Comparison of desktop publishing software

The following is a comparison of major desktop publishing software.

## Overview

[edit]

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

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Affinity Publisher | Serif Europe | 2.3.0 30 November 2023; 11 months ago (2023-11-30)[1] | 2019 (2019) | Proprietary
Apache OpenOffice Writer | Apache Software Foundation and others  | 4.1.15[2] 22 December 2023; 10 months ago (22 December 2023) | 2002 (2002)[3] | Apache License 2.0 (Apache OpenOffice 3.4 and later)
Canva | Canva Pty Ltd  | Rolling updates  | 2013 (2013) | Proprietary SaaS
Collabora Online[4] | Collabora | 24.04.8.5[5] 6 November 2024; 13 days ago (6 November 2024) | 2016 (2016) [6] | MPL-2.0 and others
CorelDRAW | Corel | 24.5 18 September 2023; 14 months ago (2023-09-18) | 1989 (1989) | Proprietary
InDesign | Adobe | CC 2024 20.0 October 2024; 1 month ago (2024-10) | 1999 (1999) | Proprietary Trialware
LibreOffice Draw[7] | The Document Foundation | 24.8.3[8][9] 14 November 2024; 5 days ago (14 November 2024) | 2011 (2011) | LGPL v3
LyX | The LyX Team  | 2.4.2[10] 3 October 2024; 47 days ago (3 October 2024) | 1995 (1995) | GPL v2[11]
Marq | Draper | Rolling updates  | 2013  | Proprietary SaaS
Microsoft Publisher | Microsoft Corporation | 2021 October 5, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-10-05)[12] | 1991 (1991) | Proprietary Trialware
Pages | Apple Inc. | 13.2 September 21, 2023; 13 months ago (2023-09-21)[13] | 2005 (2005) | Proprietary
QuarkXPress | Quark, Inc. | 2024 20.0.0 November 14, 2023; 12 months ago (2023-11-14) | 1987 (1987) | Proprietary
Scribus | The Scribus Team  | 1.6.1[14] 7 January 2024; 10 months ago (2024-01-07) | 2003 (2003) | GPL
The Print Shop | Broderbund | 23.1 2009; 15 years ago (2009)[a] | 1984 (1984) | Proprietary
Desktop publishing software  | Developer(s)  | Latest stable version | Initial release  | License

## OS and Online support

[edit]

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

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|
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Affinity Publisher | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No[15]
Apache OpenOffice Writer | No  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes[b] | Yes  | No  | Yes[16][c][d]
Canva | Yes[e] (App[17] and Online)  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes[e] (App[18] and Online)  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes  | No[19]
Collabora Online | Yes[e] (App[20] and Online)  | Yes (App[21] and Online)  | Yes[e] (App[22] and Online)  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes (App[23] and Online)  | Yes (App and Online)  | Yes  | Yes[f][d]
CorelDRAW | No  | No  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No[24]
InDesign | No  | No  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No[25]
LibreOffice | No  | Yes[26][d] | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Yes[f]
LyX | No  | Yes[27] | No  | No  | Yes[28] | Yes  | Yes  | No  | OS/2, Haiku
Marq | Yes[e][29] (Online)  | Yes (Online)  | Yes[e][30] (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[31] | No  | No  | No
QuarkXPress | No  | No  | No  | No  | No  | Yes[32] | Yes  | No  | No
Scribus | No  | Yes[33] | 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

[edit]

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

|
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|

Affinity Publisher | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes[34]
Apache OpenOffice Writer | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | No  | Yes[35]
Canva | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | PNG, WebP, audio, video, fonts, others[36]
Collabora Online | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | PUB, TeX/LaTeX, WebP, others[37][38]
CorelDRAW | No  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | others[39]
InDesign | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | WebP, others[40]
LibreOffice | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | PUB, WPD, TeX/LaTeX, RTF, others[41]
LyX | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | CSV, TeX/LaTeX, others[42]
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[43]
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

[edit]

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[44]
Apache OpenOffice Writer | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | [45]
Canva | Yes  | No  | Yes[g][46] | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | JPEG, Video:GIF, MP4, others[47]
Collabora Online | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | ODF, others[48][49]
CorelDRAW | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | PSD, AI, SWF, WPD, others[50]
InDesign | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | JPG, RTF, others[51]
LibreOffice | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | ODF, JPEG, RTF, other[52]
LyX | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | PS, ODF, TeX/LaTeX], DOCX, others[53]
Marq | Yes  | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | No  | JPEG, GIF, MP4, others[54]
Microsoft Publisher | Yes  | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | JPG, TIFF
Pages | Yes  | No  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | RTF[55]
QuarkXPress | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Yes  | Yes  | Kindle[56]
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

