobe Animate and 13 is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. In 2004, Adobe replaced its desktop publishing program PageMaker with InDesign. Although Adobe is a well-known company for desktop publishing software, there are other alternatives for those.
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2021-06-17 10:51:40 • Filed to: Indesign Features • Proven solutions
InDesign has been on the market for quite some time now. There are many InDesign alternative programs that can be used to perform the same level of work, and the outcome is generally the same. There are many free InDesign alternative tools that are being used by designers, but you need to research which ones will work the best for your needs. In this article, we’ve outline the most popular InDesign alternatives, comparing pros, cons, price and operating system.
Top 8 InDesign Alternative for Windows
1. PDFelement
PDFelement is without a doubt one of the best and the most advanced alternatives to InDesign that you can find. It is a one-stop PDF solution to solve all your PDF needs. This simple program can perform the same level of functionality as InDesign.
Pros:
- The advanced editing features makes for a smooth and simple PDF editing experience.
- Rotate, move, and resize graphical elements in your PDF file.
- Approve and sign PDF documents digitally.
- The built in OCR can be used to transform scanned PDFs into editable text.
- Secure PDFs with password protection and redactions.
- The program is available for Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android.
- The interface is interactive and easy to use.
System Support:
- Windows
- Mac
- iOS
- Android
2. Microsoft Office Publisher
This is another alternative to InDesign. The interface is very simple and allows users to publish their work directly to other websites.
Pros:
- The program is easy to use for those used to using word processors.
- The design process is streamlined with built-in-tools.
Cons:
- The trial version is free, but you need to pay for the full version.
- The program freezes for no reason and slows the system down.
System Support:
- Windows
3. QuarkXPress
This is a proprietary software that was launched in 1987. It is used for complex layouts in WYSIWYG. The interface is interactive and allows the users to design elements effortlessly.
Pros:
- The program designs layouts using simple processes.
- It is quick, easy to use, and includes many tutorials online.
Cons:
- The Quark interactive designer is slow.
System Support:
- Windows
- Mac
4. Serif Pageplus
Also known as Pageplus this InDesign alternative is used to publish interactive elements with a single click.
Pros:
- The price is low.
- The program is fast.
Cons:
- The program is only available for Windows.
- The stable release is yet to be launched.
System Support:
- Windows
5. Affinity Publisher
This is a new graphics editor that was developed by Serif and has gained popularity in recent years.
Pros:
- The interface of the program is stable and interactive.
- It is simple to use.
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Cons:
- The program is highly unstable when it comes to large projects.
- The beta has been released which means there are many bugs.
System Support:
- Windows
- Mac
- iOS
6. Spring Publisher
This easy to use desktop publishing app is regarded highly by professionals due to its creative design and interactive nature.
Pros:
- The program is reliable.
- The price is low.
Cons:
- The program can be slow.
- It is not for professional use on a large scale.
System Support:
- Windows
InDesign Open Source Alternative
7. Scribus
This open source InDesign alternative is very popular and is used all over the world. It is highly interactive and allows users to publish their designs online easily.
Pros:
- The program is open source with unlimited support.
- It comes with an HLC color atlas.
- It is interactive.
- It has many tutorials.
Cons:
- It is not as interactive as many paid programs.
- The stable release contains bugs.
- This InDesign alternative has limited support.
- It is not as fast as paid programs.
System Support:
- Windows
- Mac
- Linux
8. PDFrizator
This program is mainly used for PDF editing but is also a full-fledged desktop publishing app that allows users to work with design and graphics. It also supports MP3 format.
Pros:
- It supports a high number of image formats.
- It is very easy to use.
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Cons:
- The program is not for personal use.
