Someone new to desktop publishing asked this recently. Without more information, it's hard to answer that one definitely. First thought might be to mention the so-called consumer level or creative printing products such as those from Broderbund or programs like Microsoft Publisher or Serif PagePlus. But then, it also depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
As cool as The Print Shop might be, it's not what I'd consider a friendly choice to layout a lengthy book. Publisher may be popular but its design wizards drove me crazy when I would mess around with it. Someone brand new to desktop publishing who just wants to create a simple greeting card might be baffled by InDesign or QuarkXPress while a more experienced designer might find the level of control and number of features super-friendly and feel hampered by other too-helpful software.
Webopedia defines user-friendly but also suggest that "it has been so overused that it has become something of a cliché." So, I'm asking for input from you on two fronts. When considering desktop publishing software, what features make a program user-friendly; and, which specific desktop publishing software programs do you consider to be user-friendly? What makes them easy to use? What makes one program more user-friendly than another?
I'm using this form, titled Easy to User Software for Desktop Publishing to compile your comments, opinions, and suggestions. You can reply to this blog in the comments section, but I'd really like reader responses through the form. When suggesting software, be specific about who should use it and what features make it ideal as user-friendly desktop publishing software. Thanks!
I’ve never used Quark, so I don’t have much of an opinion on that. However, I was very upset when Adobe discontinued PageMaker. That was what I sort of grew up on in DPT. If I wanted to use Quark, then I’d switch over to that. It never has made any sense to me. Then I got started on InDesign & became accustomed to using that I discovered they had put in a lot of new things that I like over PM (I still use it for a few things!)
And I totally agree that competition is what it’s free enterprise is about. It keeps us on our toes & at the same time keeps us from getting a big head!
My father always said his business did the best when there were competitors in town.
I was sorry to see Pagemaker go. I had used it for many years and then along came InDesign 2. It took me a while to get the hang of it and now I think it is a great, versatile programme. I am happy with it. I could not ask for more. My trade for 35 years was newspaper printing. I left my job a few years after computers entered the newspaper industry. I use InDesign for most of my printing now (I am retired and help a few people out with their printing needs and also my own).
I’ve found Scribus to be very easy to use. Because it is a young software, its feature set is perhaps limited compared to InDesign and Page Maker (both of which I have used), but it is meant to stay out of the way and let the layout artist do what they want.
And plus, it’s free!
I think it’s just a damn pity that Corel Ventura seems to have stopped after Version 10, and won’t work on Vista which, by the way, is a terrible operating system (I have got rid of it on all my computers and gone back to XP). Yes, as I was saying, Corel Ventura version 10 is the best DTP programme ever devised for the professional publisher. That is what I still use. I have purchased QuarkXpress which I have been staring at on my shelf for 6 months! I guess, eventually, I will have to start using it since Corel Ventura has gone to sleep.
Gideon Tseja, Nigeria