[edit]

* List of desktop publishing software
* List of office suites
* Comparison of office suites

## Notes

[edit]

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. ^ a b c unsupported
5. ^ a b c d e f not supported on mobile web browsers.
6. ^ a b 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

[edit]

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. ^ Italo Vignoli (14 November 2024). https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2024/11/14/libreoffice-24-8-3/. Retrieved 14 November 2024. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|title=` (help)
9. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference from Wikidata properly. Technical details:
* Reason for the failure of {{Cite web}}: The output template call would miss the mandatory parameter `url`.
* Reason for the failure of {{Cite Q}}: The output template call would miss the mandatory parameter `1`.
See the documentation for further details.
10. ^ "[lyx-announce] LyX 2.4.2 Released". 3 October 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
11. ^ "License". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
12. ^ "See what's in Office 2021". Archived from the original on 2023-03-30.
13. ^ "Pages on the Mac App Store". Mac App Store. June 13, 2023.
14. ^ "Scribus 1.6.1 Released". scribus.net.
15. ^ "System requirements". Affinity. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
16. ^ "System requirements". Apache_Software_Foundation_and_others. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
17. ^ "Canva: Design, Photo & Video". Google Play. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
18. ^ "Mac App Store Preview". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
19. ^ "Technical requirements". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
20. ^ "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."
21. ^ "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."
22. ^ "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."
23. ^ "Collabora Office Enterprise-ready Office Suite for Windows, MacOS and Linux". Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
24. ^ "Product Info Sheet". coreldraw. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
25. ^ "InDesign system requirements". Adobe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
26. ^ "3 alternatives for Microsoft Publisher on your Chromebook". chromeunboxed.
27. ^ "How to setup Lyx on a Chromebook". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
28. ^ "Step-By-Step Installation of Lyx on Linux, macOS, and Windows". Baeldung. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
29. ^ "System requirements". Marc. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
30. ^ "System requirements". Marc. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
31. ^ "Pages User Guide for Mac". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
32. ^ "Getting Started with QuarkXPress 2023". QuarkEXpress. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
33. ^ "3 alternatives for Microsoft Publisher on your Chromebook". chromeunboxed.
34. ^ "Import and export file formats". Affinity. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
35. ^ "File Formats". Apache Software Foundation and others. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
36. ^ "Upload formats and requirements". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
37. ^ "interoperability with over 100 third party documents formats". Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
38. ^ "Which formats can the programs of Collabora Online read?". Collabora Online. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
39. ^ "Supported file formats". CorelDRAW help. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
40. ^ "Supported file formats for InDesign". Adobe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
41. ^ "Working with File Formats, Security, and Exporting". LibreOffice Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
42. ^ "UserGuide, see IMPORT". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
43. ^ "Pages User Guide for iPhone". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
44. ^ "Import and export file formats". Affinity. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
45. ^ "File Formats". Apache OpenOffice. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
46. ^ "Download design with transparent background". Canva. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
47. ^ "Supported download file types". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
48. ^ "interoperability with over 100 third party documents formats". Collabora Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
49. ^ "Which formats can the programs of Collabora Online read?". Collabora Online. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
50. ^ "Supported file formats". CorelDRAW help. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
51. ^ "Supported file formats for InDesign". Adobe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
52. ^ "Working with File Formats, Security, and Exporting". LibreOffice Productivity. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
53. ^ "UserGuide, see EXPORT". Lyx. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
54. ^ "Download export settings". Canva. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
55. ^ "Pages User Guide for iPhone". Apple. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
56. ^ "Digital Publishing with QuarkXPress 2022". QuarkEXpress. Retrieved 2024-04-02.

* v
* t
* e

Desktop publishing software

Desktop installed software|

* Adobe InDesign
* Affinity Publisher
* Apache OpenOffice
* Collabora Office Draw and Collabora Office Writer
* CorelDRAW
* LibreOffice Draw and LibreOffice Writer
* LyX
* Microsoft Publisher
* Pages
* QuarkXPress
* Scribus
* The Print Shop

Online - cloud based software|

* Canva
* Collabora Online Draw
* Marq

See also|

* Electronic publishing
* List of PDF software
* Mobile publishing
* Printing
* Web design

* Category
* Comparison
* List

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