System Support:
- Windows
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| Publication Settings | Supported? | Notes |
| Double-Sided, Facing Pages | Yes (Limited) | InDesign converts double-sided documents that do not contain facing pages into single-page spreads. When both Double-Sided and Facing Pages are selected, files are converted into facing-page spreads. |
| Preferences | Supported? | Notes |
| Snap to Constraints | No | -- |
| Save Option (Smaller, Faster) | No | -- |
| Horizontal and Vertical Nudge | No | -- |
| Greek Text Below | No | -- |
| PostScript Printing-Memory Freed for Graphics | No | -- |
| Display PPD Name | No | -- |
| Turn Pages When Autoflowing | No | -- |
| TrueType Display (Preserve Line Spacing/ Character Shape) | No | -- |
| Trapping Preferences | Yes | When Auto-overprint black strokes or fills (or both) are selected in the Trapping Preferences dialog box in PageMaker, the setting carries over to InDesign. However, Overprint Stroke or Overprint Fill is deselected in the Attributes palette. |
| Page Layout Features | Supported? | Notes |
| Booklists and Booked Publications | No | InDesign ignores Booklists when opening PageMaker publications. If you want to open all the publications on a Booklist together, run the Build Booklet plug-in in PageMaker with a layout of None selected. The booked publications are combined into one. Text blocks and frames are no longer threaded, however. |
| Index | Yes (Limited) | Index entries from a PageMaker publication appear in the InDesign Index palette. Text with cross-references that use the See Herein or See Also Herein option are mapped as See or See Also. |
| Items on the Pasteboard | Yes (Limited) | All items on the PageMaker pasteboard appear on the pasteboard of the first spread in the InDesign document. InDesign uses a different pasteboard for each spread. |
| Layers | Yes | To maintain the order of overlapping items, InDesign creates two layers when converting a PageMaker publication: Default and Master Default. Master Default contains the Master page items. |
| Master Page Items | Yes | Master pages in PageMaker convert to master pages in InDesign and retain all objects including page numbering and guides. Some layers could be added to the document. To retain the stacking order established in the original PageMaker publication. (See the Layers listing in this section.) |
| Non-Printing Objects | Yes | All objects designated in PageMaker as Non-Printing are converted with Non-Printing selected in the InDesign Attribute palette. |
| Ruler Guides | Yes | -- |
| Table of Contents | Yes | Table of Contents text converts as a Table of Contents, with PageMaker TOC Style available in the style pop-up menu in the InDesign TOC dialog box. |
| Text Attributes | Supported? | Notes |
| Text Composition | Yes (Limited) | InDesign assigns its Paragraph composer to all paragraphs. However, you can assign the single-line composer to one or more paragraphs. In InDesign, the single-line text composition engine chooses line breaks more similarly to the PageMaker composition engine, but text could still reflow. |
| Top of Caps and Proportional Leading | Yes (Limited) | InDesign uses only Baseline leading. Proportional and Top of Caps leading in PageMaker convert to Baseline leading in InDesign, resulting in text shifting. |
| Vertical Alignment in Text Frames | Yes | Vertical Alignment settings are maintained when you open PageMaker publications. |
| First Baseline | Yes (Limited) | The First Baseline of converted text can appear different than text created in InDesign. The First Baseline of converted text is set to Leading, but the First Baseline of text created in InDesign is set to Ascent by default. |
| Hyphenation | Yes (Limited) | InDesign uses a different hyphenation method than PageMaker, so line breaks can be different. |
| Fonts | Yes (Limited) | All fonts in a PageMaker publication should be active when the publication is opened in InDesign. InDesign can continue to list fonts as missing if they are activated after the PageMaker publication is opened. |
| Applied Bold or Italic Font Attributes | Yes (Limited) | InDesign preserves bold or italic formatting if the correct typeface is installed (for example, Tekton Bold). If the typeface is not installed, then the font is identified as missing in InDesign and is substituted. InDesign retains information about what text had bold or italic formatting applied to it so you can reformat it after substitution. |
| Shadow Text Attribute (Mac OS only) | No | Shadow text converts to plain text. |
| Outline Text Attribute (Mac OS only) | Yes (Limited) | Outline text converts as text with a stroke of .25 inches and a fill of paper. |
| Expert Tracking Values | No | Expert tracking values revert to a zero kerning value. |
| Paragraph Rules | Yes (Limited) | All paragraph rules convert as solid lines. Differences in the InDesign leading method affect the position of paragraph rules. Tints applied to paragraph rules are preserved. |
| [No style] Paragraph Style | Yes (Limited) | The [No style] in PageMaker is the equivalent of [Basic Paragraph] in InDesign CS2 or [No Paragraph Style] in InDesign CS. However, [Basic Paragraph] and [No Paragraph Style] picks up the attributes of a named style if that style was selected before any typing occurred in the PageMaker publication. |
| Text Links | No | Linked text documents are embedded upon conversion. |
| Hyperlinks | Yes | -- |
| Bullets and Numbering | Yes | InDesign applies bullets and numbering as normal, editable, characters. |
| Data Merge | Yes (CS2, CS PageMaker Edition)No (CS) | InDesign treats text fields as regular text until you establish a link to the data source file. |
| Color | Supported? | Notes |
| Tints | Yes (Limited) | Tints are converted as percentages of the parent color. If the parent color isn't in the Swatches palette, it's added during conversion. When an object with a tint is selected, the parent color is selected in the Swatches palette, and the tint value appears in the pop-up menu. |
| HLS Colors | No | InDesign converts color swatches based on the HLS color model to RGB values. |
| Hexachrome Colors | No | All Hexachrome colors are converted to RGB values. |
| Pantone libraries | Yes | -- |
| CMS | Yes (Limited) | Profiles that are not ICC-compliant are replaced using the default CMS settings and profiles you specified for InDesign. |
| Graphics and Objects | Supported? | Notes |
| Missing Graphic Links | Yes | Link information for missing graphics is preserved when converting PageMaker publications. After conversion, the missing links can be updated. |
| OLE Objects | No | InDesign doesn't support OLE. OLE objects drop out when you open PageMaker publications in InDesign, and any text wrap is lost. However, the bounding boxes of OLE objects convert. |
| Embedded Graphics | Yes | -- |
| Adobe Table 3.0 Objects | Yes (Limited) | PageMaker tables appear as graphics and are not editable in InDesign. |
| Fill Patterns | No | Fill patterns applied from PageMaker's Fill menu become solid. |
| Screen Patterns/Angles | No | InDesign doesn't support screen patterns or angles applied to TIFF images in Image Control; it drops them from imported TIFF files. |
| Colorized TIFF Files | Yes | -- |
| Photoshop Effects | Yes | -- |
| Strokes | Yes (Limited) | InDesign supports only solid or dashed strokes. Other stroke variations (such as Reverse or strokes created with the Custom option) either unreverse or become solid strokes in InDesign. Hairlines become .25-point strokes. |
| Keylines | Yes (Limited) | Keylines become grouped to the object to which they are applied. |
| Text Wrap | Yes | -- |
| Masking | Yes (Limited) | PageMaker items arranged between an item and its mask will be positioned behind the item and mask after you open the publication in InDesign. |
| Inline Graphics | Yes | -- |
| Imported PDF Documents | Yes (Limited) | InDesign displays the first page of a multi-page PDF file, regardless which page you placed in the PageMaker publication. To display the correct page, in InDesign delete the image (that is, the PDF file), and place the PDF page again. |
| Imported QuickTime Movies | Yes (Limited in CS and CS PageMaker Edition) | InDesign CS and CS PageMaker Edition import QuickTime movie frames unless they have been scaled. If a movie frame has been scaled, the movie is reimported to InDesign, scaled to 100% (horizontally and vertically. And, it's positioned in the upper-left corner of the frame. |
| Scaled Images | Yes (Limited) | Scaled images in documents with broken links are imported at a different size than expected. |